How Great Leaders Listen, Share, and Engage
An Introduction to Engaged Leadership
Charlene Li defines an engaged leader in the 21st century as someone who effectively utilizes digital and social media to foster relationships that align with their top priorities, emphasizing the importance of listening, sharing, and engaging to achieve key objectives.
Listen at Scale
Charlene Li emphasizes the importance of strategically using social media and big data to listen to key audiences in real-time, while also cautioning against the risks of overwhelming information, and suggests focusing on trusted filters to enhance communication and innovation.
Share to Shape
Broadcasting information often neglects audience needs, while effective sharing involves listening and aligning with common goals, as demonstrated by Cisco leaders who use technology to foster relationships and communicate authentically.
Engage to Transform
Engaging stakeholders through two-way dialogue is crucial for effective leadership, as demonstrated by a CEO who used Twitter for public interaction, highlighting transparency while also necessitating careful planning to avoid potential PR pitfalls.
Lessons Learned from Pope Francis
Charlene Li highlights Pope Francis as a model of engaged leadership, using social media to connect with ordinary Catholics and embodying confidence, humility, and a genuine desire to serve, encouraging leaders to bridge power gaps and engage authentically with their audiences.
For better or worse, social media is here to stay. But today’s platforms will probably come and go. So author Charlene Li says that rather than focusing on mastering a specific tool, leaders should focus on engaging their audience through strategic listening, informed priority-setting, and effective communication at scale.
Learning Objectives
- Align your social media strategies to your leadership priorities.
- Use social media to listen to stakeholders, customers, and frontline employees.
- Share content that benefits your organization as well as your audience.
- Selectively engage with your audience.
- Bridge the power distance between you and your audience.