Social is here and adoption continues to grow. Like any technology or tool, your social network is only as good as our understanding of HOW it can be used. I know many are still trying to get our minds wrapped around how social media helps us do business, and I would argue that one of the most obvious opportunities for using social networks is in one’s professional development. At the beginning of each year, we look to our development over these next 12 months. I would encourage you to add intentional use of your social network into your professional development objectives and here’s why/how:
- Blogging
- How?: Each associate on my team will have a development objective for 2013 requiring them to produce a blog post each quarter, and I try to produce 2 each month.
- Why?: We all need to regularly celebrate our victories in the work we do. Let’s be honest, there’s always more and it can always be done better. I’m asking my team to stop regularly and reflect on their progress regularly – it helps both of us with their year end appraisals. Better yet, their lessons learned can be someone else’s lesson learned.
- Why?: It’s a resource for others across the company. Just last week I got an IM from someone who had my internal blog about governance. He asked for (and I sent) an example governance document, and just 5 minutes from typing “governance” in our company’s search, a guy I had never met from a different line of business had a resource to help get started with a task he’d never worked on before. In a more personal story, a blog post from the VP of Capital One University has completely reset my leadership development in 2013 with her use of one sentence. You never know how your words may bring value to others across the company.
- Why?: Preparation for influence. We know that the ability to influence is highly valued in the workplace. I find that blogging helps in a couple of different ways – first and foremost, it helps me solidify my message. Sometimes you need to capture ideas in a digestible format (this blog as an example), so that you can better articulate your message. Could you write it on paper or OneNote? Sure you can, but how would others benefit from it. Secondly, blogging gives you a platform. Sometimes that platform is small, but I find that people who meet me will go read my blog (both in the network and outside the network) and my credibility is established because they can see my experience, thought processes, writing style, and experience.
NextGen Performance 