Data Mining for  

Social Movement Theory Analytics  
in Leadership Engineering 
by Patty Johnson 

February 18, 2011 
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Data Mining for Social Movement Theory Analytics in Leadership Engineering
 

“Smoke filled conference rooms with fist banging, object throwing, and a lone

woman or none at all were norms at the outset of my business career. Despite some

changes, professional women’s groups participate in a chorus of head nods when I speak

of the times. … You are at a meeting. You say something and are ignored or negated.

Within minutes (at this point women begin nodding their heads) a man in the group

presents the same idea, with almost identical words. Everyone thinks it’s a great idea and

no one seems to notice that you said the same thing a few minutes ago. You are

dumbfounded the first time this happens. The third time you stop speaking” (Perschel 3).

Where can one turn for advice?

Glen Kelman, Redfin CEO, was listed as one of “10 Examples of Tremendous

Business Leadership” by American Express (Stansberry). Under his leadership, Kelman

decided to charge clients only one-third of the amount typical for real estate agents. This

created a serious problem as other agents refused to use his service and proposed that

others do the same. Kelman turned to social media and started a blog to outline his

dilemma and the reasoning behind his decision. He said, "I honestly believe that if Redfin

were stripped absolutely bare for all the world to see, naked and humiliated in the

sunlight, more people would do business with us" (Stansberry). His approach is

incredibly forthcoming and highly successful. How can others emulate his leadership

style? Where did he get the inspiration to choose this path of action?
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How does the leader of tomorrow prepare today? What tools are necessary and

relevant to how businesses function and remain sharp? How does one remain up to speed

with current trends, leadership styles and management approaches? How do we analyze

data and tap into creative minds to engineer leaders? Imagine listening and learning from

the best and the brightest minds on the planet through social media tools. An ancient

Chinese Proverb states, “A single conversation with a wise man is worth more than ten

years of study” (Quote Garden). Social movements coupled with social media identify

paths of daily opportunities to listen, learn and then lead; thereby engineering leaders.

In seeking to find solutions to challenges leaders and businesses are facing today,

where can one turn? Data mining for social movement theory analytics in leadership

engineering through social media is the direction of the future and provides inspiration

for future leaders to follow. Data mining provides the information and statistics to help

identify patterns. Social movements demonstrate the power of people to affect change or

to implement new thinking. Social media provides tools to create instant communication

and direction. The combination of all three creates an energetic environment that can

engineer leaders.

Data Mining 

Can data mining fill in the gaps and give focus to an otherwise murky situation?

What exactly is data mining and what value does it bring? Jason Frand, Technology

Professor at UCLA, explains it this way, “data mining (sometimes called data or
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knowledge discovery) is the process of analyzing data from different perspectives and

summarizing it into useful information” (Frand). Simply having lots of data is not

necessarily a great thing unless a way can be found to use it and apply it.

Social Media 

What is social media and how can it be applied? Social media is technology for

social interaction. A few of the most popular social media tools include Facebook,

Twitter, RSS feeds, email, and texting, Utilizing social media tools such as Facebook or

Twitter allows a person to learn tips, tools and techniques from role models in real time.

Social media outlets are tools of today that are helping to engineer the leaders of

tomorrow. Michael Stallard, President of E Pluribus Partners as well as a speaker and

author on leadership, tweeted “We can’t self-help our way to greatness. It requires

humility and wisdom to know we need coaching, advice and encouragement from others”

(Stallard).

One of the goals of social media is identifying people who are considered

influential in their respective spheres. The discovery of those with whom one identifies

propinquity creates an instant rapport and engaging environment which motivates one to

emulate the actions and decisions of those he/she is “following.” Tweets (texts on

Twitter) are microblogs that are limited to 140 characters which can be sent directly to a

cell phone. Once one has identified a person or company of interest, he/she can choose to

“follow” (receive) the posted tweets. Tweeting is the preferred tool for engineering

leaders as the information can be relayed, read and received in an incredibly short time

allowing opportunities to think, react and lead.

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As of April 2010, Twitter touts 105,779,710 registered accounts with an

astounding average of 55 million tweets each day (Bosker). Facebook currently touts

over 500 million active

Figure 1: Twitter Relationships
accounts and 10,000 websites

plug in to Facebook every day

(Facebook). Roughly twelve

million American bloggers

were counted in April 2006

(Caslon Analytics). RSS feeds

claim “1.6 million podcast

subscribers” (Hrastnik).

USAToday states that email

in the top four email service

companies holds a record

651.3 million users (Graham).

With such enormous resources

available, one can easily Source: <http://www.datamining.typepad.com>, April 8, 2007

identify and tap into people

and/or organizations with the skill set and knowledge that one individually seeks to gain.

Figure 1 is a graph demonstration of Twitter relationships in Belgium discovered through

data mining and demonstrates levels of interconnections in relationships (Hurst).

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Social Movements 

What are social movements? What role do they play in leadership applications?

Social movements are group efforts to propel change or to introduce new ideas. With the

introduction of social media, social movements or “opportunities for action” provide real

time access to industry and opinion leaders which can engineer the leaders of tomorrow

(Canel 15). Since no one has time to research everything coupled with unexpected

opportunities to act that rarely surface when one is seasoned and prepared, social media

tools can inspire, instruct and institute leaders. Professor Domhoff, University of

California, Santa Cruz, said, “But case studies also show that these movements go

nowhere without an electoral component” (Domhoff). He goes on to list examples such

as women’s suffrage and civil rights. History concurs that these movements would not

have succeeded without electoral support. Social movements can be as simple as

organizing a neighborhood to protest another bar moving in or additional unwanted

development to an already congested area. However, social movements must be

presented in a positive way with solutions and not only complaints. This is where

engineered leaders are needed.

