I was reading an article in HBR on the elements of successful leadership.  It was a great HBR article.  And as I read it, I thought that it applied to Social Leadership in the way that Great companies should use social — as a way to build relationships.  

Here are the modified Social 3 Gs!

The 3 G’s!

  • Gifted.   Your social communications needs to be both content rich but engaging.   Your gifted communicators need to also be able to master having a strong Point of View and to be able to handle conflict without being offensive.
  • Game.   In social, you need to be able to fail fast.   In Social, you need to have the courage to take risks.   Just as a leader needs to be “vulnerable and open to challenge and criticism” , your social engagement needs have confidence.   The kind of confidence that allows them to be questioned by others  without becoming defensive.  This is the way that true innovation occurs!
  • Generous.   Your social strategy needs to put to ensure the goal is for the good of the overall client ecosystem. It should be good-hearted, mutually respectful, and gracious, resisting the urge to dominate, or take the upper hand. Part of being generous with others also means taking an interest in, learning about, and offering opinions regarding your clients and employees.

I think these 3 G’s should guide the Social Conversations in the Blogosphere.  What do you think?