I just returned from a quarterly management meeting being hosted by a client.  It’s a two-day meeting being held offsite for 30 mid- to senior-level managers of a business unit.  During the meeting, Pete, head of a 1200-person business unit, unveiled his brand-new blog.  I really admire Pete. He’s been taking risks and encouraging his staff to do the same.  When he revealed the blog today, his group gave him some good natured ribbing– “So, can employees ‘write on your wall?’ ” and “Yeah, SURE they can post anonymously.”  And: “What? Are you going to go on Twitter now too?!” Pete openly admits that this experiment may not work.  In general, efforts to use social media have not taken hold in his company.  However, Pete remains undeterred. He wants to fully explore the opportunities that a social media platform can bring to his workforce.

Now, I’m not a social media expert.  I’m not specifically advising Pete on his social media use.  But if I can help him somehow figure it out, then I’ve helped him in his larger goal, which is to communicate with his employee base.  And he did hire me to do that. 

So, I’m doing a bit of informal research on Pete’s behalf.

First, I posted this tweet before I left the meeting:

I chose to do so discreetly, as nobody in the room is on Twitter.

So far, I’ve had this suggestion from colleague MaryJo Asmus:

I’m also going to check in with my LinkedIn and Facebook networks to see what they have to say.

Are you a part of a large corporation that’s incorporating social media into its business practices?  In particular, are any executives or senior managers doing an internal blog?  If so, what advice would you offer to Pete so he can make this endeavor a success?

Build on existing blogs for your success

We’re closing in on nearly a year of blogging here at The People Equation. It’s been a fantastic journey, one that Alexia Petrakos (aka The WPChick) recently chronicled in a case study. (Thanks, Alexia, for helping launch the blog!) Blogging has opened up my professional horizons and increased my visibility within the online community. It’s led to some great opportunities, including  a stint as an Office Politics Advisor and a feature article on Forbes.com last month. Still, when talking with my non-blogging work colleagues, I shy away from mentioning that I write a blog.  Why?  I’m not sure, but somewhere in my mind, there’s a stubborn perception: “Blogging isn’t real work.”

Tonight, at the inaugural meeting of the West Michigan Inforum Social Media Affinity Group, I’ll have a chance to break out of that mindset once and for all.  I’m honored to have been asked to participate in a panel discussion along with four social media and corporate communication professionals: Laura Bergells, Nemo Chu,  Cindy  Droog, and Bob Taylor.  Event organizer Penny Rosema asked me to discuss how blogging has helped build my professional brand.

Here’s an expanded version of what I shared with the audience:

Blogging can provide any business professional with a key competitive advantage: expert status.  Whether you are marketing your small business, building your portfolio in a corporation, or even job seeking, it’s beneficial to be seen as an expert in your chosen field.  In my mind, the correlation looks like this:

Expert Status –>Leads to –> Increased Opportunity

Here’s the great thing about blogs.  You don’t have to expend the effort to create your own blog; you can leverage someone else’s blog. If you become aware of influential bloggers in your area of expertise, you can then invest just 30 minutes a week making comments on those blogs to build your credibility and your visibility. You benefit by gaining visibility and the blog owner benefits from your expertise.

Yes, I did say “post comments”.  In order for this to work, you must participate.  The purpose of most blogs is to invite conversation, which requires that you join in. Being “visible” is part and parcel of being a member of the online community.  When I say be “visible” I don’t mean “let it all hang out”. Rather, I mean be confident in your ability to share your well-considered and diplomatic business-related content with the world.  If you read a post and have additional information or an opinion to share, then by all means, do so! A word of warning: “selling” of any sort, rants and general “TMI” sharing does nothing to help you build your status as an expert.

Not sure where to start? Here are a few tips to get you going:

• Find relevant blogs: Google “Top blogs + [fill in your industry key words]”
• Put 4-5 blogs you like into your Google Reader
• Set up a few Google Alerts regarding your specific keywords
• Invest 30 minutes per week reading scanning blog posts. Write 2-3 comments per week.
• If you enjoy writing, you can take it a step further: some blogs have a “guest post” tab or sidebar. If you have relevant content to contribute, don’t hesitate to ask to submit a guest blog post. Most blogs have reasonable editorial standards; it’s not as difficult as you might think.
• Not a big fan of writing? Ask to feature a blogger’s article for your newsletter, or some other source of written media.  Bloggers are typically receptive to having their content shared, as long as you get permission and don’t alter their content or bylines.
• Are you a member of a LinkedIn group, Facebook or Twitter? Share business-related content from blogs that you found helpful with those groups. Go one step further and reach out to the blogger to let him/her know that you shared the content. Building relationships with bloggers is a great way to learn about other opportunities.

