Why don’t management and business schools teach Governance, Custodianship, Stewardship and Curation in the same way that they teach Leadership?

They are not quite as popular or sexy, certainly.  Maybe that’s why.

My intensive research (The Amazon.co.uk book department search facility) shows that Leadership is 97.968x sexier than Curation (Leadership – 146,854, Governance – 54,799, Stewardship – 17,143, Custodianship – 1,633, Curation – 1,499).

Leadership IS popular and sexy (Think: Obama, Buzz Lightyear, John Wayne).  Governance, Curation and the others aren’t (Think: Civil Service, Libraries and Museums).

But I don’t think the Leaders of the UK’s biggest companies are seizing the opportunity to Lead in the online world.  In fact, as a group, I think they’re out of their comfort zone – frightened even. (I say “as a Group” careful to acknowledge that there are exceptions!)

There are global Leaders (Zappos) who have dived in and set the pace.  And there are Curators – firms who are protecting what they have and avoiding risk and adventure.  Online is a new playing field.  An unexplored terrain.  It’s the PERFECT place to demonstrate Leadership and for us to see Leadership at work – a brave new world, full of commercial and social opportunity (and risk), where brave and inspired pioneers can make an impact.

Many of our more placid people and institutions are strutting it online (e.g. The Queen on Twitter).  Our big companies aren’t.  Their Boards, their Leaders, do not yet seem comfortable revealing of themselves online, being accessible, engaging and “coming out to play” (as The Cluetrain Manifesto said).  The online world feels like a Party to which everyone is invited and everyone has turned up.  Except UK plc and the 2,792 CEOs who lead the UK’s largest (stock-market listed) companies.  Or if they have turned up, then they are in the kitchen helping serve the beer.

The British Monarchy, the British Houses of Parliament, every political Party, every MP as an individual, the Government, the British Library, the Vatican, every single film, book, piece of music and cultural show, performance and performer, any and every Charitable cause, celebrities and most brands, not to mention 17% of British small businesses and every single school.  They’ve turned up.

So here’s my point: if Leadership is so sexy, why are the CEOs of big companies not, as a whole, displaying it?  Online, at least, they are acting more like curators and stewards of their enterprises than Leaders.

The CEO needs to get out there.  The CEO needs to lead,  The CEO needs to be brave.  The CEO needs to show that he or she has something of value to say in the The Conversation.  The CEO needs to be where the customers and staff are.  The CEO needs to be approachable and accessible, if not a little accountable too.

The time will come when it’s normal to acknowledge:

  • The positives (engagement, productivity, innovation, cost reduction) outweight negatives (fear, mistrust, loss of control and reduction of hierarchy).
  • Online Thinking should come first and not as an afterthought.
  • Openness and an Open Approach to customers, staff and society improves business.

The Leaders, not the Curators, will recognise that first.  The cascade has started.  2010 will be a decisive year of change for Leadership and each one of the 2,792 CEOs personally – and their collective £3,588bn market capitalisation – should seize that opportunity.