Office politics could cause you to shake your head in resignation – it stops you getting things done, new ideas implemented, customers signed….or does it?
Office politics can be counter-productive, but only if you don’t know the rules. Taking the time to understand the workings of the office learning to navigate the politics can make you extremely effective.
Get a reputation for being effective by understanding your office. Learn who makes the sales, who signs the cheques, who makes the hiring decisions, who can get you time in the CEO’s diary and so on.
There is an underbelly of office politics - the gossip, backstabbing, non-transparent decision making and so on. I am not suggesting you get off the bench to play this part of the game but rather learn the rules at your office and which playbook everyone is reading from.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Young professional series : Do you have a social media strategy?
What is a personal social media strategy?
1. Which social media applications do you choose to use?
2. Of those applications, who do you choose to connect with?
3. How regularly do you interact with people through those applications?
4. How do you portray your brand in each of those applications?
I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all to social media, but I do think that it is essential that you consider your strategy.
My strategy (which you are free to steal or give constructive feedback on) is as follows :
I choose to interact on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and this blog. In my opinion, these are the leaders in the social media arena and best serve my objectives of staying connected and building a personal brand.
On Facebook, I connect with friends, family and colleagues with whom I have a personal relationship. On every connection I consider the risk of the information that these connections will have access to and manage my privacy settings. The updates are usually personal : My daughter is taking her first steps, my son has learnt the letters ‘R’, ‘Z’ and ‘C’ etc… I also use it to share photo’s with friends and family. I never post anything that would damage my personal brand.
On LinkedIn I connect with all colleagues I have had a conversation with, any prospective or current clients that I have met through work, networking functions or social interaction. On occasion I will connect with people I have not met personally – but that is the exception rather than the norm. I also connect with friends that are on LinkedIn as I believe that friends are an important part of my professional network. I am NOT a LinkedIn open networker (or LION). I don’t think this adds any value to my LinkedIn network and actually exposes my connections to 2nd and 3rd degree connections of the open networkers (which could be the same as introducing my competitors to my client base). I regularly post links and news articles that I think may be interesting to my network. This is extremely simple as I have linked Google Reader to LinkedIn – whenever I “share” an item in Google Reader, it updates my LinkedIn status.
I have not really decided how I am using Twitter, I simply decided it would be good to get on the bandwagon! All my LinkedIn status updates automatically post to Twitter, so my Twitter posts are more business related than anything else. I have branded my Twitter page to match the blog to differentiate it from a standard Twitter page. I accept all connections in Twitter and automatically follow back all connections. Hopefully my Twitter tribe will keep growing steadily until I actually determine the best way to interact with them and leverage this social media asset.
My blog was created to provide an outlet for random business related thoughts. It is intended to supplement my on-line presence and form part of my personal brand. My Twitter posts appear on a widget on the blog as well as any articles I find time to write.
All of these interactions with the Social Media universe are managed in such a way that they form a constant brand message. I have the same picture on each site and try to update them all regularly.
That’s me. Like I said, I can’t prescribe a strategy for you – but I do recommend that you get one.
1. Which social media applications do you choose to use?
2. Of those applications, who do you choose to connect with?
3. How regularly do you interact with people through those applications?
4. How do you portray your brand in each of those applications?
I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all to social media, but I do think that it is essential that you consider your strategy.
My strategy (which you are free to steal or give constructive feedback on) is as follows :
I choose to interact on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and this blog. In my opinion, these are the leaders in the social media arena and best serve my objectives of staying connected and building a personal brand.
On Facebook, I connect with friends, family and colleagues with whom I have a personal relationship. On every connection I consider the risk of the information that these connections will have access to and manage my privacy settings. The updates are usually personal : My daughter is taking her first steps, my son has learnt the letters ‘R’, ‘Z’ and ‘C’ etc… I also use it to share photo’s with friends and family. I never post anything that would damage my personal brand.
On LinkedIn I connect with all colleagues I have had a conversation with, any prospective or current clients that I have met through work, networking functions or social interaction. On occasion I will connect with people I have not met personally – but that is the exception rather than the norm. I also connect with friends that are on LinkedIn as I believe that friends are an important part of my professional network. I am NOT a LinkedIn open networker (or LION). I don’t think this adds any value to my LinkedIn network and actually exposes my connections to 2nd and 3rd degree connections of the open networkers (which could be the same as introducing my competitors to my client base). I regularly post links and news articles that I think may be interesting to my network. This is extremely simple as I have linked Google Reader to LinkedIn – whenever I “share” an item in Google Reader, it updates my LinkedIn status.
I have not really decided how I am using Twitter, I simply decided it would be good to get on the bandwagon! All my LinkedIn status updates automatically post to Twitter, so my Twitter posts are more business related than anything else. I have branded my Twitter page to match the blog to differentiate it from a standard Twitter page. I accept all connections in Twitter and automatically follow back all connections. Hopefully my Twitter tribe will keep growing steadily until I actually determine the best way to interact with them and leverage this social media asset.
My blog was created to provide an outlet for random business related thoughts. It is intended to supplement my on-line presence and form part of my personal brand. My Twitter posts appear on a widget on the blog as well as any articles I find time to write.
All of these interactions with the Social Media universe are managed in such a way that they form a constant brand message. I have the same picture on each site and try to update them all regularly.
That’s me. Like I said, I can’t prescribe a strategy for you – but I do recommend that you get one.
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