This document summarizes a presentation given at the "Innovations for Competence Management" conference on May 19th, 2011 in Lahti, Finland. The presentation discussed research conducted on the use of social media in leadership. It provided theoretical background from literature on open leadership and social media. It outlined the research questions, methods, and results of analyzing managers' experiences using social media in their work. The conclusions suggested the need for a more detailed social media leadership theory addressing issues like online vs offline leadership and cultural factors.

1. Towards the Social Media LeadershipTheoryInnovations for Competence Management- conference19th May 2011 Lahti, Finland Katri Luukka VicePrincipal, PhD Salpaus FurtherEducation

2. Content of the presentation Theoreticalbackground ResearchQuestions Methods Results Conclusions & Discussion 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

3. MBA research’sTheoreticalbackground: Social media “Social media is collaborative online working by using social media tools or social networking communities and other Internet based solutions to achieve a common goal for online working” (Luukka 2011a, p. 9) Social media networking tools: blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Shared documents and video- conferences were highlighted in research 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

5. She argues that her research shows, “the biggest indicator of success has been an open mind set- the ability of leaders to let go of control at the right time, in the right place and in the right amount” (Li, 2010 p. 8),

6. She continues by defining open leadership as follows: “having the confidence and humanity to give up the need to be in control while inspiring commitment from people to accomplish goals”,

7. Open leadership fosters new relationship with new rules like: 1) respect that your customers and employees have power, 2) share constantly to build trust, 3) nurture curiosity and humility, 4) hold openness accountable, 5) forgive failure (Li, 2010 p. 14-15.) -

8. ResearchQuestions How does an international group of managers perceive their use of social media as part of their work now (November 2010)? 2. Can their experiences be related to theory of open leadership (Li 2010)? 3. How do the participants perceive negative experiences, feelings and face-to-face leading involved in social media leadership? 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

9. Methods The research had a case study and action research approaches The primary data was collected from six international managers (one from Italy and Portugal and four from Finland), who were invited to join a private discussion group on Facebook (November 2010) The secondary data of the research consists of researcher’s own participation on Facebook group discussions with the participants and researcher’s 14 blogs written between July 2010 and February 2011 The data were analyzed by using a content analysis method 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

10. Results Li’s (2010) open leadership theory considers the basics for the social media leadership theory. However, there is a need to develop a more detailed social media leadership theory, based on the transformation of communication from face-to-face leadership, offline working culture, to new online-offline working culture. Li’s (2010) open leadership theory had disadvantage in that it doesn’t put attention to: 1) sustainable and green business while using more social media as part of leadership, 2) how negative experiences in the use of social media should be handled, 3) comparing face-to-face- leading and leading online social networking and 4) discussion of changes to the emotional part of leadership while working changes from offline to online working culture. 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

11. Conclusions & Discussion: towards the social media leadership theory: Social media Skill’stest Online-offlineLeadership The Social Media Leadership Theory 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

12. Katri’sQuick Social Media Skill’sTest 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference http://www.slideshare.net/KatriLuukka/katris-quick-social-media-skills-test

13. Four levels social media (SoMe) users: SoMe- Preventer, SoMe- Suspector, SoMe- Tester and SoMe- Crowdsourcer - the 0- level person is SoMe- Preventer, who has never been in online social media networks (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). He or she is afraid of social media and defends himself/herself against social media which is nonsense and waste of time. He/she feels fear against social media. - the 1- level person is SoMe- Suspector, who has created profiles or accounts to social media networks. He/she is a passive watcher, who follows what others are doing, but he/she is not participating in e.g. online discussions. He/she feels insecure while being on social networks. - the 2- level person is SoMe- Tester, who is both an active and passive social media user, while sharing and participating in online communities. He/she is wondering is or isn’t social media "my cup of tea". He/she feels insecurity/security while acting on social networks. - the 3- level person is SoMe- Crowdsourcer, who is an active social media user in several social media networks. He/she gets positive feedback from others participants and therefore he/she is also engaged in social networks development work. He/she feels security and success while acting on social networks. 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

