How Social Leaders fight fires wisely

A busy day today, supporting a team under pressure. I recognise in myself some patterns of behaviour: some of them constructive, others less so. It turns out i’m far from perfect under pressure, but am, at least, in good company.

Social Leaders fight fires with wisdom and humility. They make sure nobody gets burnt.

So today the blog is late, it’s evening and i’m sat in an office, thinking about dinner. I’m hungry, but the wanted to share some thoughts on how Social Leaders fight fires.

The premise of social leaders is to be agile, to create meaning in the moment and to do it again, differently, tomorrow. So when better to do this than under pressure? Social Leaders work in communities: they collaborate and co-create solutions. They don’t rely on hierarchical authority, but instead build consensus in communities and communicate effectively. They recognise patterns, both in themselves and others, but work to build out of that, providing support and acting with humility.

The NET Model of Social Leadership in full, showing the three Dimensions and nine Components

In the Social Age, we leave nobody alone: we recognise that responsibility is shared and that we are stronger when we acknowledge our weaknesses. Ego has a limited role in a highly functioning team. That doesn’t mean we can’t build our reputation, but it has to be based on the nine core principles of Social Leadership: we curate our position, we tell effective stories and share them wisely. We operate in communities, build our reputation and develop our authority based upon that. We co-create meaning, build the social capital of others (whilst supporting them with humility) and collaborate effectively.

And at the end of the day, the only fires we recognise are the ones we sit around to share our stories, to build our team community and learn together. This is not an ideal notion: if we are wise, we learn to fight fires effectively. Wisdom trumps stubbornness and dogma every time.