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The Engaged Leader: A Strategy for Your Digital Transformation
NYT and WSJ bestselling author Charlene Li guides business leaders deeper than ever before into the uncomfortable and ever-changing terrain of the digital era
Technology has revolutionized the very idea and nature of relationships between leaders and their followers. Yet, many leaders remain stuck at arms-length from those they lead and serve, relying on specialized teams to interact with customers, their direct reports to keep tabs on how employees are doing, and on the digital natives in their organization to stay abreast of new technologies.
Now, in The Engaged A Strategy for Your Digital Transformation , Li helps leaders adapt to the demands, and opportunities of digital leadership. To be a true digital leader requires a you must connect directly by listening, sharing, and engaging using digital technologies. This metamorphosis is not easy, comfortable, or painless—if your palms aren't sweaty or your stomach isn't churning, then you probably aren't really practicing digital leadership.
The Engaged Leader addresses why leaders need to master a new way of developing relationships, which begins by stepping out of traditional hierarchies; how to listen at scale, share to shape, and engage to transform; the art of making this transformative mind shift; and the science of applying the right tools to meet your strategic goals.
This transformation is not optional. Those who choose not to make this change will be abandoned for those who inspire people to follow them.
The Engaged Leader provides leaders with the skills and confidence they need to transform their leadership, and in turn, their organizations. The Engaged Leader also provides guidance to institutions—businesses, communities, and schools—on how to develop and nurture digital leadership. It is a must read for anyone who values a deeper connection between leaders and those they serve.
Technology has revolutionized the very idea and nature of relationships between leaders and their followers. Yet, many leaders remain stuck at arms-length from those they lead and serve, relying on specialized teams to interact with customers, their direct reports to keep tabs on how employees are doing, and on the digital natives in their organization to stay abreast of new technologies.
Now, in The Engaged A Strategy for Your Digital Transformation , Li helps leaders adapt to the demands, and opportunities of digital leadership. To be a true digital leader requires a you must connect directly by listening, sharing, and engaging using digital technologies. This metamorphosis is not easy, comfortable, or painless—if your palms aren't sweaty or your stomach isn't churning, then you probably aren't really practicing digital leadership.
The Engaged Leader addresses why leaders need to master a new way of developing relationships, which begins by stepping out of traditional hierarchies; how to listen at scale, share to shape, and engage to transform; the art of making this transformative mind shift; and the science of applying the right tools to meet your strategic goals.
This transformation is not optional. Those who choose not to make this change will be abandoned for those who inspire people to follow them.
The Engaged Leader provides leaders with the skills and confidence they need to transform their leadership, and in turn, their organizations. The Engaged Leader also provides guidance to institutions—businesses, communities, and schools—on how to develop and nurture digital leadership. It is a must read for anyone who values a deeper connection between leaders and those they serve.
110 pages, Paperback
Published March 17, 2015
41 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
About the author
Charlene Li
13 books103 followersFor the past two decades, Charlene Li has been helping people see the future. She’s the author of six books, including her latest, The Disruption Mindset: Why Some Businesses Transform While Others Fail. She also wrote the New York Times bestseller Open Leadership and co-authored the critically-acclaimed book, Groundswell.
Charlene is also an entrepreneur, the Founder and Senior Fellow at Altimeter, an analyst firm acquired in 2015 by Prophet. With over 20 years of experience advising Fortune 500 companies, she is an expert in digital transformation and strategy, customer experience, and the future of work. Charlene also serves on the regional board for YPO, a global network of CEOs.
Charlene is a sought-after speaker and has appeared at events ranging from TED and the World Business Forum to SxSW. She has appeared on 60 Minutes and PBS NewsHour and is frequently quoted by news outlets like The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and The Associated Press.
Charlene was named one of the Most Creative People in business by Fast Company and one of the Top 50 Leadership Innovators by Inc., Charlene graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received her MBA from Harvard Business School. She lives in San Francisco.
Charlene is also an entrepreneur, the Founder and Senior Fellow at Altimeter, an analyst firm acquired in 2015 by Prophet. With over 20 years of experience advising Fortune 500 companies, she is an expert in digital transformation and strategy, customer experience, and the future of work. Charlene also serves on the regional board for YPO, a global network of CEOs.
Charlene is a sought-after speaker and has appeared at events ranging from TED and the World Business Forum to SxSW. She has appeared on 60 Minutes and PBS NewsHour and is frequently quoted by news outlets like The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and The Associated Press.
Charlene was named one of the Most Creative People in business by Fast Company and one of the Top 50 Leadership Innovators by Inc., Charlene graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received her MBA from Harvard Business School. She lives in San Francisco.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 17, 2015
As a social media practitioner, I knew the principles and benefits that the author spoke of in this book but I rated it 5 stars because of how the book could actually jumpstart a non-digital CEO into becoming an engaged one. The book speaks more to those who are intimidated by social media and puts into a logical and systematic framework what steps they need to take to painlessly and successfully embrace digital engagement.
