Take your LinkedIn hat off!
Mark Williams
Delivering LinkedIn?? advice since 2008 · LinkedIn?? visibility · Informed Podcast host · One to one online coaching · Speaker · Social Selling · Online sessions
It takes a leap of faith to be authentic on LinkedIn.
More than that, it takes real courage!
But the benefits are massive... it's time to take that hat off!
This article has also been recorded as a podcast;
But before getting into that subject, I wanted to cover my thoughts on LinkedIn pulling out of China.
Microsoft shutting down LinkedIn in China. This is a disappointing and sad development for LinkedIn. I always felt they made the right decision to be the only social media platform to swallow the bitter pill of censorship in order to allow Chinese businesses and business professionals to receive the benefit of networking with the rest of the world.
It’s good that they will still be providing a jobs service with InJobs but let’s face it, advertised jobs are only one aspect of LinkedIn for job seekers and preventing Chinese Job seekers and other professionals from the opportunity to build their personal brand is a great shame.
It seems to me that this could be a result of political pressure and I suspect the US government has put pressure on Microsoft to force LinkedIn into this. If LinkedIn were not part of the Microsoft empire, I doubt this would have happened.
It seems that the rights of a few journalists have taken precedent over the rights of millions of ordinary Chinese LinkedIn users and the businesses and professionals from other parts of the world that enjoyed interacting with them.
Here is the spin that LinkedIn put on it with a statement from their top exec in China
and this blog post from Mohak Shroff, Senior VP of Engineering
I guess you can’t expect LinkedIn to say anything else publicly but I suspect they are privately pretty annoyed to have had to do this.
By the way… what knob came up with the term ‘sunset’ instead of ‘shutting down’ or closing? Silicon valley language is sometimes so horribly cheesy!
Do You Have The Courage To Take Your ‘LinkedIn Hat’ Off?
Are you different on LinkedIn? Be honest…do you put your “LinkedIn hat on’ and become a watered-down version of yourself?
Over the 13 years or so that I have been helping others succeed on LinkedIn, it has become more and more apparent that a common factor demonstrated by those who achieve the greatest success is how open and authentic they are.
Much of my time these days is spent encouraging clients to be less ‘vanilla’ and more ‘real’ with their comments and content on LinkedIn…but it’s not easy.
It takes real courage.
Exposing yourself (which is how it feels) as the real, ‘warts and all’ you is pretty terrifying for most of us!
I find that most people ‘put their LinkedIn hat on’ and behave in a very conservative, inoffensive and frankly boring manner. This is rarely representative of their character but it feels safe and they are protecting themselves from criticism plus they believe they will appeal to a wider audience…they couldn’t be more wrong!
The simple truth is this;
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“You will never please everyone but you can easily please nobody”
The point is that by being open and owning your distinct style and personal brand you will appeal to enough people and these people are ‘your people’…people who will follow you, engage with your content, refer others to you and buy from you.
You don’t need to be an extrovert, you don’t need to dye your hair pink or display colourful tattoos…you simply need the courage to behave online as you would with people you know and trust.
Express yourself - what you love and what you hate, what worries you and what excites you. Be positive and be negative but never play it safe…safe fails - courage wins!
I do think it can be helpful to set some boundaries. Aim to create a list of topics you won’t touch, these might include;
These might be perceptions rather than reality but both are effectively the same in this context.
The above are purely examples, you need to be guided by your values but create a list and then sit down and challenge each one in turn. Are you being too sensitive and cautious? Are you being courageous enough? You should aim to reduce the list of boundaries but stick with those that are very important.
Throughout this process, you will need to fight the urge to please everyone - accept that you can’t and stick to your plan. Focus on your growing band of followers, understand their needs, and focus on helping them as much as you can. All the time remaining true to who you are.
You will attract negativity and criticism, it’s actually a symbol of your success - some people won’t like you and others will just be jealous of you…and it’s OK, learn to live with it and you will eventually find peace with it.
I’m by no means a great example, I struggle with this almost every day. My podcast has really helped me find my voice and authenticity but I still find myself holding back at times for fear of attracting negativity…it’s always going to be challenging, especially when you are a natural ‘people pleaser’ but I know it’s the right thing to do.
