{"id":3008,"date":"2013-05-27T07:14:56","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T12:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/?p=3008"},"modified":"2013-05-28T08:34:52","modified_gmt":"2013-05-28T13:34:52","slug":"real-leaders-pay-it-forward-on-linkedin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/real-leaders-pay-it-forward-on-linkedin\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Leaders Pay It Forward on LinkedIn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Leaders,<\/a>Real leaders pay it forward on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social networks. All effort to keep people out, and limit connections seems to be counter-intuitive to statistics principles.<\/p>\n

As you read, think of the honey bee analogy, and the potential that each honey bee unleashes by landing on, and\u00a0connecting\u00a0with, any flower that it can touch. Of course, there is the potential of the connection, but also the potential unleashed by the pollenation.<\/p>\n

Recently, I heard a speaker talking about LinkedIn say they won’t accept invitations from individuals that don’t know why they want to connect.\u00a0It wasn\u2019t the first time I had heard this position; in fact, it was more like the 15th, or perhaps more.<\/p>\n

I understand that position, but wonder if it misses the point.<\/p>\n

A Different \u2013 Better Approach<\/h1>\n

Here is an idea for a new approach \u2013 it involves paying it forward. If we just ignore these invites, how can we be part of the solution? A good number of them come from legitimate and valuable people that can create and capture value for you, and for the economy, through the connection. Sure, a few invites are spam but these are few and far between. And, one can quickly turn these off.\u00a0 One can\u2019t realize the potential value, unless you first connect.<\/p>\n

Seth Godin points out in his TEDx Youth@BFX presentation<\/a> last October on education that we need to be part of the \u201cconnection\u201d economy.\u00a0 As leaders, especially seasoned leaders, it is our opportunity to show we are not stuck in the quagmire of the past industrial era thinking, and be a real part of the social era.<\/p>\n

My Suggestion<\/h1>\n

When asked to connect with an individual, and the default LinkedIn invite text is used, I try to give some positive feedback to help that individual know what they could do better, to help engage others, grow their network, or even something more specific. Consider the response below I gave to a returning soldier from the war in Afghanistan:<\/p>\n

Hi Paul,<\/p>\n

I’m happy to help in any way I can through my network.\u00a0 Looks like you are building yours.\u00a0 Excellent! It’s a critical step in your career.<\/p>\n

One suggestion as you continue to grow your network – try to put 5 or 6 unique words in your invitation that indicate something you can do for the person you are inviting.\u00a0 Even if it’s unclear, like: “I’d like to connect and create value….through our connection.” Or, make yours up. Could even be: “I’m re-engaging as a civilian and am looking to become active in ____ market. I see you are a leader in this industry.”<\/p>\n

Please take this as positive feedback. I know a number of people that will not accept invitations to connect on LinkedIn, unless there is a personal note, like the suggestion above.<\/p>\n

Your goal is (might be) to build and strengthen your network, and if this helpful, I offer it as positive and constructive advice.<\/p>\n

Now, do let me know if there is something specific you think I can do for you – and if it is in my power, I will.<\/p>\n

Have a great weekend.<\/p>\n

Cheers,
\nAndrew Stein<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Connection Effect<\/h1>\n

Paul had less than 70 connections when I shared this with him late last week.\u00a0 Now his network has grown to over 250 members and my offer is still open.<\/p>\n

Helping any young individual, including Paul with a college degree, nearly no commercial business experience outside of the military and someone who has worked already so hard to serve can only lead to greater things.<\/p>\n

When Leaders ignore the reach-out of others that have not learned how to use social media, and build connections, they are in a way, driving a gap between the connected and the unconnected. It\u2019s not hard to see the relationship here between the\u00a0discrimination\u00a0proverbial \u201chaves and have-nots.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lost Time, Lost Opportunity<\/h1>\n

As I listen to speakers say they “won’t respond to blind invites…” I wonder if they haven\u2019t spent more time speaking about it, than it would take to keep the text above, in a TXT file on their desktop, at the ready to cut and paste and share back to any individual. Certainly that does not create value, and certainly that eliminates all chance of capturing the potential value from a connection.<\/p>\n

Paul above is a returning Marine, a Soldier who defended us, our country, its industry and our diverse culture and tolerant way of life. He’s desperately trying to engage in the workforce and be part of what we have \u2013 he is trying to make what industry has created even better by being \u201cconnected\u201d to it.<\/p>\n

He has a two-year degree in Military Intelligence, from the Naval Academy. To shun and ignore such an outstanding individual is insulting, and leaders can do better by reaching out, and sharing how to make better value of LinkedIn in the process of re-engaging as a civilian. Even university degrees do not teach in their core curriculum and basic requirements these critical steps in looking for a job.<\/p>\n

Be the Honey Bee, Pay It Forward on LinkedIn<\/h1>\n

Leaders, stop complaining about blind LinkedIn-default invitations, and capitalize on them. Be part of the solution. Having lost a brother in Afghanistan, and learning so much (including how to write) from my father, a World War II Navy veteran, On Memorial Day I am happy to help him in any way I can.<\/p>\n

What positive outcome could occur if the Gates\u2019, Ellison\u2019s, and Immelt\u2019s of the world either did this, or empowered their administrative assistant to engage the connected economy like this? Call it the honey bee effect of Social Media.<\/p>\n

Image credit: majamarko<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Real leaders pay it forward on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social networks. All effort to keep people out, and limit connections seems to be counter-intuitive to statistics principles.<\/p>\n

As you read, think of the honey bee analogy, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[104,4,39,8],"tags":[123,86,12,60,99,124,26],"class_list":["post-3008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","category-leadership","category-social-media","category-strategy","tag-academia","tag-culture-diversity","tag-design-thinking","tag-ethics-values","tag-hope-inspiration","tag-research-and-education","tag-servant-leadership"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Honey_Bee_FeaturedImage.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p25ukk-Mw","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}