Leadership: clarity, unity and agility

Washington crossing the Delaware, 1851
Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Back in the 1700's the worlds greatest leader of his time stood amongst his followers as a brave, tough and organised leader. This leadership quality not only brought to an end years of turmoil and unsettlement but fittingly ensued the beginnings of a cohesive nation and global spread.

George Washington on the battlefield didn't make all the right decisions -- he is often recorded as "exposing his flanks and failing to reconnoiter the ground". Despite these tactical errors Washington maintain his strategic and big picture approach. He was charismatic, and provided moral strength (and a knack for shared vision) ultimately guiding the United States into the beginnings as a world superpower.

It was this moral strength, an unwillingness to succumb to dictatorship power, and the selection of intelligent, bright mentors and staff to provide the backbone to his strategic decision making which allowed him to become a leader of strength and action.

And whilst George Washington is seen as a great leader, 200 hundred years later Captain Edward Smith of the Titanic is not. Ensuing studies and missives into the actions (or lack of) not just in the preceding hours before the Titanic collided with the infamous iceberg but more importantly after the time of collision the ship lacked leadership. Whilst the captain and his crew believed in the technology of the unsinkable ship as a surety for safety, no one factored in the people. Without the clarity of the situation (the ship is sinking), the unity (the crew working together) and the agility (people are mobilized to act -- get off the ship) the actions of Smith simply and clearly failed.

Bringing these leadership qualities back to our world, what does this really mean for us as managers, social enterprise practitioners and not-for-profit advisors?

Leadership in business -- with social purpose or not -- means the creation of teams which are diverse. These teams of people are more likely to adapt to new opportunities, form partnerships, and see customers and competitors as strategic alliances. And this diversity embraces change as a success of new ideas and a new way of doing business.

Teams and individuals are inspired towards a common purpose supporting peers and the community (business). Teams are strategic in their thinking with the leadership setting the perimeters and the skills for decision making.

And great leaders view work and that environment as enjoyable, important and a place to be happy. They allow their teams to input and work towards the strategic directions of the organisation adding a valuable critique along the way. 

What kind of leader are you -- do you have clarity about the organisational direction and strategic approach, unity with your teams, and the agility to move your team along the path and into the light of success?

Jessica @ Social Traders

Get the best out of probono work

New and burgeoning social enterprises require a compendium of skills to turn a conceptual idea into a sound and robust business model. Existing social enterprises need additional skills as the business grows and develops into new market segments. And all social enterprises – as does business – require a consistent range of advice and services to add to the existing knowledge bank within the organisation.

Finding the appropriately skilled organisations and individuals can be a challenging task. For some enterprises the cost of engaging [buying] the skills may also be a barrier to adopting the new business model or examining a growth opportunity into new markets.

To aid with this capability building, social enterprises often engage skilled probono or volunteer services. A number of online volunteer directories – which match the skill requirements to the business offering – have been developed in Australia alongside community partnerships within the corporate sector. Just of sample of these directories include:

• Probonoaustralia.com.au
• Greatconnections.com.au/Leadershipvictoria.org 
• Goodcompany.com.au 
• Pilch.org.au/volunteer 

However gaining access to skilled volunteers or probono assistance is only the first step in the journey to ensure both your organisation and the volunteer "gets the best" out of this arrangement. And too often these experiences become overshadowed by a lack of understanding of the role, the workload and the outcomes. Often the volunteer develops detailed plans and strategies only to find the organisation doesn't have the skills to implement, or the ability to take up the approach. Or the organisation poorly plans the workload and overwhelms the volunteer with much more than was agreed.

In a very brief summary, here are some of the key issues to be addressed BEFORE engaging volunteer or probono assistance.

1. Be very clear about what work you want the volunteer to undertake. Write a position description including the number of hours required to undertake the task, outline who will be working with and supporting the volunteer, and what is expected at the completion of the task such as a report, recommendations, or a strategy.
2. Ensure you understand the legal status of a volunteer. Your organisation is required to have in place a volunteering policy document or hold a copy of the guiding principles of volunteering. Consider key areas such as;

• The legal status of a volunteer 
• Negligence and duty of care 
• Equal opportunity laws 
• Legal checks 
• Intellectual property rights 
• Insurance 
• Confidentiality agreements. 

Additional information regarding these points can be found at:

• Volunteers and the Law
• Best Practice Volunteering

And the National Volunteer Skills Centre also has further details on engaging with volunteers. 

Social Traders has developed an online resource to aid social enterprises and the not-for-proft sector in general with engaging the right people for the right job. There are guidelines and sample documents (position descriptions and confidentially agreements) to help provide the framework for the engagement of your volunteering and probono offerings.


We are also seeking feedback from social enterprise practitioners about their experiences in engaging specialist individuals and organisations. It would be great to get some comments about what went right and what didn't. Include some learnings about your experience too. Either leave a comment below or contact me here.

Get engaged and understand social media

Image courtesy of PR Daily, 2012

There is so much noise about social media, about having a voice and a suite of portals to tell your story. And there is no doubt about social media, it is here to stay in an ever-increasing form.

But how do we - managers and practitioners - keep up to date with what works, and what doesn't. And how do we even begin to understand the impact of social media, the voice for story telling and the audience to follow and listen? And with so much information online and in the press about this topic - from the ridiculous to the obscure - it has become increasingly challenging to comprehend and act with confidence.

