YOUR LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY
In order to determine if social networking could or should play a part in your leadership style, ask yourself the following question. "What is my Leadership Philosophy and do I exhibit and share it with others?" Without the answer to this question, it is difficult to know where to begin integrating social networking tools into your leadership style.
For example, your leadership philosophy might be:
"I believe in providing challenging and rewarding work in a flexible and engaging environment." (this happens to be mine) Or
"I will be a responsible, intelligent leader who is known for achieving excellence, making a difference, and always exhibiting integrity" (this belongs to Cherlyn Foster, Alcoa)
Your Leadership Philosophy is an important part of your leadership style. It is the compass by which your leadership decisions are given direction. It should help define and shape your brand image for your customers (employees) just as a company’s brand slogan ("Nothing Runs Like a Deere", "Think Different", "Just Do It") does for its products. This is not an easy task to accomplish and requires some thought into how you want to be perceived by others as well as what you feel strongly about. Sit back and think about some of the great supervisors, managers and leaders you’ve worked with and for over the years. What traits stand out strongly for you that you admire and want to emulate? How will these traits benefit your company and your leadership style? Frame a brief statement around these traits that informs others about your style. Be sure this is something you can (or already do) have in your style naturally. This should be a statement that genuinely reflects your authentic style. If it isn’t quite ready for "public consumption" find a mentor to help you round out the rough edges.
Now that we’ve covered your Leadership Philosophy, whom have you shared it with? Who knows what you stand for? Just like with a product in the market for sale, if it isn’t advertised appropriately, no one is going to buy it – or at least not many people will buy it. So, if you don’t make your leadership philosophy known, you likely won’t have many followers. And what is a leader without followers? Share this with your boss, your peers, your direct reports and other colleagues. Sharing it includes reflecting your words in your everyday interactions. Be sure your behavior is intentional and authentic. Now it’s time to put your philosophy into action to get the word out. Here is where some social networking tools can help. But, where to start?
WHAT CAN SOCIAL NETWORKING TOOLS DO TO HELP YOU SPREAD THE WORD? I found it was easiest to start small. I set myself up with a Twitter account. This would allow me to be able to share articles, insights and websites that reflect my leadership style. I found articles on websites like CNN.com, HBR.com, WSJ.com, and Inc.com. These sites have a handy button to click and post to Twitter. The articles I choose to share reflect my passion around my Leadership Philosophy. Rather than just quickly sharing the article, I ask probing questions that encourage my followers to read the article and share it with others. My following was (is?) small, but it grows a little each week. Twitter gives you suggestions for people to follow based on your interests and others that you follow. Begin following several people and they may follow you back. If you find you don’t have the time to peruse websites regularly to hunt down articles that resonate with you, I recommend subscribing to their RSS Feeds. What is an RSS Feed (Really Simple Syndication)? It is a method of directing website updates directly to your Outlook Inbox, Google Reader account, or other RSS reader.
Have a LinkedIn account? LinkedIn is a professional networking site. My connections on LinkedIn are strictly those people I know through professional interactions. To reach a broader audience, connect your LinkedIn account to Twitter. Then when you share via LinkedIn you can post to Twitter simultaneously. For an additional way to reach more, connect Facebook to your Twitter account and all three are updated with one post. The path I follow most often is LinkedIn to Twitter to Facebook.
To make these connections, the following links will provide instructions:
http://learn.linkedin.com/twitter/
https://support.twitter.com/articles/31113-how-to-use-twitter-with-facebook
Finally, I need to mention one of the newer players in the social networking sphere, Pinterest. Initially, this site was accepting members by invitation only. This lent itself a certain mystery and elite feel that increased its popularity quickly. It started out with a largely female membership as a way to share photos, craft ideas, and recipes. You get the idea. But then, something shifted. I recall an article that intrigued me regarding how leaders can use Pinterest. After reading the article I created a few boards on my Pinterest profile where I can pin articles that I enjoyed or want to read later. My Pinterest account is connected to Facebook and Twitter, so I’m able to update Twitter with my Leadership pins on Pinterest. Now Pinterest is growing even faster – as of June 2012 it was the third largest social networking site. A recent article in Forbes gives steps to use Pinterest as a way to promote your business. These same steps can be applied to promoting your leadership philosophy.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IT’S WORKING FOR YOU? So now you have your philosophy, you’re matching your actions to your philosophy and using tools to share it quickly with others via social and professional networking sites. How will you know it’s working for you? How do you know others are picking up the messages you’re putting out there? There are some ways to measure your impact.
As any leader knows, you can’t be a leader without followers. You can gauge your reach by monitoring the growth of your followers on most of these sites. Most social networking sites have the option to post comments to items others post. Facebook includes a Share option where others can share what you have posted. Twitter has a similar feature called Re-Tweeting. All of these sites send notifications when others re-tweet, share or comment on your posts and tweets. These can help you get a feel for whether or not your message is coming across. Even better, there is a site that gathers this information on your social and professional networking activity and calculates a score that measures your influence, Klout.com . Your score is updated daily, so you can easily see the impact recent activity will have on your overall influence score.
SO NOW WHAT? There is a lot to consider when it comes to social networking and your leadership style. Bottom line – know what you want to communicate to others, know your audience, and be intentional about your actions. Let the websites do the heavy lifting by connecting your accounts together to reach a broader audience and enjoy the results as you watch your influence grow! Happy Tweeting!
Your Guest Blogger,
Liz Meeks
Find me here:
Highly еnergetic blog, I enjоyed that a lot.
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