SOCIAL NETWORKING

Social networking

Social networking

Introduction

The 21st-century landscape is characterized by increasing globalization and ever-accelerating change. As systems become more complex and interconnected, leadership is undergoing a transformation (Crosby & Bryson, 2005). One of the more recent trends in the study and practice of leadership is the focus on how leadership in networks shapes the environment, unleashes innovation, creates access to resources, and increases performance. Effective leadership increasingly relies on social networks. Leaders become “human resource brokers” who bring together the right mix of people and technology to be successful and lead change (Brass & Krackhardt, 1999, p. 179). Traditional command-and-control models of leadership that operate using hierarchy are increasingly ill-suited to address the complex problems that transcend traditional boundaries (Goldsmith & Eggers, 2004). When leadership is distributed and hierarchies are flattened, then information, ideas, and resources can be connected and mobilized more effectively to respond to fast-changing environments (Burt, 2005).

Theory

Social Network Concepts

In the simplest terms, a social network is a set of people with a set of connections representing the existence of a relationship, or lack of relationship, between each pair of people (Brass & Krackhardt, 1999). The study of social networks has a long interdisciplinary history rooted in the fields of anthropology, psychology, sociology, and mathematics (Borgatti, 1997). Interest in social networks has exploded recently in the fields of leadership development, business, economics, and computer science, to name just a few.

Because of its eclectic history and its adaptation for use by many diverse fields, the science of networks is hard to pin down. Nevertheless, there are a few fundamental concepts that characterize network thinking in all of its manifestations. In this section, we summarize three notable efforts to distill the essence of social networks: those by Kilduff and Tsai (2003), Borgatti and Foster (2003), and Hoppe and Reinelt (2009).

Applications

So far in this chapter, core social network concepts have been identified and their implications for leadership have been broadly discussed. In this section, we describe four different types of leadership networks and provide examples about how they form, what benefits they provide, and why they are critical for 21st-century leadership.

Peer Leadership Networks

A peer leadership network is a system of social ties among leaders who are connected through shared interests and commitments, shared work, or shared experiences. Leaders in a peer leadership network build trusting relationships with each other so they can find the information they need from someone they trust in a timely way, provide advice and support for sensitive issues, learn from one another's experiences (both successes and failures), and occasionally collaborate together. Bonding capital among peer leaders is an important personal resource for leaders, especially when they are isolated in their roles, for instance, executive directors of nonprofit organizations or African American women in business. Peer leadership networks provide access to bridging capital, as well when new relationships open pathways and connections to others beyond those with whom leaders normally interact.

Peer leadership networks form in different ways. Sometimes two or three leaders begin networking with one another ...