A Super Round-About Way to Get to a Point

The other day, I read a post asking if people were "truly" connecting on LinkedIn. The concern was that people were more interested in accumulating numbers than in actual networking.

This has been a lament for as long as I've been on LinkedIn. Most of the replies agreed with the OP; a few took a more opposing viewpoint: "Write more engaging content" was one, for example.

For people in the "Open to Work" community, this leads to a tough spot. "Engaging content" means different things to different people; and -- for the most part, today -- it means building your own personal brand.

Some of us, though, are less inclined to boast about ourselves; or to write content that simply promotes us (as compared to our work). Last week, I read something from Priya Bates, ABC, MC, SCMP, IABC Fellow , where she said (and, forgive me if I butcher this interpretation), that most nternal communications professionals are more comfortable in that arena because they largely eschew the public spotlight. They far prefer working behind the scenes. I've long said I'm more Toby Ziegler (from the TV show "The West Wing") than CJ Cregg, so that sentiment resonated.

LinkedIn can be soul-sucking at times ... more people than ever cross my feed "out-of-work." Some are in the early stages -- still in the "I'm looking forward to the challenge!"; some are later -- the "I'm going to lose my house." And then there are those who do land new roles (which, in some ways, is akin to winning the lottery, these days) who try to be inspiring by saying things like "Your time will come too!" or explaining how they got there (which - surprise! - is largely doing the same things we all do). And, it becomes "noise."

Recently, though I connected with two individuals that I'd absolutely recommend following:

Hillary Brown -- who has a "no-BS" approach to things. She readily admits looking for work absolutely sucks. She's calling out the hypocrisy in the process, while still remaining remarkably upbeat. She's real. And, you can tell - just by reading her posts - the passion she brings to what she does. In fact, in her transparency, she's far more inspirational (to me) than people who try to be inspirational.

Ashley Amber Sava -- she's has a journalism background, so I get that she's a great writer; but she is an amazing writer. Her detailed approach to communications (especially internal communications) is inspiring (and I'll confess to saving much of what she writes because it is so good). While I imagine most successful internal communications people do the things she says; the way she's able to present that information is remarkable (and, as we move towards more of a "metric-driven" world; having such an outlined process is an enormous advantage).

I consider myself a good writer (and good at what I do, for sure); and yet, I'm also pleased that I find people that inspire me. To find people who are genuine (and, still post about the work product) is absolutely refreshing. It reminds me of LinkedIn's original purpose.