If you like to write (even just a little bit) and can overcome any shyness you might have about making public comments, using blogs can be an effective business tool to help you gain visibility and learn about developments in your field of business. I wish you great success!

Photo credit: istockphoto.com © Vaide Seskauskiene

Sometimes a 140 character limit just won’t cut it, so today I’m trying something new with the Twitter’s Follow Friday. Here’s my #FF for this week, in alphabetical order and sans the 140 constraint.

Roy Atkinson, known for his witty Twitter “Groaner” puns, is as funny in real life as he is in the digital world.  A former musician, he is now an IT supervisor in Maine near Acadia National Park. He’s committed to exploring character-based leadership and does so with a buoyant energy that’s contagious.

The Lead Change Group connected me to Dave Brand. He’s a scientist by trade who now works in 3M’s leadership development department. Dave’s a talented researcher; I can always count on him to have an extensive list of best practices for any leadership-related topic.

For a truly go-give HR person, follow Steve Browne.  What I appreciate about Steve is that he’s constantly looking for ways to connect people for business purposes. Steve sends out a fantastic newsletter, the HR Net, which is also an online discussion board. Steve works as an HR director for a company that “gets” social media and fully endorses his online networking.

Franke James and I met via Twitter just a few short months ago. She’s the editor of the Office Politics website and author of Dear Office Politics: The Game Everyone Plays. She’s a wonderful collaborator and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her while we’ve worked on a few projects.

There are many reasons I follow Dan McCarthy. One is his excellent leadership blog Great Leadership. A second reason is that he’s in the trenches every day as a developer of leaders and I appreciate his “real world” take on our profession. Thirdly, even though he has a full time day job, he’s always willing to give advice and share ideas. Oh, another thing—he laughs at my jokes.

Anne Perschel is a business psychologist who recently wrote Fixing the Hole in the Corporate Soul which spurred her to start the Corporate Soul Movement on her blog.  Some people get a bit freaked out by folks with a PhD in psychology, but with Anne, you needn’t worry. She’s funny, smart and always willing to engage.

I follow Erin Schreyer because she’s enthusiastic and gets things done.  As a leadership consultant in the Cincinnati area, she’s worked to unite the leadership community by organizing some great networking events. She just finished up a certification in Marcus Buckingham’s Simply Strengths program, so if you’re in the market for that type of leadership development, give Erin a holler.

People Equation Updates

Activity on The People Equation has been light recently due to my many offline projects. Here’s a quick run-down on what’s been happening and how you might benefit from knowing about them:

The HR Happy Hour Tackles Leadership

Earlier this week I was a guest on the The HR Happy Hour radio show (Episode 35: The Leadership Show).  Talk about a lively discussion!  Well-known digital HR influencers like Jason Seiden and Lance Haun dialed in to give their take on today’s leadership issues. Adding insights to the conversation were callers Deb Exo, veteran Talent Management pro (and a former colleague from my Herman Miller days) and  Steve Browne.

Fellow guest Amanda W. and first-time HR Happy Hour participant held her own with the fast pace and fluid topics.  I’m not giving her credentials online because she was “undercover”—she works as a training manager for a multinational financial services firm and her employer frowns on public displays of . . . um, I’m not exactly sure. But I don’t want to blow her cover.

As is typical with the HR Happy Hour, there was an active backchannel going on Twitter.  One of the strongest tweet threads was “are leaders born or made?” Personally, I’m bored with that discussion, but Ben McCall took the idea and ran with it in Leadership: One Size Does Not Fit All. My thanks to Ben for featuring my post 25 Free Leadership Resources within his article. (Check out the comments section on Ben’s post to see why I’ve grown weary of the debate.)

