Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform The Way You Lead

Chapter 5. STRUCTURING OPENNESS WITH SANDBOX COVENANTS

Now that we've gone through establishing your strategy and understanding the benefits, a concern is likely overshadowing your enthusiasm—namely, that openness feels risky and dangerous. You're not alone. The most frequently asked question I get is how to deal with the sense of being out of control when you come face-to-face with openness, especially when you are asking skittish executives to jump in with you. Although outlining the benefits helps, I urge you to also put in place the policies, processes, and procedures that will help you manage openness. You have to have a plan for how you will, in effect, control openness. This is not a contradiction—in fact, I believe it is a necessity that ...