14. Online-offlineLeadership The three issues: negative experiences, feelings and face-to-face leading are all very much linked together. Negative experiences might appear while using social media as part of leadership, if communication between workers has only taken place online and that affects bad feelings and also it makes one to miss face-to-face leading. The issue of using social media as part of leadership is not to use only social media rather than combining social media together with face-to-face leading. While using social media as part of leadership, the managers must ensure that all participants have skills and will to work collaboratively online. Managers have to lead and follow online work to make sure that objectives of the common online work project will be achieved. Managers also have to be patient and encourage people to work online with using social media as part of work. Managers have to work as role models for their followers to show how social media can be used as part of leadership. Finally, managers need a social media action plan as part of their leadership, which includes: 1) a list social media tools, which are used for internal and external communication, 2) a plan, how social media is going to be linked together with face-to-face leading as part of leadership (an online-offline leadership plan) and 3) an evaluation plan, how social media helps or hinders organization’s current business (monitoring of social networking’s benefits and risks). 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

15. The Social Media Leadership Theory The study’s outcome was that there is a need for a more detailed social media leadership theory. The theory should focus on renewing a manager’s leadership skills to see the perspectives from employee’s private - public issues to different openness levels (intra-, extra- and internet) of the organization. The social media leadership theory should also contain broader cultural issues: from social media users (e.g. age, gender, religious and nation) to organization- related, societal and global issues because the Internet-based social media is a person’s both private and global working tool. The more detailed social media leadership theory should outline a manager’s social media communication skills such as: online writing/drawing, using of images/videos, online chats, talking online, video conferences, document sharing, micro-blogging, the use of work related social media networking tools (e.g blogs, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Yammer and LinkedIn), leading of online discussions and projects, legal issues (e.g. who owns the online materials and privacy-publicity of the organization), monitoring and evaluating the risks of using social media. The new social media leadership theory should be also more detailed to point out differences and similarities between offline and online leadership and mixed offline-online- leadership cultures. That kind of leadership theory is going to need knowledge from many science fields (e.g. psychology, sociology, education, business and information technology) and therefore the author suggests that e.g. WIKI- social network/platform could be a functional social media tool to create and develop new social media leadership theory with voluntary participants/professionals from all over the world. 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

16. 1. References Bennet, J., Owers, M., Pitt, M. and Tucker, M. (2010). WorkplaceImpact of Social Networking. Property Management. vol. 28. No. 3 pp. 138-148. Blossom, J. (2009). Content Nation. Surviving and Thrivings as Social Media ChangesOurWork, OurLives and OurFuture. Wiley Publishing, Inc. Indianpolis, Indiana. Briggs, A. and Burke, P. (2009). Social History of The Media. From Gutenberg to the Internet. 3rd Edit. MPG Books Limited, Bodmin. Cornwall. Brown, R. (2009). Public Relations and the Social Media Web: How to Use Social Media and Web 2.0 in Communications. KoganPage. Replika Press Ptv Ltd. India. Burrows, T. (2007). Blogs, Wikis, MySpace and More. EverythingYouWant to KnowAbout Using Web 2.0 ButAreAfraid to Ask. Singapore: Chicago Review Press. Dul, J. and Hak, T. (2008). Case StudyMethodology in Business Research. Butterworth-Heinemann. Great Britain. Eyrich, N., Padman, M. L. and Sweetser, K. D. (2008). PR Practioners’ Use of Social Media Tools and Communication Technology. Public RelationsReview, vol. 34, pp. 412-414. Ferriter, B. (2009). Learning with Blogs and Wikis. EducationalLeadership, vol. 66 No. 5 pp. 34-38. Gaiser, T. J. and Schreiner, A. E. (2009). A Guide to ConductingOnlineResearch. SAGE, India: C & M Digitals Ltd. James, N. and Busher, H. (2009). OnlineInterviewing. Sage Publications. MPG Books Group. UK. Jue, A. L., Marr, J.A. and Kassotakis, M. E. (2010). Social Media at Work: How networkingtoolspropelorganizationalperformance. HB Printing. USA. Imperatore, C. (2009). Wikis and Blogs: YourKeys to Student Collaboration & Engagement. Techniques: ConnectingEducation & Careers. vol. 84, No. 3 pp. 30-31. KiIpi, T. (2006). Blogit ja bloggaaminen [Blogs and blogging]. Jyväskylä: Gummerus. Latvala, E. and Vanhanen-Nuutinen, L. (2001). Laadullisen hoitotieteellisen tutkimuksen perusprosessi: sisällönanalyysi [ QualitativeNuringScience’sbasicprocess: contentanalysis] IN Janhonen, S. and Nikkonn, M. (eds.) Laadulliset tutkimusmenetelmät hoitotieteessä [QualitativeResearchMethods in Nursing Science] WSOY, WsBookwell Oy, Juva. 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