After the show, I received several Direct Messages and emails from friends who were listening, including one of my former direct reports from 17 years ago! (Thanks for the kind words, Katie.) My thanks to Dan McCarthy, Jessica Miller-Merrell , Stephanie Kempa, Victorio Milian and  Joan Ginsberg for listening in, talking about leadership and most of all, your words of support!

Writing, Research and Interviews

Recently the Managing Editor of Executive Travel magazine contacted me to pen an article for their “Winning Strategies” column in the July/August edition of the magazine’s print version. It’s an article on how leaders can create a customer service culture. So I spent much of my week conducting research and interviewing company owners to uncover their strategies for creating a customer-centric culture. Stay tuned—I’ll let you know when the article is published.

This week, I was also an interviewee when a colleague interviewed me for a book she’s writing.  It’s super-secret— still in the planning phases. But I can tell you this: she’s on to something with an idea that will help those of us who are self-employed.  

Next week, I’ll be interviewed by Barb Giamanco for a presentation she’s doing on social media. Barb and I are both authorized Independent Distributors for Inscape Publishing and she’s been asked to make a presentation at their annual conference.  This has tremendous meaning for me; I credit Barb with being my social media mentor and for helping me get started with Twitter and blogging. So, for her to now be featuring me in her social media presentation is an honor.

Positive Office Politics Takes Flight

It all started with a DM from Jane Perdue asking “want to write an article on office politics?” From there, it turned into the Positive Office Politics Series, which gained the attention of Franke James, Editor and Founder of Office Politics.com. which is the #1 site for this topic.  Both Jane and I have been featured as Guest Advisors on the site.

Now, Franke and I are taking it a step further and collaborating to bring The Office Politics Game to life here in Michigan.  On March 24, I’ll be facilitating an Office Ethics session using Franke’s book Dear Office Politics: the game everyone plays as the basis for workshop. Franke has worked with big names like Tom Peters and Edward DeBono , so it’s a thrill to have her expertise guiding me.

 So that’s what’s happening for us here at the People Equation.

 See anything that’s of interest to you? Want to know more? Email me at jmiller@people-equation.com and we’ll chat.  Hope you have a great week!

Tomorrow, I’m going to be a guest on the HR Happy Hour radio show.  The topic is Leadership Development.  Of course, it’s a huge topic and time will be limited on the show, so I decided to create some resources on my blog for the Happy Hour listeners to check out after hearing the show. Before I do though, I want to give a grateful shout-out to Steve Boese and Shauna Moerke, hosts of the show. I appreciate the opportunity to share my knowledge with an ever-widening group of Human Resource professionals.

First up—my Twitter Round Up of leadership folks.  Yes, Twitter has the “list” function and there are some great Tweeple lists out there (more on that later), but it’s hard to know if you want to follow them all.  So I offer to you my two cents’ worth on why I follow these folks. If their stories resonate with you, give them a follow.

The Lead Change Group

If you’re serious about creating character-based leadership in your organization, I suggest you check out the  Lead Change LinkedIn group.  It’s an extremely diverse group of individuals who are connected due to their passion about making a difference.  The group was founded by Mike Henry; the Discussion section on LinkedIn is very active. 

Mike has created 1-click Tweeple listing so you can immediately see the whole group and determine whom you’d like to follow.  A technical note: even though you can follow everyone with one click, I suggest you only follow in batches of about 25 people at a time.  Otherwise, Twitter might temporarily suspend your account because they perceive you as “spamming”.  Many of the people listed below are members of the Lead Change group, so check the Tweeple list out first.[Editor's note: see Mike's comment below about Tweeple slowing down the process to avoid this issue.]

The Leadership Development Practitioners

These folks are in the field doing the work within companies.  They have deep professional experience and a generous spirit.  I personally can vouch for them all.  They don’t always tweet frequently, but they’re worth following all the same.

Dave Brand
Dan McCarthy
Susan Zelinski

The Coaches
There are many coaches on Twitter.  I highlight these for both their consistent excellent Twitter content and their high level of professionalism.

Mary Jo Asmus
Mike Myatt
Kate Nasser
Anne Perschel  

The Leader’s Leader
These prolific Twitterers also have leadership titles within their respective organizations.  I follow several C-level players on Twitter, and these guys are the ones that actively engage.