With this myriad of information in mind, I thought it was the right time to put some of the social media "news" in context, and map out some thoughts.

Firstly, let's condense and acknowledge that social media is now a major form of communication for both B2B, B2C and C2C. With context social media showcases:

• we live in a young world, with over 50% of the population being under 30
• social media is the number one web based activity
• if Facebook was a country it would be the 3rd largest
• 93% of marketers use social media for business
• 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations.

Accept this and begin to grasp the social media mantra of today.

I will put aside discussion around emails and blogs, as these have been part of some of our lives forever, and for the rest of us, about 15 years.

Social media mostly takes in the form of four mediums; video (YouTube), images (Flickr), social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Google + and LinkedIn), and microbloging (Twitter). Each medium is interactive and compatible with each other (using collaborative programs such as HootSuite ).

However each of these mediums requires a different voice, often has a variety of audiences and tones. To establish your business voice, and/or your customer voice, spend some time playing around with the tone, check on how your audience engages with you. What is working, what is falling flat. Use social media to actively seek partners, customers, and promoters. Dedicate some online time to finding these people and organisations - usually a starting point is compiling a list of those organisation you communicate with off line. These are great for sending a connection to and inviting to like, follow, listen, and look.

To give an example; think about Twitter as a strategic connection with organisations and individuals who are possible partners, businesses and people of influence who will talk about, follow and interact. Facebook on the other hand is often considered as a way to connect with customers - promoting events and competitions.

Twitter is often easier to understand as the character limits of 140 keep messages concise. However avoid using too many abbreviations as these can be confusing and provide a difficult reading experience. The use of # tags and short links can enhance the tweet and align the tweet to a specific audience and group. Some great # tags in the social enterprise sector are:

• #socentau = social enterprise (in Australia)
• #socent = social enterprise (globally)
• #socinn = social innovation
• #socentsummit = social enterprise forum.

Do some of your own research to include additional #tags to your tweet feed - target your town, city and region, your industry and your passions. And before using a #tag search to ensure the tag represents the conversation you wish to engage.

Facebook is the source of much research at present as the changes to "pages" has meant many business have had to re-gig their voice and customer interaction. Some tips on fan engagement are:

• post on Facebook between the hours of 8pm and 7am (can use predetermined scheduling to do this). This non-busy time has shown a higher engagement with likes and comments
• Wednesday and Sundays are good posting days, and no more than two posts per day. Try to stick to no more than four posts per week so as not to overcrowd news feeds
• keep posts short,  be concise and ask questions to get fans talking, and include the use of "fill the blank" questions
• keys words such as coupons and $ off work well
• and use text only and short links to compress links.

However the most important component of social media is to find the one or two or three mediums that suit you and your organisations. Play around with the voice and engage with your community. Do it and do it well.

Finding the tools to match the trends for 2012

2012 has launched itself with aplumb -- there was the spectacular New Years Eve fireworks in Sydney, and Melbourne's fizzle with the arts centre catching fire. There has been blistering heat and torrents of rain but alas we made it through and now begin to buckle down for a year of achievement and expectations.

To get everyone in the mood, it is timely to look at what is beyond January, what trends will impact our business, and what consumers will demand of us and our services. And for this, many thanks to the global network of trend spotters.

In no particular order, consumer trends for 2012 will be all about;

• Point & Know -- this is the instant visual information gratification brought into the real and visual world with objects and people.

• Emerging Materialism -- embrace the brands that push boundaries. 2012 will encompass products, services and campaigns from emerging markets in frank, risque and non-corporate ways.

• Screen Culture -- the explosion of touchscreens, smartphones, tablets and "the cloud" will see a screen culture which is pervasive, personal and much more interactive.

• Recommerce -- trading in old products is considered the new buying.

• Idlesourcing -- this is all about simple and effortless smart sensor broadcasts of what "I" am doing and where "I" am. Idlesoucring is the self promotion and sharing to improve products and services.

• Flawsome -- awesome brands behaving humanly.

• Cash-less -- Finally it has arrived. Players such as Google and MasterCard are building whole new eco-systems of payments, rewards and offers around mobile technologies.

• Bottom of the Urban Pyramid -- global companies catering for the lower-income citysumers of 2012.

• Eco-cycology -- brands innovatively recycle all its products responsibility.

• Dealer-chic -- hunting for deals, the thrill of the find and the pride it instills is what consumers desire in 2012.

• DIY Health -- new apps and technologies which monitor and track consumer health.

• Red Carpet -- rolling out the red carpet (hotels, theme parks, even entire cities) for our Chinese visitors and customers, the new emperors of today's consumerism.

So what does this mean to social enterprise managers, those that work with and support the social enterprise sector, and of course the Government of the day? Consumer trends don't cut across all consumers; they are specific, age defined, locational, and cultural (see Red Carpet). To apply consumer trends it is important to determine if there are innovative products or services which can be developed to offer a certain customer segment. Also engage and speak the language of those consumers already "living" a trend -- this will help you understand the trend and those consumers who are part of it.

Now is the time to get rid of the blocks which prevent you and your business from seeing new ideas, understanding customers and the opportunities which are waiting for exploration. Head out and enjoy the offerings of 2012.

All the best
Jessica@Social Traders