Leaders' Pride and Prejudice on LinkedIn

“I'm proud to share that…”

“I'm thrilled to have had the opportunity to…”

“Yesterday, I was thrilled to…”

I'm sure you see these phrases every day on social media. And, of course, most frequently on LinkedIn – the place where we gather to share our successes and achievements. As heartening as it is to see many users in the professional network unafraid to show their emotions, simply listing those emotions is far from the most effective way to do so.

Each of us works (not always consciously) on building our personal professional brand through our presence on LinkedIn, as well as expanding our own network. You have the right to choose how active to be and what approach and expressive means to use. In your LinkedIn network, however, you have not just contacts and followers, but people who want to know what (and how) you think.

And they expect you to share with them. Let's not fool ourselves – leaders lead and in that sense, they are obliged to set good practices. This includes telling stories of their success more interestingly.

For instance, letting the audience form their own impressions about how “happy,” “proud,” “joyful,” or other similar emotions the author felt, which in a LinkedIn status might seem rather superficial. And this wouldn't be a true “The Linked Practitioner” article if I didn't offer concrete advice on avoiding superficial posting about otherwise significant events for you and your teams.

Storytelling to Depict Success

I begin, of course, with storytelling, a now-classic format for “depicting” success. Storytelling has been part of our civilization since the era of cave paintings, but has definitely evolved, especially in the last thirty years. It's no coincidence that upon receiving an “Oscar,” great actors recall their childhood, their parents' support, and their challenging moments – Hollywood are masters of this narrative.

“The Hero's Journey” isn't just a technique in making Hollywood blockbusters. It's how we experience and make sense of our lives – both personal and professional. Go back to the beginnings of projects, and pay attention to the difficult moments and those “helpers” and mentors who were with you in key situations. Tell about the transformations and the path after achieving the big dream. Well, you don't need to list all 12 stages of the journey that Joseph Campbell describes in “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” but being inspired by them will surely help.

Gratitude as a Way to Celebrate

One of the unwritten rules in managing people and businesses is that a good manager never succeeds alone but always takes responsibility on behalf of everyone.

Remember this next time you need to mark an important achievement on LinkedIn. Let the Pride of the distinction be replaced with gratitude towards the team and... please, risk missing someone (if we return to the cliché), but do mention some of the contributors and tag them in your update. Such posts are a great way to circumvent Damocles' sword of “look, they're boasting again” and to extend a hand in sharing the joyous occasion with your entire audience.

Finally, a few words on the visual representation of successes in the professional network. The marketing team might insist on using a beautiful template with corporate identity, but those 500 or 5000 people who have agreed or even wished to follow your content, want to see... you. So, use an informal, unprofessional photo from a key moment or even a selfie with the trophy – both your audience and LinkedIn's algorithm will “like that.”

Your personal prejudices on the matter simply don't matter – we live fast, we post fast.

This article was first published on Forbes Bulgaria. Don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter here!