Adapting The Serenity Prayer ... For Business (And My Other Top 10 Leadership Posts Of 2019)

2019 has been a year to remember for me. I've had the chance to watch my daughter say her first words and start to take her first steps. I've made some key decisions about my own career and prioritizing time with family. And I've gotten so much support from my colleagues as the search for a new CEO at Hootsuite gets started.

Every step of the way, I've been sharing my thoughts on this blog, and getting such incredible feedback from all of you in return. A sincere thank you for reading and being part of this.

Without further ado, I wanted to share my top posts of 2019, ranked by number of views, with some quick comments and observations:

10. The Wooden Puzzle Box (And 12 Other Brilliant Networking Hacks): Real networking between two people unfolds over years or entire careers and is deeply reciprocal. But you've got to get it started somehow! In this post, I crowdsourced some incredibly innovative ways to get noticed and spark a connection, from "Instagramming your resume" to sending puzzles through snail mail.

9. The 3 Golden Rules Of Great Swag: If you’ve worked in the corporate world, you know free t-shirts are a dime a dozen. Same goes for scarves, buttons, USB drives, pens, notepads, mouse pads, iPhone cases and the endless array of cheesy swag circulated by most companies. But it doesn't have to be that way — you can make stuff people will actually use and wear! You just need to keep a few critical guidelines in mind.

8. How Smiling At Work Can Help (And Hurt) Your Career: “Service with a smile” is a familiar expression and we all try to put on a good face for customers and colleagues. But why, exactly, are smiles so powerful, and can we find ways to tap into the power of smiling at work? A little research suggests that there’s definitely more to smiling than meets the eye, with plenty of applications to our work life. But there’s one big catch: It’s got to be authentic.

7. The New Social Network That's More Addictive Than Facebook: You may never have heard of TikTok, but chances are the kids in your life have. The China-based social network made its US debut in 2017 and now counts more than 100 million American downloads, rivaling WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger most months as the most downloaded app. So what's the appeal? Behind the lip-synching videos and catchy memes is a platform that leverages next-gen AI to hook users ... for better or worse.

6. We Now See 5,000 Ads A Day ... And It's Getting Worse: Currently, Facebook generates upward of 98% of its revenue from ads, while for Twitter the share is around 85%. Issues around ads have led to Congressional investigations, Parliamentary hearings, and lots of hand-wringing among ordinary users. But is there an alternative? A look at China's social networks shows a very different way forward.

5. The Major Customer Service Fail ... No One Is Talking About: Two-thirds of consumers now identify messaging apps as their preferred way to engage with brands — ranking it above phone, email, live chat and even face-to-face interactions. There’s just one problem: fewer than half of businesses are equipped to connect with customers via messaging apps. Here's what it will take to close the new "customer service gap."

4. 5 (Overlooked) Gadgets That Might Change Our Future: Here are five random innovations (from smart cribs to carbon sequestration plants) that get me excited about the potential that tech holds. It’s probably no coincidence that I became a dad recently. It’s hard to be pessimistic about the future of the world when you’ve just welcomed the next generation into it.  

3. My Top 10 Leadership Hacks ... Ever: In honor of Hootsuite's 10th anniversary, I wanted to share some of the tips and hacks that helped us grow from a startup powered by passion (and lots of coffee) to a global enterprise. For other entrepreneurs and leaders out there, I hope these tips can help you on your journeys … so I’ve even included a few illustrations to make them easy to remember.

2. Social Media's Rules Just Changed. Here's How To Keep Up: RIP, “town square.” Hello, “living room.” In a single blog post earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg quietly upended the world of social media, reframing Facebook as a largely private communication tool — a place for people to message one-on-one or within small, closed groups, rather than simply to post publicly. But as the “town square” model recedes in prominence, where, exactly, does this leave brands that have come to rely on social media as a primary means of reaching their audiences?

1. How To Adapt The "Serenity Prayer" For Business Decision-Making: Behind the famous "Serenity Prayer" is a 2,000-year-old Stoic expression that translates roughly as, “what is up to us, what is not up to us.” Remembering this distinction can help when facing challenges in life, and it forms the cornerstone of many therapeutic approaches for addiction and other disorders. But it also has important — and overlooked — applications in the business context.

Thanks to everyone on LinkedIn for reading and commenting this year and making me one of the most followed bloggers on the platform. Have a great New Year and may 2020 be filled with joy and prosperity for you. Stay tuned for more to come!

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