Steve Keating
Michael Hyatt  
Mark Oakes

The Thought-Leaders

Many of these folks are members of the Lead Change group. Authors, professional speakers, bloggers, business consultants, philosophers—their common thread is helping people become better leaders. I’ve had personal interaction with all of them—via emails, phone chats, Skype, guest blog posts and collaborative blogging projects.

Roy Atkinson  
Doug   Edgar
Joan Koerber-Walker
Sharlyn Lauby  
Susan Mazza
Jane Perdue  
Steve Roesler  
Erin Schreyer  
Jason Seiden  
Don Shapiro

This is where it gets fun . . .please help me add to the list.  There are so many fantastic people on Twitter—let me know your favorite Twitter resources for developing leaders.

During my presentation to the Grand Rapids Entrepreneur’s Club today, I compared social media options for the small business owner to stepping up to an all-you-can-eat buffet.  There are a slew of choices—how do you choose those that are most healthy for your business? Following that analogy, I offer you, the small business owner, a “diner’s guide” to getting the most out of your social media fare.

[Disclaimer: The recommendations below are a result of my personal experiences as a small business owner.   I make no claim to be a social media “expert” but I am a consistent user of several platforms. The list below is not complete. The links below were active when I published this post.  Also, I receive no compensation from mentioning the people/blogs below. These are simply resources that I find helpful and hope that you will too.]

Appetizers: Social Media Starters

Two bloggers that I’ve followed closely that have some great general information about social media are Trish McFarlane, a Human Resource professional who blogs at The HR Ringleader and Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson publishers.  Their posts on social media are helpful because they come at it from an “every day user” viewpoint rather than as a highly technical blogger or social media guru.

Check out Trish’s blog on how to get started in social media and Mike’s blog category of social media.

Mashable.com. Mashable is one of the most widely read social media blogs. It can be quite technical, but there are still posts that are helpful to the average user.  Keep in mind: when you use the site, the most current blog posts are the ones that are most technically accurate.  Older posts were correct at the time of publishing but may have since been replaced with new information. There’s a tab called “How To” at top of Mashable home page. Check this out for useful social media tips, including the How To Connect with Other Entrepreneurs post.

Salad Course: Facebook

Just like any salad, you need to know how to choose the healthy Facebook items (Fan Pages) and stay away from the fat-laden ones (Farmville). Facebook started out as a site focusing on connecting friends and family, providing an easy way to post photos and find long-lost friends.

As Facebook’s popularity has grown, the business community has latched on with applications allowing business friends to stay connected.  Facebook may or may not work with your social media diet; you need to decide how many social media platforms your company can maintain.  These days, several of the platforms are linked, making it easier to post to multiple accounts at one time, but it still can be time-consuming. Keep in mind that many of your business colleagues may want to keep their personal lives and business lives separate, so they may not want to “friend” you on Facebook  for business purposes.

If you do decide to give Facebook a try, start with Mashable’s guidebook.

Concerned about privacy on Facebook? Fellow HR blogger Lance Haun shared this site with me for Facebook privacy tips.

Main Entre: Linked In

If you only choose one social media platform, start with LinkedIn.  Some social media pundits are signaling the decline of LinkedIn, due to Facebook’s rising popularity with business users, but I don’t think that’s coming anytime soon. Last fall, LinkedIn wisely collaborated with Twitter to make it easy to share updates across the two platforms. At a minimum, small business owners should:

• Have a complete personal profile
• Create a company profile for their business

Another blogger friend of mine, Sharlyn Lauby who blogs at The HR Bartender was featured on Mashable with a very popular post called  7 Ways to Get More Out of LinkedIn.

New more advanced LinkedIn tips? Two social media bloggers, Neal Schaffer at Windmill Networking and Scott Allen at Linked Intelligence have generously agreed to have their excellent summary posts on LinkedIn featured here on The People Equation.  See Neals’s 25 Most Useful Linked In Blog Posts and Scott’s 1o0+ Smart Ways to Use Linked In.

Dessert: Twitter

Most of us love a little “sumpin’ sumpin’ after dinner, even if it’s not strictly good for us. Hey, I say “everything in moderation” and that’s how it is for me with Twitter.  Twitter can quickly become like those gooey chocolates that you can’t stop eating– highly addictive with very little nutritional value. However, using Twitter wisely and in moderation can be a positive addition to your social media regimen if you are displined enough to do so.

