The highly publicized outrage of Egyptian Citizens and the ultimate fall of its long standing Egyptian President has been and will remain, in my belief, the defining moment in the open and social revolution that is now underway. But more important, it will define the future of corporate leadership and governance in the US for all organizations – whether private or public, even if leaders don’t know it yet in our capitalistic and democratic society.

Now I know you think I may be overstating the facts. But let me lay the foundation for what I believe is an upcoming upheaval in leadership and governance in Corporate America:

• First, In the past decade, we have seen the steady increase in the balance of power between customers and employees and their company’s leaders and directors which is putting significant strain on traditional governance systems – be it public (citizen led outcries) or private (customer and employee dissatisfaction). 
• Second, as social media continues to spread across the world (Facebook and Twitter now reach nearly 10% of the global population or 600M people), we are likely to see increased tensions among citizens and their leaders and that contagion will not be contained just to just the Middle East. Mark my words — it will spill over to America where our citizens feelings of anger will continue to rise. There is no stopping the ‘social revolution’ that is happening in Madison Wisconsin and in time, ‘we the people’ will let our government know how unhappy we are. 
• Third, for business leaders and corporate directors, the most important outcome of the Egyptian crisis will be the challenge to Corporate Governance and leadership itself – not just to government. The reason is simple. That challenge to companies and their leaders did not just arise in the wake of the Great Recession that just occurred. Rather, it happened over many years and began to manifest itself a decade ago when corporate trust in companies hit all time lows as a direct result of rising income inequality, high unemployment, spiraling budget deficits, and a host of other issues. Social Media (Facebook and Twitter) is simply enabling customers and employees to express their discontent, the same way citizens did in Cairo, Egypt and are doing in Madison, Wisconsin.

As such, if you want your organization to prosper in today’s socially networked world, its time to understand what really happened in Egypt and how that is beginning to play out in the corridors (employees) and shopping malls (customers) of America. Remember, much of what went awry in Egypt started many years ago and was the direct result of bad governance, poor decision-making, and traditional, top-down leadership models. And the same can be said about many of our own most ‘esteemed’ companies and their leaders n the US (e.g. Greed and lack of awareness).

It’s time for corporate leaders and their directors to truly understand the power of customer- and employee- led conversations empowered by social media and how those conversations will change what businesses do, how they do it, and how they will be led and governed. The bottom line: nothing less than a shift from traditional, closed governance to open social leadership is required. Further, this shift is not just about thinking about how to authentically engage with your customers and employees using social media —although that’s a part of it. Rather, It’s about rewiring the fundamental ways companies are governed, managed, and led. It’s also about changing how we view businesses and the way they create and measure value.

Social media changed the face of Egypt forever. It will do the same to Corporate America. It’s only a matter of time. So take hear if you are a leader in America. What happened in Egypt is going to happen here and it will impact all organizations. It’s only a matter of time. Whether you are leader of a government or a company, open a dialogue will your customers and employees and engage your constituents in social and personal interactions. WE can’t afford to kill the golden geese (Democracy and Capitalism) that has made America GREAT!