Leadership on the Web: A Cautionary Tale

The irony of a post cautioning readers in regards to leadership writing on the web is not lost on me. That said, the decline I found in scholarly publication related to leadershiphas been accompanied by a erratic but increasing trend in web publications on leadership. There is more material on the web than scholarly sources by more than an order of magnitude. The 6.5 million pages from 2014 alone represent more than all of the scholarly articles ever published... Leadership lessons from Captain Kirk, Jimi Hendrix, and Scooby Doo anyone?

Amidst this deluge of information how is a leader to decide? Human nature inclines us to select material that tends to agree with what we already know. This is called confirmation bias, and in practice it tends to play out like the old saw of, “to a hammer every problem looks like a nail.” There is also still new leadership scholarship related to outmoded theories. As a result the complex nature of the academic discourse make it impossible for someone on the outside to judge what is currently viewed as viable as social scientist Harry Collins has recently argued. Anti-vaxvers, climate change deniers, and creationists are all symptoms of this problem. Polarized topics such as these are also easier to navigate than the dozens of current theories and topics related to leadership.

If you cannot trust everything you read in a scholarly journal what does that say with regards to the web? Every person you interact with may have a completely different idea of what constitutes good leadership. If that person is your boss what seems like an exciting new article on leadership to you may fall flat in the face of their beliefs. If you lead others they will likely respond differently to new ideas on leadership as well. Your own bias may also lead you to reject something you read as well.

So what is a leader to do? Given the complexity of the situation, an act of inquiry may be the only undeniable act of leadership. Reflect on what makes you agree or reject a post. See what the scholars say, and explore the responses of those you live and work with. Out of that dialogue a shared understanding of leadership can be developed. This not only opens the door to new material, it can also enable you to lead more effectively!

What do you think?