17. 2. References Li, C. (2010). Open Leadership. How Social Technology CanTransform The WayYouLead. Jossey-Bass. HB Printing. U.S.A. Lincoln, S. R. (2009). Mastering Web 2.0: Transformyour business usingkeywebsite and social media tools. KoganPage. Replika Press Ptv Ltd. India. Lomax, P. (2007). Action Research. Coleman, M. & Briggs, A. R. J. Edit. ResearchMethods in EducationalLeadership and Management. Paul Chapman Publishing. Trowbridge, Wiltshire: Cromwell Press. Luukka, K. (2011a). Managers’ Experiences of the Use of the Social Media as Part of TheirLeadership: Towards to the Social Media LeadershipTheory. MBA dissertation. University of Wales. Luukka, K. (2011b). Katin merkitykselliset kokemukset. (Katri Luukka’s social media leadershipblog in Finnish) http://katri-luukka.blogspot.com/ [Accessed 14th April 2011]. Luukka, K. (2011c). Katri’sMeaningfulExperiences. (Katri Luukka’s social media leadershipblog in English) http://katrismeaningfulexperiences.blogspot.com/ [Accessed 14th April 2011]. Meyerson, M. (2008). MasteringOnline Marketing. Entrepreneur Press. Canada. Mustonen, P. (2009). Social Media: a New Way to Success? Turku School of Economics. Series KR-1:2009. Uniprint. Turku. Finland. PaukerKreizberg, A. (2009). Building a Web 2.0- Friendly Culture: Success on the Web is About People, not Technology. People & Strategy vol. 32, No. 2 pp.40-45. Safko, L. and Brake, D. K. (2009). The Social Media Bible. Tactics, Tools & Strategies for Business Success. John Wiley & Sons. U.S.A. Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of QualitativeResearch. Techniques and Procedures for DevelopingGroundedTheory. SAGE Publications. USA. Tapscott, D. (2010). Syntynyt digiaikaan. (OriginalTapscott 2009. Grownup Digital), WSOYpro Oy, WS BookWell, Porvoo. Yang, S.-H. (2009). Using Blogs to Enhance Critical Reflection and Community of Practice. Educational Technology & Society, vol.12, No. 2 pp.11–21. 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland Innovations for Competence Management- Conference

18. ThankYou … seeyouofflineoronline : Katri.luukka@salpaus.fi Yammer: Facebook; LinkedIn; SlideShare; YouTube; Google- account: Katri Luukka Twitter: @KatriLuukka Second Life: Katrilli Kling BLOGS: Workrelatedblog(in Finnish): http://blogit.salpaus.fi/huomiopaikalla/category/katri-luukka/ Kati’sMeaningful Social Media Leadership Experiences (in Finnish): http://katri-luukka.blogspot.com/ Katri’sMeaningful Social Media LeadershipExperiences(in English): http://katrismeaningfulexperiences.blogspot.com/ Katri Luukka MBA 2011: Managers’ Experiences of the Use of the Social Media as Part of Their Leadership: Towards the Social Media Leadership Theory Katri Luukka PhD-dissertation 2007: Meaningful Learning Experiences of the Newly Graduated Practical Nurses in the Elderly Care: Feeling Mirror as a Reflector of Meaningful Learning Experiences http://www.uku.fi/vaitokset/2007/isbn978-951-27-0801-7.pdf Innovations for Competence Management- Conference 19th May 2011, Lahti, Finland