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Leadership Forum: We created this

Over the course of my tenure as a leader, I have been active on several social media platforms. I have long believed that as leaders we must meet the people we serve, and those we serve with, where they are. For many, social media is where they are. Increasingly, I meet and speak with people who only use social media channels to connect with the world around them. Things like e-mail, reading newspapers, listening to news radio, and watching the news on TV are rapidly becoming ancient history for many of the people we serve and lead.

Social media has been a powerful and important tool for me, especially during my 25-month role as COVID-19 Incident Commander. Focusing on the positive, social media allows me to share information, engage and connect with large numbers of people in a short period of time. I have witnessed the power of social media, and I have learned much about the realities of these platforms, and both the people and bots that use them. Unfortunately, as professor Randy Pausch explained in The Last Lecture, experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

As leaders, I don’t think we spend enough time being candid with other current and future leaders about the realities of these things. I am, admittedly, one of the people who has regularly encouraged leaders to get active on social media, to be engaged, transparent and connected.  

In this edition’s article, I want to share some of the candid, raw and real lessons that I have learned about social media, and to talk openly about the darker side of social media and those who created it.

The candid truth is this: While I absolutely have many positive and valuable experiences with social media, I have also seen the nasty, negative and even dangerous side of this world as well. Social media is quickly becoming a place where click warriors and cowardly trolls live and thrive; a place where the perception of anonymity encourages people to say and do things that they would never consider doing or saying in person or in the daylight; a place where the ability to drive dangerous and hurtful disinformation campaigns is but a few clicks away.

As I look back at the plethora of antisocial behaviour that I have both seen and been subjected to via social media, it scares me to think that this world of social media-fuelled negativity and hate was created by us, as the people that make up society. We made this, we created this, and we are the ones that continue to fuel this engine that all too often runs on abuse and hate.

It seems regrettably undeniable to me that far too many people have forgotten how to say thank you, how to be kind, how to build others up, and how to smile. 

So many people, and far too many leaders, have become more focused on amassing followers than building leaders, on airing personal dislikes and grievances rather than extending a helping hand, and on finding, or even creating, some nugget of controversy rather than being purveyors of peace and hope. 

We have become a society where being seen as an influencer is more valuable than having influence; where celebrity is mistaken for competence and wisdom; where wealth has become the path to power instead of the path to generosity; where work ethic has been replaced by expectation.

Today, more than ever, we need leaders who will be voices of positivity, hope, and encouragement. We need leaders who are focused on being voices of calm and truth, against a backdrop of fear and disinformation.

If you are a leader who chooses to create and maintain an active social media presence, be prepared for the negativity and attack that will undoubtedly come your way, especially as your social media following expands. Dealing with all of this can take a toll, both on you and on those who care about you.

If you choose to be active on social media, remember to never debate or argue with a troll. There is a high probability that you are being engaged by a bot anyhow, one that has been programmed and commissioned to lure leaders into engaging, as they feel the need to defend themselves.  

Thank you for being a leader who is committed to making a positive difference and who will leave it better than you found it.  

Now, more then ever, we need you. Trolls, bots and click warriors need not apply.

Matthew Pegg is the chief with Toronto Fire Services, having previously served in Georgina, Ajax and Brampton, Ont. Contact Matthew at matthew.pegg@toronto.ca and follow him on Twitter at @ChiefPeggTFS.