Facebook is the tool of choice for framing today’s social movements. Political

careers are launched and made through Facebook while Twitter allows followers to feel

personally connected with up-to-date news. Levi Russell, Tea Party communications

director, said, “Facebook allows us to promote and organize events in a whole new way”

(Unze). Organizations have yet to realize the full potential available to engineer leaders

with daily opportunities to get involved, listen, learn and then lead.
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How do social movements define our world? Social movements give voice to the

population. Those who are educated and current on social and professional issues,

position themselves to
Figure 2: Facebook Social Graph
make a difference. This

is exactly where leaders

are engineered. There are

daily opportunities to take

a stand on an issue or

simply something that

someone deems important

enough for others to take

notice. Potential leaders

should be constantly Source: <http://www.guardian.co.uk>, 9 March 2009

seeking for behaviors and

traits that he/she wishes to acquire. By being exposed to these behaviors and traits

demonstrated through social media and social movements, they can be emulated; thus,

bridging the gap from theory to practice. Figure 2 beautifully highlights connections

while heavy clusters of stronger relationships are clearly evident (Kiss).

Leadership Engineering 

What is leadership engineering? How does one engineer a leader? A Harvard

Business School study demonstrates that “the being of being a leader and the actions of

the effective exercise of leadership can be accessed, researched, and taught” (Erhard, et

al. 2). Just because one isn’t born with inherent leadership abilities, does not preclude
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him/her from achieving leadership skills. The skills that are researched and achieved

through diligent efforts generally pay the most dividends. Sometimes people are placed in

situations where he/she must either stand up or choose to remain silent. One more readily

chooses to stand when one feels prepared to do so. The global laboratory, that social

media and social movements provide, engineers future leaders.

A recent example in Utah is found in Holly Richardson. Richardson is a

politically active mother who decided to blog and tweet about the Utah Legislature

during session. She gathered quite a following as there were many people interested in

keeping up with what was happening on Utah’s Hill, but who were unable to witness or

study it. Richardson enjoyed this level of involvement so much that she volunteered to do

it again the next session. Her continued study of the legislative process through the

members of the Utah House and Senate became incredibly valuable to those who

followed her. Richardson learned things that she could not have learned anywhere else.

She shared her thoughts and discoveries with those who were following her. This created

an environment of change as well as many opportunities for hundreds of people (her

followers) to lead and make a difference. Boundary lines were recently changed and the

incumbent Utah House Representative for Richardson’s area was deposed. This created a

unique and unforeseen opportunity to hold an emergency election in which she was

prepared to jump in and run. Speaking to her community, she said, “We need the ability

to have someone hit the ground running, who knows the people and the process on the

Hill” (Warnock). Richardson won by an overwhelming margin and was sworn in as a

Utah State Representative where she will continue to Tweet, blog and remain socially

connected to those who rely on her to keep them current.

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Another example comes from Iceland. In 2007, shoplifters in Iceland preferred

leg of lamb over anything else with cheese, bacon and coffee coming next in line. With

the recession in full swing, staples outweighed the typical stolen items one would expect

to see. Through data mining, it was determined that £1.6bn worth of products was stolen

by customers while employees helped themselves to an additional £1.3bn. Not to be left

out, suppliers soaked their clients for £209m in fraudulent charges. The list isn’t complete

yet, £73m went to credit card fraud, 39m to outright robberies and a whopping 666m was

lost through waste. The bill for the increased cost of additional security (the knee-jerk

solution) came to £785m. The grand total for covering the cost of theft was £4.6bn

(Hadfield). Data mining can help manage inventory, but it cannot groom a leader. The

information, while invaluable, needs to be coupled with application of leadership skills to

implement a solution. Shoplifting was clearly the social movement choice in responding

to the economic pressures. Responding through social media, a simple, fast and effective

method of sharing information and thoughts, executives were able to truly benefit from

real-time knowledge. The trickle-down effect of their decisions impacts the economy and

ultimately all consumers. Retailers and businesses took note of what other business

leaders across the globe were doing to address this issue before coming to a conclusion of

their own. The utilization of social media tools inspires new thought while providing

model behavior of those deemed impressive enough to “follow.” The success of leaders

becomes the success of business which becomes the success of the community.
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Global Laboratory for the Leaders of Tomorrow

As you can see, data mining for social movement theory analytics demonstrates

daily opportunities for leadership engineering and provides a path for future leaders to

follow regardless of the industry. Data mining can highlight patterns in behavior,

perspectives and thought processes that lead to impressive leaders. Social media tools are

effective in social movements as well as in day-to-day decision processes that create

opportunities to engineer leaders. They are also incredibly powerful in garnering electoral

and old media support.

Ghandi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world” (ThinkExist).

The world has yet to truly tap into the talent and creativity inherent in utilizing social

media and social movements to create the leaders of tomorrow. There are a few who have

begun to seriously incorporate this global laboratory for his/her growth and skill set. The

future holds only the limits which one places on himself/herself. Communities have yet to

see the benefits and the capabilities derived from social media and social movements.

The impact this will have on our world can be all that it is visualized to be.
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Works Cited 

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