‘Fortune favours the brave’
Be brave…be real!
Post Of The Week
I had three fantastic nominations this week and it was a really difficult choice but in the end, I opted for this one from Jocelyn because I think it demonstrates exactly the points I have made about being authentic.
I’m a big fan of these topic-type hashtags and the #thislittlegirlisme one has been really popular and inspired many great posts. This has in turn inspired many more including this excellent one which motivated Jocelyn to open up about her unusual family background in a very public way. It clearly resonated with many other Linkedin users based on the engagement statistics!
That’s it for this week, I love to know your thoughts on China or the challenge of being authentic so please get in touch.
Until next time…
This article has also been recorded as a podcast;
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I help professionals improve job performance & multiply opportunities via CONFIDENT ENGLISH communication... My in-class students call me "Mr. Don't Panic!"
3 年Enjoyed this episode on my commute home last night Mark. You took it in a slightly different direction than I thought you might based on your intro... I love it when that happens.
● LinkedIn Profile Writer ● Independent LinkedIn Trainer ● LinkedIn Profile Workshops ● 170 recommendations ?? Australia based and don't work or connect globally as family complains my voice travels through walls ??
3 年Another great episode - I was very moved by your share of this #ThisLittleGirlisMe because while I say loudly and often how everyone needs to get comfortable with being like vegemite - not everyone's flavour, I know it's challenging putting yourself out there. Especially when pink hair and mohawks aren't quite your thing. I've not contributed to the #ThisLittleGirlisMe because my childhood wasn't what others might expect of me. Not unlike like the post of the week you read out and have captured here. But the world really really needs people to be themselves, because it gives others permission and courage to be themselves. An inspiring episode. Thank you.
5x Author ?? Business Book Coach & Live Stream Strategist ◆ Making Books & Video Easy Peasy ◆ Host of the Easy Peasy Books Podcast
3 年Great episode/newsletter Mark Williams. Loved that you referenced Jocelyn Brown's post and the #ThisLittleGirlIsMe hashtag. Great example of many many women who "took off their hat" and got personal. ??
Senior Copywriter ?????? Storyteller ??? Wordslinger For Hire ?? Delivering Fast & Efficient Copy ?? TikTok Micro-Influencer (@TaiFreligh: Gen X / 80s Nostalgia) ??
3 年Love this. All very good points. Oftentimes social media can be our version of what we think is the person people want to see and so we talk differently or post differently to give an impression. That rarely works out for people. Most folks want authenticity and originality. It's a bit different here on LinkedIn because your audience can both be potential future clients, friends, business associates and also a future employer. I like to be authentic without getting too personal or unprofessional. People are watching what you do on LI and adding it into the mix when considering whether to hire you or contract you for services. While I don't speak negatively about former employers, I do toss things up for discussion about the hiring process and way jobseekers are treated because I know this is a community of both fellow job seekers and also recruiters and hiring managers and both can speak to the process as a whole. Hopefully everybody comes out better on the other side. I recently took a hiatus from all my other social media and just focus on LinkedIn for now. I am currently freelancing, providing consulting services AND looking for a full-time job, so my LinkedIn profile can be all over the place! ??
Geographer. Teacher. Geoeducator. Georesearcher. Curriculum editor. Online tutor. Geofreelancer.
3 年Well, I have to say that I am very unhappy with this decision of the LinkedIn network! This is very unprofessional and discriminatory for a social network that promotes professional services and different types of jobs. Most of the innovations, technologies and quality videos are from China. The largest number of cooperation and jobs in the field of education, science and tourism is in the Chinese market. Losing millions of users, on a social network where more than 70% of people are not too active, can lead directly to the bankruptcy of this social network. Every businessman knows that if he wants to sell something, the main goals are most often: India, China, USA, Brazil, Japan, Nigeria, some of the Middle Eastern countries, certain European countries, and of course Australia. I'm just wondering who's next? Russia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Germany, Egypt...? This will certainly lead to the creation of a new Chinese social network (many already exist) for finding jobs, exchanging ideas and cooperating. It will probably be much more popular in the world, with more users and more free options ?? . Not a good business move for LinkedIn!! A red flag for all of us who are active on this network ??