August 10, 2017
Practical sound advice
Gives good advice to reach out to internal and external customers. The advice can be used straight away and makes this less scary to do
Gives good advice to reach out to internal and external customers. The advice can be used straight away and makes this less scary to do
January 27, 2021
your digital transformation, there's a process and framework to achieve goals via digital, could sell this!
July 26, 2021
Modern leadership tools
Once again Charlene Li nailed an important subject for leadership at all levels. Easy-to-use skills that are relatable and t
Once again Charlene Li nailed an important subject for leadership at all levels. Easy-to-use skills that are relatable and t
March 17, 2015
Full disclosure, I am a Digital professional something or other. This book is OK, though am only pretty sure I am not its core demographic target, which appears to be executives—I dare say, primarily C-suite execs—who have heard something about this newfangled Internet and stuff but haven't quite had the opportunity to discover more; those who have are still unconvinced. The title is accurate enough, but my biggest gripe is that the subtitle vastly overstates the scope of the book; it is less about Digital (with a capital D) and more about the Social aspects of it. Frankly, the reason I picked this book is to get more perspective around the big D.
On the upside, although it could have been shorter still, the book is a quick read. It makes four statements: listen, share, engage, and transform, and provides some supporting case studies. I especially enjoyed the anecdote about Red Robin's Pig Out Burger to reinforce the idea of sharing internal communications—It's not all about the Internet.
The author tries to close by adopting Kübler-Ross' 5 stages of grief model—reducing it to four steps, but these are weak tea—too forced. She would have been better off adopting the model as-is—though, I suppose, "depression" may be a bit harsh.
NB: This review is cross-posted on Amazon.com.
On the upside, although it could have been shorter still, the book is a quick read. It makes four statements: listen, share, engage, and transform, and provides some supporting case studies. I especially enjoyed the anecdote about Red Robin's Pig Out Burger to reinforce the idea of sharing internal communications—It's not all about the Internet.
The author tries to close by adopting Kübler-Ross' 5 stages of grief model—reducing it to four steps, but these are weak tea—too forced. She would have been better off adopting the model as-is—though, I suppose, "depression" may be a bit harsh.
NB: This review is cross-posted on Amazon.com.
April 7, 2015
I'm averaging my rating because I already live and share online so this book didn't have anything new for me. I'd give it 2 stars for someone like me. If you're an executive with the ability to delegate and you're not already sharing online or participating in your intranet, then this could be a 3-4 star book for you - 3 stars if you already know some, 4 if you haven't done anything in this arena yet.
I mostly read this book because Li is speaking at my organization's conference this summer, and I wanted a preview of what she might discuss. I figured it would be a quick read, and it is. I'll be interested to hear how she translates the content of the book to a profession where it's rare for a director to be able to delegate personal posting or content aggregation. Although I know it would date the book, I was disappointed that there weren't more tools and daily strategies mentioned.
I mostly read this book because Li is speaking at my organization's conference this summer, and I wanted a preview of what she might discuss. I figured it would be a quick read, and it is. I'll be interested to hear how she translates the content of the book to a profession where it's rare for a director to be able to delegate personal posting or content aggregation. Although I know it would date the book, I was disappointed that there weren't more tools and daily strategies mentioned.
October 19, 2016
I'd tried HootSuite couple of years back but for the over abundance of complexity in dashboard, I'd not used it effectively. This time as Li suggested, I've aggregated the social feed in single platform and hope to make some difference. Also as she mentioned, small minute improvement achieved on each days would get us to the epitome of professional life. That's inspiring.
Finally the book is abridged version and good read !! I recommend !!
Finally the book is abridged version and good read !! I recommend !!
November 30, 2016
While this book focuses only on the digital part of being an 'engaged' leader, it would probably help to have more context on being an engaging leader as well. How does one use social insights better to realign strategy and keep peers, seniors, and subordinates engaged and productive?
The book captures the 'what' part of engagement well enough, but more focus on the 'how' would've been even more insightful. However, for someone fairly new to digital, this book does offer a fair bit of insight.
The book captures the 'what' part of engagement well enough, but more focus on the 'how' would've been even more insightful. However, for someone fairly new to digital, this book does offer a fair bit of insight.
May 21, 2016
A good book on leadership and use of social media. Charlene Li presents an easy to understand framework to become an engaged leader via social platforms. Using the framework of listen, share, engage leaders can learn how to amplify their presence and engage members of their organization in a way that creates value and is aligned with strategic goals.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews