Who is in Your Network?

Between Facebook, twitter, and LinkedIn we each have the opportunity to build vast networks beyond those we regularly see face to face. Who are you adding to your network? Why those people? How are you using your network?

The Who

As with anything that can be measured, some people add to their networks just to have a bigger number than those who they “compete” with. I know of one person on facebook who looks for any attractive female to add to his facebook network; obviously to feed insecurity and feel good about adding the ladies who are his facebook friends. Some people use social media purely for a business networking system and post information and comments like Jack Webb of Dragnet – just the facts.

Using social media as a competition of numbers, to feed insecurity, or to simply sell yourself are all missing the greatest opportunity of networking.

Who are the people you want to stay in touch with on a personal level? Who are the people you want to build working relationships with? Who are the colleagues you enjoy sharing a few words with periodically? Online networking is more like a cocktail gathering. It’s about the personal points of interest, the links or sharing of information you find valuable or enjoyable and for some there is a business component to inform, engage, or involve people in your occupational activities. The key is to have a reason for your network and then fill it accordingly.

The How

Online networking is about the mixing of the personal and the professional. Too much business and you are known as a spammer only looking to sell something. This doesn’t work in the online networking environment anymore than the person at a business cocktail party, who is aggressively passing out business cards and cornering people to talk about his latest and greatest ideas. Find the balance.

The Resource

Networking is all about connections and knowing who knows what, and who to go to, to learn about what they know. How are you positioned in your network? Are you the person who is the first to post the funny joke, video or picture? Are you the person who is the trivia expert? Are you the person who sends out great information on the niche you serve? The way to be valuable to any network is to be known as the source for something specific your network finds value in, and to be a good online friend. Understand the rules of online networking, be active, and add benefit. What is the value you bring to your network?

7 Keys for Boundless Success

1. Believe in your strengths. That belief will provide boundless opportunities to succeed.

2. Fears are the obstacles to success. You can’t eliminate them (nor do you want to) but use that as navigation devices to find the correct path for your success. Recognize sometimes a fear is the last obstacle to overcome in achieving greatness.

3. Avoid the negative thought others feel obligated to cast in your direction as “sound advice.” Miserable people want everyone to see the world as they do to justify their attitudes.

4. Turn off the TV. The negativity and misinformation on the television is an overwhelming reason the masses don’t what to thrive. You are not part of the masses. When you let a box do your thinking for you, it will try very hard to keep you thinking inside the box.

5. Try new things. A fearful society finds comfort within the rigid walls of their rut. Always keep the walls of your groove flexible and frequently look beyond them.

6. Use your written voice. Writing is a great way to express your thinking and find clarity for your actions. Good writing is also persuasive and gathers those of like minds you want to attract.

7. Never stop. Set your mind to understand there is no finish line until you are ready to walk away and be done. Many people once successful are no longer because they thought they had arrived at the finish line. You are either moving forward or moving backward in life.

3 Steps for Regaining Control

We are lazy, not committed and expect someone else to do the heavy lifting. We no longer want to get ahead, we just want to hold steady and coast. We want to keep things the way they are, or were. If you are coasting you are going downhill. If we are waiting on someone else to do the heavy lifting; good news! China and India are glad to take over the burden of being the best economies in the world.

The government isn't going to fix us. The economy isn't going to go back to how it used to be. We have to make the redirection of the economy in this country happen one business at a time, one day at a time. Business is the driving force that has the potential to make this country a strong economic power once again. It’s time for business leaders to take control, and for the rest of the country to hold them accountable and do our part to support this recovery.

Step 1 Me first

Whenever there is a risk to be taken, whenever there is a big effort to be made, whenever there is someone who has to put it all on the line to make something dramatic happen, most people have the same response: you first.

How about “Me first?” We must stop waiting around for someone else to fix things. If I am a business owner or executive I need to accept the position of leadership and take action that may feel risky, that may jeopardize my position, which may seem like a crazy amount of work; but guess what? THAT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!

Leaders are responsible for taking the lead. I am tired of hearing about business leaders not wanting to try new things, not willing to accept needed changes in how a business operates, not willing to invest money in their employees right now. Act like you belong in your position. Act like you want things to change and are willing to take the lead. Take the attitude of “Me first” in leading the economic recovery for your organization.

Step 2 Get over it

When did Chicken Little become the voice of reason for leaders? When did it become acceptable behavior to cry for mommy when things got tough? We want someone to come protect us, to bail us out from the mess we created, to make the boo boos all better. Get over it! Take responsibility for your company. Take responsibility for your job. Take responsibility for cleaning up the mess that has been created and get to work on doing the right things no matter how hard it may be.

If we allow our fears to prevent us from taking the right path to success no matter how hard it is, we will never get employees to follow. In fact, if we wimp out, they will want the same things we want: bail outs, freely eliminated debt with no consequence, and someone else to take the first steps for making a difference. Take action. Silent those fear voices and build your courage to be bold.

Step 3 Believe

The media have been telling the younger generations there is no way they can exceed the lifestyle of their parents. They are telling all of us the glory days of America are behind us because China and India are just going to overwhelm us economically by sheer numbers. Why do we just accept this as fact? Don’t give up!

A person who graduates from college and then moves back in with the parents, which is happening with greater frequency, is not taking the steps to get involved. That’s not taking action to make a difference in the world -- it is a retreat and parents are allowing this back up behavior because “It’s rough out there.” As long as you believe it’s rough, it always will be. How does this retreat make things better? What happened to bold steps of confidence? How did courage become in such short supply?

Fears have people worried they are going to lose their investments, their property, their future. You can listen to the fear mongering or you can do something about changing that prediction of doom and gloom, but it all starts in that 6 inches between your ears. Once you believe, deep down in the core of your being, you can be the best; you then can make a difference. You have the ability to correct the course you are on – then you can get to work making it happen.

Stop letting the media do your thinking for you. Start believing it’s time to regain control and take it, use it, and make the right things happen in your life once again.

I Am Not a Prophet!

Not long ago in a strategic planning session I was working on two year projections for goal targets with an organization and one of the VPs commented, "How do you expect us to see the future, I am not a prophet."

Are you kidding me? If this was an isolated incident I would say this person was just tired and cranky that day, but the fact is: this is the pervasive opinion in far too many executive offices.

Business leaders seem to have forgotten how to measure risk/reward when making corporate decisions. Could this be why they spend more time evaluating golden parachutes than researching business trends and market analyses?

I'm not picking on my client executive. In all fairness, he seems to listen to all sides before making decisions and fully understands the strategic planning process, but the reason I am mentioning it here is because he is part of the risk-averse epidemic sweeping across the business landscape in this country.

Failure is an option!

The glare of Wall St and the microscopic analysis from stockholders has inhibited timid executives from stretching and trying new ideas.

"If you hit a bull's eye every time, you are standing too close to the target."

People are losing the sense of adventure, their willingness to try new things, their ability to learn from failures. In every bank there is an acceptable amount of loan loss. In every manufacturing organization there is an acceptable number of workplace accidents, in every food company there is an acceptable amount of food waste. Does this mean these companies condone these "failures"? Not at all, but they all realize if you are going to operate near full capacity there are going to be some mistakes and if people are so afraid to make mistakes they will slow down and operate fearfully, that isn’t profitable.

Why are we not employing this to our executive initiatives as well? We need to try different things without people scared they are going to be fired. We need to experiment on ideas in order to find the new things that do work, that are great, that send the company into a new level of profitability.

Hewlett Packard started out by making oscilloscopes and Sony began by making rice steamers. What if they had stopped there? They experimented and tried new things to grow their organizations into what they are today.

Push the edge

Get in the habit of asking your executives and managers to present new ideas that can improve the company. Make it part of every weekly meeting. Let them run with ideas and encourage them to have fun experimenting. Create the mindset that the edge is to be pushed during the idea stage.

Award financial grants for pet projects and let people participate across divisional lines. Frito Lay ran a contest for the best ad idea for the Superbowl Dorito spots. It wasn't the marketing department or an ad agency that had the best ideas. Get people involved.

When you encourage people to try new things and think freely, they will reward your company with great ideas, and even executives might be able to feel confident in making a best guess projection 24 months out.