Brand new? See Mashable’s Twitter Guidebook .  

In addition to the Mashable guidebook, I recommend the just-released TweetThis! For Business, written by Jessica Miller-Merrell.  Jessica and I met via Twitter. For the past year, she has carefully tracked and documented how to gain leverage for your small business using Twitter. See my book review on TweetThis! here.

So, are you ready to jump in to social media?  Feel free to connect with me in any of the following ways:

Facebook: Jennifer Miller’s profile

Facebook: SkillSource Fan Page

Twitter: Jennifer Miller’s profile

Twitter: SkillSource Twitter page

Whenever I attend a business networking event and mention Twitter, I invariably get a group of people flocking to me wanting to know more about the social media micro-blogging site. They want to know “How do I get started?” “Is it really a viable business marketing tool?” and “Twitter seems so frivolous—does anybody really care about what I had for breakfast?”

Happily, I now have a useful book to recommend: Tweet This! by Jessica Miller-Merrell. (No relation to me). The answers to these questions and many more are in this handy, easy-to-read Twitter reference manual. In about 90 minutes, you can have a clear map for how to get started with Twitter, suggestions for additional tools to increase Twitter’s functionality (called third-party applications) and even an excellent list of Twitter users (called Tweeps) for you to follow.

What’s unique about this book is that it’s targeted specifically for small business owners, entrepreneurs and consultants. All of Ms. Miller-Merrell’s suggestions are framed in that context, including some great worksheets to help business owners construct a Twitter account that pays attention to their company’s marketing plan and branding strategy. She also includes a few stories and case studies that vividly portray the do’s and dont’s of using Twitter effectively.

Brand new to Twitter? Consider this book as your starting point before you even set up an account.  It provides a great roadmap for business people to consider prior to “jumping in” to Twitter. Worth noting: the one thing this book doesn’t do is explain all the mechanics for how to navigate Twitter or the third-party applications. That’s not the book’s intent. You’ll still need to check various social media blog sites and the Twitter help section to learn the nitty gritty.  However, Miller-Merrell has you covered on that as well—her book points out several well-respected social media sites you can peruse to get up-to-the-minute technical information.

My recommendation: Read Tweet This! if you are a small business owner who’s brand new to Twitter, or if you have a Twitter account that’s been laying dormant because you have no idea how to use it for business purposes.

You can purchase the book at  Jessica Miller-Merrell’s website or on Amazon.com.

[Disclosure: I received a free e-book copy of Tweet This! in order to review this book.]

During the month of November, people often take the time to reflect on things for which they are grateful. Being new to blogging, I’ve learned so much and am truly thankful for those who have takent the time to educate me in the ways of the online writing world.

One of those people is Dan McCarthy, who has once again invited me to join his Leadership Development Carnival.  This month, Dan’s carnival features 48 essays from a diverse group of leadership thought-leaders. It’s an honor to be included in these blog carnivals because they provide access to an incredible array of talented writers.  It never ceases to amaze me how each month, people come up with a fresh perspective on the topic of leadership.  Please stop by the Leadership Carnival to enjoy an abundance of diverse thinking.

I recently gave a presentation on Networking Styles to members of the GRAPE organization (Grand Rapids Area Professionals for Excellence.)  Several of my colleagues indicated interest in attending, but could not, so here’s a summary, divided into three parts. Part I, “What Savvy Networkers Know”  outlines my “nuggets” gleaned from years of building a strong business network. This blog post is Part II, “What’s Your Networking Style?”.  It’s about how people’s networking “styles” vary and how to look for the clues to help you build rapport. Part III is a list of additional networking resources.

The title of this blog refers to what I call the “secret sauce” of networking— that little extra “something ” that separates the casual networker from the networking pro.  Many people are familiar with the DiSC® behavioral model. (If you’re not, click here for a PDF download. Check out p. 2 of the sample report for an overview) During the “What’s Your Networking Style?” presentation, we explored four networking “styles” based on Inscape Publishing’s DiSC model: Direct, Expressive, Supportive and Analytical.  Being able to identify one’s preferred approach to the networking process enables a business person to identify where he naturally gravitates and where there might be potential relationship tension.

