Blog Assignment: Creating Leadership Network by using Social Network Analysis tools

As we know the fact that it becomes complex in business world as one’s reaches to the top of pyramid and where; it’s most critical to survive and sustain while driving businesses to the success. Leadership network is the way to respond to the changing world which is based on the interconnections and coalitions. Leaders constantly require learning and collaboration to solve complex business problems while strengthening the relationships in fields, communities and organizations.

Leadership network will provide the resources to support the leaders and increase the scale and scope of impact which leaders can have individually and collectively. The power of this network will further catalyze the relationships and connections while strengthening the impact as a whole.

It would be a very essential tool for the organizations, recruiting firms and the individuals itself to leverage on their exiting professional networks including LinkedIn contacts.The formation of close personal and professional relationships through bonding is a key characteristic. Different leadership networks will require the different metrics to evaluate the success.

• Organizations Leadership Network: A set of social ties that are structured to increase the performance. These ties could be informal and can exist outside the formal organizational structure.

• Peer Leadership Network: A network connecting leaders sharing the common interest and practice to address the shared practices, assumptions and standards for what is expected.

• Collective Leadership Network: A system of social ties where everyone is attracted towards the common goals. As the leadership grows locally, the network starts aligning and connecting to the larger network.

Some of the advantages of the leadership network would be as:

• Introductions - Introducing each other in each other's networks.

• Peer Support - Providing support to each other to reduce feelings of isolation in the system.

• Collaboration - Collaborations around shared issues and common problems.

• Peer Coaching - Knowledge and expertise sharing about challenges e.g. financial sustainability, alliances and partnerships.

• Resources - Sharing resources with each other to get quick and reliable information.

• Job Assistance - Providing information about new job opportunities and job references.

Challenges:

It would be difficult to bring everyone on board and collect information from the top level. Survey can be floated among the processional network to collect all the relevant information to analyze the network.

Name

Age

Gender

Marital Status

Location

Designation

Organization and Function

Previous Industry 

Education and University

Evaluations:

• Connectivity (ties, nodes, ego networks)
• Overall health of Network (ties strength, density, distance)
• Network Outcomes and Impact (centrality measures in terms of degree in and out, betweenness, eigenvector, closeness for both directed and undirected networks.

Social Networks in Organizations

Hult International Business School

Monika Tanwar