A New Kind of Leadership

Why are we touting Web 2.0 and not providing Leadership 2.0? Educators are embracing portable computing, social networking, webcasting, virtual reality…..all kinds of revolutionary technology tools that have implications for teaching and learning. So why are we still offering educators professional organization models from the industrial age?

We see society is changing through an information-driven revolution, with technology providing the means for the transformation. Both data and technology change so quickly, today’s students expect flexible, dynamic options for learning, creating and problem solving. Why should educators demand any less?

Today’s students and young professionals (aka Generation Y or the Millennials):

• value flexibility, mobility and portability
• are savvy consumers of information and media
• will have several careers in their professional life’s time
• are social entrepreneurs: culturally diverse; globally aware
• seek meaningful work that is in balance with life out of work
• use technology for entertainment, information, multi-tasking, networking and synergy
• are not influenced by branding, celebrity and commercialism
• do not join organizations for the sake of belonging or out of professional loyalty
• participate in organizations for immediate impact and outcome

Sustaining existing organizations by doing things the way they have always been done and relying on technological innovation to fuel interest in potential members will not suffice. Memberships and monies are dwindling, and Millennials feel no loyalty to organizations that are top-heavy with overhead and inflexible to their quickly-changing needs. The 20th century model for professional organizations needs to evolve in order to remain vital and relevant moving forward.

To survive, twenty-first century organizations will need to mirror Millennial values by:

• espousing a dynamic vision
• operating to meet Millennial needs rather than meeting a bottom line
• diversifying across cultural, geographic and political boundaries
• emphasizing immediate benefits over the value of long-standing membership
• creating flexible opportunities to connect and get involved
• offering just-in-time professional development on the fly
• using Web technologies for communication and professional development
• developing partnerships and sponsorships with existing organizations
• contribute to an individual’s balance of life and work

Certainly society is still transitioning into this new paradigm of the twenty-first century, and there is still time for organizations to transform themselves to address the demands of this new way of teaching, learning, living and working. As we launch at NECC, CRSTE is ready to get started!