E-Leadership –Emerging Behavioral
and Communication Issues
‘Kehinde Olagoke
NIGERIA INSTITUTE OF BUILDING
 Have a Vision
 Harness the Talent and skills of Team
members and clients
 Communicate & Articulate the
Vision to Team members and your
clients
 Delegate Function
 Monitor Progress, Mentor
Team/Followers/Clients
 Motivate by rewarding
achievements and reprimanding
failure to meet the challenges of the
clients.
Now significant human interactions are mediated through
information technology to produce new organizational form
and new work environment termed E-environment and the
emerging leadership is labeled as E-leadership
or Electronic leadership
The goals of leadership have not changed , but the eleader needs to implement those goals electronically
through computer mediated virtual teams that are
dispersed over space and time .
Leadership patterns are beginning to reflect transition
from industrial to post-industrial society. The new
society variously called information society, is marked
by rapid and far reaching changes in digitalization of
information and communication technology.
The use of information technology over the years
has been altering the way organizations are
Conducting their business. As a result new
organizational form -virtual organization - has
emerged.
Leader and followers now communicate
through E-technologies (telephone, e-mail, chat
social media and video-conferencing etc).
 Instant direct communication with employees,
customers, suppliers and stakeholders .
 Access to clients irrespective of location
 Enhancement of organizational performance by
making use of multi-functional teams
 Cost Reduction
 Access to information/greater workforce connectivity
 Rapid response to customers demands
 Increased or Improved Bottom-line as competitive
advantage is enhanced
 Bridging the physical distance between the leader, his
team and clients.
 Communicating effectively with widespread team
members who in turn make it simple for the clients.
 Conveyance of enthusiasm and inspiration to followers
and clients electronically
 Building of Trust with team members and the clients you
don’t see
Adaptive Structuration Theory
- Human actions are guided by structures: Structures
are rules and resources that serve as templates for
planning and accomplishing tasks .
 Technology creates organizational structures of
which leadership is a part.
 Leadership and technology have a recursive
relationship .








Be prepared
Develop New Skills
Be adaptable to Change/Flexible
Learn to Re-learn
Learn to Motivate
Learn to Build Trust
Understand the value of e-technologies
Experiment with ideas
 Comunication is key in e-leadarship. It takes place
through information technology.
 Could be verbal, non verbal, Visual , non Visual etc
 The basic responsibilities of the leader do
not change; the only thing that change is how the
leader can communicate with his people effectively
while they are not at the same office building.
 Beliefs/Perception
 Information Overload
 Assumption
 Knowing when to replace traditional work processes
with virtual ones
 Learn about cultural differences, if these could pose
problems
 Avoid the use of Jargons
 Avoid language that is confrontational or Judgmental
AnalysisUnderstandingDemographics-
Who is the audience ?
What is the audience’s Knowledge of the subject
What is their age , gender , educational background
InterestWhy are they listening to me ?
Environment- Where will this document be /presented
Needs How can I meet the needs of the audience
Customization - How can I tailor my work to meet their needs?
Expectations
What would they learn from my presentation
Note that the results of your audience analysis that will determine
the tool/channel of communication










Email
Internet Forum Discussion Boards
Weblogs
RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
Social Networking e.g Facebook, Yammer, Twitter, etc
Conferencing Tools (Video or Telephone) e.g Skype
Online Chat eg. Yahoo Messenger, Blackberry
Flash meeting
Application/Desktop sharing
Intranet
 A fairly informal business correspondence with a set of
rules called Netiquette, Digital manners etc.
 Be Concise and Unambiguous
 Be clear and Direct in the Subject Line
 Never think your email is totally Confidential
 If this is made public , would you be comfortable ?
 Do not torture your readers with abbreviations
 Use Uppercase for emphasis Only
 Don’t start with Dear Sir/Madam
 Use Informal Closing
 Don’t send one word emails
 Save a tree !
 Use the address fields with care
 Politely Sign your messages