[Disclosure: SkillSource (the consultancy owned by me) is an authorized independent distributor for Inscape Publishing, Inc. DiSC® is a registered trademark of Inscape Publishing and is used with permission.]

The Direct networking style values results, speaks, thinks and acts quickly. A person with a strong Direct style may seem impatient or “pushy”.

The Expressive networking style values making connections; this person is lively and outgoing. To others, however, this style may seem scattered.

The Supportive networking style values sincerity and steadiness. Supportive networkers are steadfast in their approach. The Supportive style may seem slow to accept others who move more quickly.

The Analytical networking style values accuracy and details. When networking this person is methodical in speech patterns and decision-making. Precision is important to this style, so the Analytical networker may seem nitpicky or critical if something is too “off the cuff”.

When interacting with people try to “read” some of clues to their interpersonal style: do they speak quickly or more moderately? Do they seem lively or more reserved?  This will give you clues for how to interact.  If you sense that your styles are “opposite” don’t try to win them over by applying more emphasis on your style.  This only serves to “repel” the person, not draw him/her to you. Instead, think of modifying your approach a bit— as if you were moving yourself (communication-wise) more “towards” their style.

No doubt, you’ve seen these familiar behaviors play out, both in networking situations and in other person-to-person interactions.  The key is to recognize your preferences and to know that others may approach networking differently.  It’s not bad, just different. By  maintaining this mindset, you’ll be able to network with all styles of people to build the rapport necessary for a vibrant professional network.

I recently gave a presentation on networking to members of the GRAPE organization (Grand Rapids Area Professionals for Excellence.)  Several of my colleagues indicated interest in attending, but could not, so here’s a summary, divided into three parts. This post is Part I, “What Savvy Networkers Know”. It  outlines my “nuggets” gleaned from years of building a strong business network. Part II, “What’s Your Networking Style?” is about how people’s networking “styles” vary and how to look for the clues to help you build rapport. Part III is a list of additional networking resources.

My definition of networking is: “the purpose of networking is to connect people who have a mutual interest in developing a business relationship or assisting one another”. So with that framework in mind, I invite you to consider the following ideas, which I’ve playfully named “Miller’s Maxims”.

Maxim #1
When it comes to networking, people are the common denominator. 
The speed and ease with which people can create connections has expanded exponentially.  The speed and ease with which human beings accept one another has not kept pace.  Just because technology allows you to  snatch 30 business cards from the networking table at a Chamber event, go back to the office and issue 30 Linked In invitations within 20 minutes doesn’t mean that you should do it. Doing this cuts the “people” element right out of the equation. Human beings need time to build rapport and trust with one another. Which leads me to my second maxim. . .

Maxim #2
The surest way to short-circuit your networking success is to take short cuts in the people process.
Savvy networkers know that creating lasting, meaningful business relationships takes time.  Networking is not a get-rich quick scheme.  Similarly, smart networkers don’t confuse networking with prospecting for new customers.  Networking can be a means to gaining access to new customers, but it is not the sole purpose. I find that sales professionals get discouraged with networking events because “I didn’t get a single sales lead”.  Nope, you didn’t, because that’s not what networking’s about. Networking is about finding business contacts who have a mutual interest in helping one another. That narrows the field significantly, doesn’t it?  Speaking of narrowing the field. . .

Maxim #3
Make sure your network is a lake, not a river: vast and deep, not wide and shallow.
Creating a healthy, productive network takes time and energy.  It’s one thing to have 500 connections in your Outlook Contacts list, but how many of those people would return your phone call. . . or more importantly, could be a positive advocate for your business or your skills?  It’s not always about numbers.  Yes, lots of contacts give you potential access to lots of people—but will they be interested in helping you? And equally important, are these people you have an interest in helping in some way?  The best networkers I know are genuine in their attempts to help people. They work to connect their contacts to others, and they offer assistance with no expectation of anything in return.  Technology makes is super-simple to stockpile “connections”, but be honest with yourself—is this a fun numbers game, or does your network provide true value, both to yourself and to others.

Sometimes, in the push to get things done, or drive more sales, it’s easy to lose sight of networking’s purpose. So when attending networking events or working to build my contact list, I revisit these nuggets each and every time.

What are your networking nuggets?