In this short booklet, i explore the notion of Social Leadership and introduce nine components that make it up. We live in the Social Age, where formal models of authority and power are being subverted by more socially moderated relationships, where reputation is key. As organisations see innovation and creativity as key to agility, they persist in mitigating against their own success through an over reliance on process and attempts to control technology. They fail in the gap between process and excellence. Innovation and creativity can only thrive in environments that are inclusive, that develop trust, that are fair. Our ecosystem is changing: a new Social Contract and changed Nature of Work, the widespread adoption of Socially Collaborative Technology, an evolution of our Relationship with Knowledge and the rise of the Socially Responsible Business, one that recognises how attitudes to equality and fairness equate to shareholder value and agility. The Social Age requires Social Leaders: leaders who work within and alongside communities to create meaning, to deliver. They are able to operate both within the formal environments and the semi formal spaces that surround it. We view this in three Dimensions: Narrative, Engagement and Technology.

1. Julian Stodd is Founder & Co-Captain of SeaSalt Learning: an agile partner for the Social Age
www.SeaSaltLearning.com
@julianstodd
@seasaltlearning
www.julianstodd.wordpress.com
© Julian Stodd 2014

2. The Future of Leadership
We live in the Social Age, where formal models of authority and power are being subverted by
more socially moderated relationships, where reputation is key. As organisations see innovation
and creativity as key to agility, they persist in mitigating against their own success through an over
reliance on process and attempts to control technology. They fail in the gap between process and
excellence. Innovation and creativity can only thrive in environments that are inclusive, that
develop trust, that are fair.
Our ecosystem is changing: a new Social Contract and changed Nature of Work, the widespread
adoption of Socially Collaborative Technology, an evolution of our Relationship with Knowledge
and the rise of the Socially Responsible Business, one that recognises how attitudes to equality
and fairness equate to shareholder value and agility.
Agility: the ability to respond, to flex, to find the meaning and execute a solution. That's what sits at
the heart of Social Leadership. Knowing things used to be enough, but no more: in an age where
technology brings simple knowledge to our fingertips, it's our ability to work within and alongside
our communities to create meaning that counts. Communities are 'sense making' entities: providing
us with challenge and support, access to expertise and an ability to circumvent hierarchy, but our
role in these communities is fluid. Social Leadership is contextual.
The nature of work is changing: less about what happens within the four walls of the office, more
about your reputation within communities. Reputation that will get you this job and help you find the
next. Reputation that will make you an effective Social Leader by allowing you to draw upon the
power of your communities, to create meaning, to share stories widely and wisely.
© Julian Stodd 2014

3. The Social Age requires Social Leaders: leaders who work within and alongside communities to
create meaning, to deliver. They are able to operate both within the formal environments and the
semi formal spaces that surround it. We view this in three Dimensions: Narrative, Engagement
and Technology.
The first concept of social leadership
is 'Narrative': this is about curation,
storytelling and sharing. About finding
things out, finding the meaning in it
and sharing it with relevant people,
adding value as you do so. It’s about
being part of the conversation instead
of part of the noise. Whilst socially
collaborative technologies allow us to
share easily, so much of what is
shared, copied and re-blogged is
simply noise. Social leaders cut
through the noise with relevance and
clarity.
So Narrative is about:
CURATION – finding things out and
determining what’s valid from what’s
just noise. It’s about identifying
networks and communities and
seeing where the nodes and
amplifiers sit. It’s about quality and
coherence, not volume and mass.
STORYTELLING – do you know how to identify the narrative that sits under the story? Can you
find the meaning? Social leaders need to be able to take their curated ideas and knowledge and
forge coherent narratives, then flesh them out into stories that are relevant and timely to the
audience. It’s about understanding how stories are told and retold, so although the individual words
change, the narrative is constant.
SHARING – this is a core skill of the Social Age. Curating content, finding the meaning and then
sharing the stories effectively. This may involve technology, but it’s not purely that. It’s a mindset to
share that counts: recognising that knowledge in itself is no longer enough.
In summary, Narrative is about curating knowledge, finding the meaning within it, forming stories
and understanding how to share and amplify these. Narrative skills form the heart of personal
effectiveness for social leaders.
Following on from Narrative is 'Engagement'. Engagement is about:
COMMUNITY – social leaders operate in communities: both formal and informal spaces where
meaning is created. With narrative, we looked at how to be an effective storyteller, with
engagement we are looking at the spaces those stories are told in and how to use them to build
your reputation and authority. Community is about understanding why people engage in
communities and how we can both form and sustain them effectively.
REPUTATION – as we move beyond purely hierarchical forms of power and authority, we enter the
reputation economy. Reputation forms the engine of our effectiveness. If our reputation is weak,
© Julian Stodd 2014

4. even if our stories are strong, we will struggle to get them heard or amplified. Reputation is forged
in communities, founded on the quality of our stories and effectiveness of our sharing.
AUTHORITY is born from reputation, based on the stories we curate. Authority in the social age is
fluid, not fixed in bricks and mortar, and may be contextual. This component of social leadership is
about recognising when authority is exercised and how, about becoming magnetic.
In summary, Engagement is about understanding the shape and structure of informal and formal
communities, understanding how and why people come together to work and learn. Reputation is
the engine that powers our effectiveness: it’s based on actions, not hierarchy, and authority is the
outcome. We seek authority as leaders, but it’s based on everything we’ve seen so far: curating
knowledge, finding meaning, telling stories and understanding the ecosystem they exist in.
Following Engagement comes 'Technology'. This isn’t about circuit boards and operating systems,
it’s about social collaboration and reach.
CO-CREATION is the process by which meaning is created within communities and the way in
which culture changes over time. I use a seven stage model of co-creation, often taking place
within scaffolded social learning environments. Co-creation and the co-ownership of change are
core concepts for the Social Age. Relevant to this are notions of the three levels of narrative:
personal, co-created in groups and organisational.
SOCIAL CAPITAL is one’s ability to survive and thrive in these spaces. Effective social leaders
have high social capital and develop it in others. This generosity and humility reinforces reputation
and authority.
© Julian Stodd 2014

5. COLLABORATION is what it’s all about: coming together and creating meaning, beyond that which
we can do alone. Social Leaders collaborate widely: they engage in relationships without an
expectation of immediate reciprocity. In time, all things balance out.
In summary, Technology is about socially collaborative conversations, about the co-creation of
meaning in communities, about supporting engagement and development in these communities
and about collaborating, to achieve more than we ever can alone.
Leadership is changing: we need to adapt our view of how we attract and retain effective leaders.
We need a model of talent magnetism.
Julian Stodd is Founder & Co-Captain of SeaSalt Learning: an agile partner for the Social Age
www.SeaSaltLearning.com
@julianstodd
@seasaltlearning
www.julianstodd.wordpress.com
© Julian Stodd 2014