Lord of Strangers: Zuckerberg's Leadership Dilemma

Facebook's latest privacy imbroglio isn't freaking me out about the future of the social network, but it does make me wonder whether the world's youngest billionaire can survive as an effective leader of what is, depending on the day and the measure, the world's largest online property.

I'm a confessed Facebook junky with a rather odd, broad, and well-shaken mix of friends. As such, it is difficult to imagine Facebook being displaced as the world's primary social network any time soon. Too many people have invested too many hours cultivating their Facebook connections, personas, and daily habits for any newcomer to compensate us for the switching costs. On the flip side, yes, it is tough to imagine any decently intended missteps from the Facebook side that would make the bulk of us depart en masse. 

To be clear, I'm not going to argue whether or not we *should* all be deeply concerned about how the privacy of our data and posts has been handled. I'm just holding fast to the point that, realistically, too many of us are too invested in Facebook for even serious privacy concerns to legitimately threaten it's social supremacy. I mean, if we refused to stop shelling out serious coin for Microsoft/Intel devices in the face of their repeated failures to shore up security, does anyone seriously think that a broader cross-section of he world's population will now give up Facebook's free services?

So, sure, perhaps Zuckerberg does indeed have a solid fact base to be, at least on the inside, sanguine about how willing his user base is to forgive his mistakes handling our data. Fine. But here is where the story of Zuckerberg shifts from digital wunderkind to morality tale, from a plot focused on what he has achieved...to who he really is.

Zuckerberg finds himself the primary owner of an insanely valuable cache of consumer data gathered through a confluence of perceptions that he has created the world's broadest and most hospitable place to relax, reconnect, and share. On the one hand, the monetary value of his creation leads his investors and partners to demand that this 26-year old prove himself the hard-as-nails businessman worthy of running one of the world's biggest companies with billions in perceived revenue opportunities still left on the table. On the other hand, the 450 million strong members of the online community he built expect that he behave with the graciousness and hospitality expected of the host of the world's largest cocktail party. 

The last two weeks have proven that Zuckerberg is no Oprah. 

Zuckerberg simply does not have it in him to be *both* Chief Executive and Chief Host. Unlocking the value of Facebook requires Mark to step down from one of these roles. 

To be clear, I intend no insult here. Every founder of a successful start-up faces a similar moment where the next phase of growth requires that at least one of the many roles they filled out of necessity be given over to a specialist. The Shakespearean question is whether the ego necessary to get Zuckerberg to this point is an ego capable of recognizing its limitations in getting to what's next.

Unsolicited advice? From a distance, Zuckerberg seems to be driven more by the challenges and rewards of Chief Executive, not Chief Host. Good for him. Really. I repeat...he is the youngest billionaire in the world. Keep at it. But he is not...warm and fuzzy. The largest network of friends the world has ever seen cannot be long and well managed at an emotional distance by a Lord of Strangers.

Perhaps he could take a cue from Bill Gates in the face of staggering blows to Microsoft's reputation for its care of the privacy and security of its end users. Take a week or two off to think. Have the PR engine primed and ready. Come back with well-crafted words and as much sincerity as you can muster. Declare that nothing...NOTHING!!...is more important and valuable to both the Facebook community AND! its investors than the trust of its users. As such, Facebook will be appointing a *new* Chief Community Officer, the new face of Facebook, the new czar of privacy.

And give Oprah a call. Who knows what might come of it...

Carefully Prepared, But...

Sitting on a rock yesterday in Central Park, the calm water in front of me stretching to the leafy foothills of the Manhattan skyline, I reflected hard on what I -- uniquely -- could do to add a little flavor and quality to the world around me.

Nothing came to me. So I got up this morning and started another blog.

I noodled around with some personal writing for about a year, but each post got to be heavier lifting than the one before it as my pent up supply of stories dwindled along with my whiny backlog of self-importance as the anxiety of a divorce took up less and less of the rear-view. The connections and banter and snark of Facebooking with a brilliant and bizarre cross section of friends became a lighter, yet still sufficient way to distract and get my head right. 

Professionally, I lead digital marketing and strategy for a big old (literally, old...like, 200 years old) insurance company. A large chunk of my day is spent pushing our company's thought leaders to more deeply immerse themselves in the digital ecosphere, engaging the natives where they gather, learning their language and customs. Hopefully, we will not only earn their trust, but, frankly, better ourselves through the authenticity and transparency that is demanded out here in the wild, but is feared within the safe beige confines of a corporate home office. The best my musing on that NYC rock got me yesterday was that  I should take my own advice. So, this morning I busted out an extra big box of Pop-Tarts and booted up the Wii. With the kids distracted for a couple hours, I plopped down on my back porch to add, yes, another blog to the Internet. I imagine satellites from several countries are right this very instant trained on my keyboard to document this momentous event. Big stuff, this.

My focus here will be on the business side of things, mostly discussions of how corporations and the folks they comprise can credibly and usefully go native in the digital wild. To be clear, I am *not* a native offering sherpa tours. I'm a sunburned tourist fiddling with my own fanny-pack and Lonely Planet reviews. But, hell, there are a couple extra seats -- come along and we can figure some of this out together. I have attention span issues and regard jazz-riff conversational tangents as high art. Thoughts and shiny distractions welcome. Expected, even.

As to the title of this blog? I like words with "X" in them. (And "Q", too. Q is hands down the best Star Trek character ever, and a damn fine Bond character, too. Neither of those points is a reason I like words with "Q" in them, but both are, nonetheless, true.) I competed and coached speech and debate in high school and college and loved the extemporaneous speaking events, so that rather unique word has lingered in my head ever since. The "X" is also a cheap allusion to my slavish devotion to user and customer experience as the anchor of all digital marketing and development efforts, as well as the fact that any strategic exercise is a waste of PowerPoint if it does not lead to improved execution. Cut corners on clever, never on effective. Over the last year, my company has been searching for underserved markets and that led me into some research into the most under-served, under-appreciated, and under-paid demographic in the history of everything: Generation X. (Just saying. It's not personal. Really.) I spend a lot of time with my three kids, Emma and her twin brothers Max and Cole. They can't not slip into what I talk about. Especially Max. Max is not one to be....ignored. Finally, when I checked the Googles for the definition of "extemporaneous" to make sure there was not some embarrassing alternative definition of the term, Webster's spit out what is my current favorite candidate for my eventual, though hopefully not imminent, epitaph: 

Carefully prepared, but delivered without notes. 

[And the Urban Dictionary entry for "extemporaneous" is most, most excellent, as well.]

Some of my best decisions have come from moments spent where rocks meet water. Let's see if the streak continues.