21st Century Leadership

The Network Era
When the economy went to hell in a handbasket a couple of years back, my gut told me this was not a downturn. Rather, the network economy had finally taken the wind out of the sails of the industrial age. The economy was not going to “bounce back.” Instead, we were entering a new era. This was a total game changer. A new normal.

We’d entered an age of unparalleled volatility, uncertainty, and accelerating speed where ideas had become more valuable than physical things. Financial markets sensed this and shifted investments from what’s on the balance sheet to bets on the ever-nearer future. Intangibles — know how, know who, ideas, and the tacit lessons of experience — have limitless potential; plant and equipment can be millstones that hold you back.

Relationships are the glue that holds networks together. Enlightened businesses would shuck off the factory mentality that sees people as interchangeable parts. Rigid command and control systems would give way to a spirit of “we’re all in this together.” Barriers that wall off customers from suppliers would come tumbling down. Collaboration would crowd out giving orders. We’d end up enjoying one another’s company.

Change or Die
I’ve struggled to articulate what this new world will look like. Managers who are set in their ways think I’m full of it; they don’t believe they need to change; they long for the return of the old days. I see this situation in black and white: change or die. Companies that don’t abandon the insular industrial mindset are not long for this world. Evolution will render them extinct.

A new CEO with a grand vision of social networks, openness, innovation, experimentation, and continuous improvement is not enough to turn a large organization around because she’s saddled with a legacy culture. Managers and professionals who have grown up taking and giving orders simply don’t know how to adapt. The CEO and her team flip the switch but the lights don’t go on below because they’re wired differently down there. I’ve taken this on as a challenge, undoubtedly the greatest of my career.

My calling is to help people improve their satisfaction in life and performance on the job. I’m sticking to that. But now there’s a big complicating factor: the world has changed. It’s no longer sufficient to help hands-on managers and professionals learn better tips and techniques. What’s required today is a wholesale shift to a new way of doing things. The knowing/doing gap surrounding the advent of the network era is humongous.

The 21C Leadership Project
I’ve joined with Jos Arets and Vivian Heijnen at TULSER and my colleague Harold Jarche at Internet Time Alliance to create the on-ramp for leaders to adopt the behaviors that will make them and their organizations successful in the 21st century workplace.  Our shorthand for the project is 21C Leadership.

Not everything has changed. Business organizations still need to perform their classical functions:

• making sales
• building customer relationships
• decreasing time-to-execution
• decreasing bureaucracy and busywork
• cutting costs, improving efficiency
• developing new products and services
• feeding the talent pipeline
• improving morale and reducing turnover
• responding to change

As always, companies also need to streamline and improve their processes to fight entropy and hardening of the arteries:

• implement new strategies
• improve organizational circuitry
• create a continuous flow of new ideas
• leapfrog the competition through innovation
• keep everyone on the same page
• partner with distributors and the value chain
• avoid re-inventing the wheel
• align workforce with core values
• optimize the results of collective intelligence

However, unless managers and professionals, the “units of one,” are behaving in tune with the memes of the network era, the organizational objectives will never be reached. That’s why the 21C project is tackling the behavior of individuals: to empower their organizations to head in the directions they choose.

Status
We began by identifying 21 performance drivers that are the essence of sustainable, rewarding 21st century leadership. This week we are talking with visionaries to refine and flesh out the original list. We’ll report on our findings as we go forward. We’re seeking partners and guinea pigs. If you’re interested in working with us, drop me a line.

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