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.

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.]

Do you have a friend who’s an excellent party-giver?  What is it about him or her that makes it so?  Is it the fantastic food? The diverse guest list? An excellent home that provides the perfect backdrop for gatherings?  It could be any of these things, but I’d bet the one thing that’s for sure is your friend is an excellent host. She ensures that all of her guests feel welcome and that they are comfortable in their surroundings.  She’s in tune for who’s feeling a bit out of place, or who needs a nudge to get the conversation started.

Good hosts are natural “connectors”—“Bill, have you met Jane?  Jane works with me on the Finance Committee for Junior Achievement.  Jane, Bill was telling me about a great financial software package we might want to consider installing. . .” Good hosts are adept at seeing how people may have similar interests; they’re comfortable taking action to draw these people together. It’s sort of like working a jigsaw puzzle: which pieces naturally fit together?

I find that adopting a “host” mindset is especially helpful when networking.  Let’s look at a few examples:

1.  When attending a face-to-face networking event, imagine that the event planners have asked you to “work the room” as an ad-hoc host.  Scan the room for people who seem to be looking for someone to talk with.  Introduce yourself.  Talk with that person for a few minutes, then see if the two of you can find yet another person to connect with.  All the while, be looking for a point of commonality between the people you’re meeting.  Mention those points of connection, “Steve, Pete was telling me that he’s also interested in learning more about Linked In….”
2. Are you using a social media platform?  These platforms make it easy to connect people of common interests.  I’m always on the lookout for people whom I think would have an interest in meeting.  On Twitter, for example, I’ll send a public tweet such as “@JaneSmith have you met @SallyReynolds? You’re both in HR/ Atlanta area.”
3. Is there a way for you to help others find mentors?  Chances are, you know both a wise person with great advice to give and a person who could use that developmental opportunity. Check in with both parties and if they’re interested, broker a meeting.  Attend the meeting, acting as the host to get the ball rolling.

The great thing about cultivating this host attitude is that it pays both immediate and long-term dividends. Sure, it feels great to help out a lonely-looking person at the beverage table. But even more importantly, you are building a reputation of being a person who thinks beyond him- or herself; one who sees connections and capitalizes on them to the benefit of all involved.

I was comparing notes on competency development the other day with Mollie Lombardi of the Aberdeen Group*. At some point during our conversation, the talk turned to Twitter because that’s where I met Mollie.  We were discussing the massive flow of information via the tweet stream and Mollie said, “Yes, Twitter gives me a chance to practice the ‘art of serendipity’.”

The Art of Serendipity. Doesn’t that create a wonderful image in your mind? 

Serendipity is defined as “having good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries”.  How many times have you looked for one thing, only to discover something totally unrelated, yet truly “fortunate” in some way?

Today I challenge you to just “go with the flow” to see what delightful, serendipitous things come your way.  Remember, it’s an art form, so the beauty will be in the eye of the beholder.

*Side note: Mollie’s organization offers great complimentary research documentation on human capital management during the first 10 days of release.  Check it out here.

Professionalism in the Web 2.0 Era

It all started with a t-shirt.  When I posted the results of my 30 Days of Tweeting Experiment last month, I sent an email to my colleagues announcing the blog.  The email contained a photo of me wearing a navy t-shirt (courtesy of the Ellen Shop) that boasted “My Tweets are Real” in white lettering.

The reaction to the t-shirt was far stronger (and varied) than the reaction to my blog post.  Male colleagues sent playful replies about my “tweets”.  No female colleagues replied, but I did wonder if they were raising their eyebrows.  The one female who did comment?  My mother.  She laughed out loud when she heard about the t-shirt saying, but still managed to sound both reproving and scandalized when she found out I sent a photo of me wearing it to business colleagues. I confess to second-guessing my choice. And yet, it just felt “right”— this completely unglamorous amateur photo of me wearing a t-shirt with a witty saying.  It felt….well, authentic.

Many fellow bloggers have ruminated on topic of authenticity. My social media mentor Barbara Giamanco has traveled this path in her blog posts. So have  Joan Koerber-Walker  and Seth Godin.

So, the question on my mind is, “How far should one go to show authenticity in the business world?”  When I published the photo, I was certainly aware that it was a bit “out there” in terms of what is accepted business practice in my sphere of influence.  But to me it was simply a playful and  clever way to introduce my Twitter experiences. 

And I pushed the boundaries a bit because of this observation:  things are more casual these days than they used to be.  Frankly, that’s not comforting to me, but it’s the truth.  Professionals are podcasting via self-produced YouTube videos, Twitter photos are amateur head shots at weird angles and many blogs posts have misspellings.  I came of age in an era where a “professional” had a professionally produced head shot, complete with the requisite suit.  Some of these things are not, in my opinion, acceptable—misspellings, for example.  But I’m ambivalent about the others—does it really matter anymore that things look “professional”?  Is that even somehow a liability?  I notice that many of the most popular YouTube instructional videos are decidedly low-tech: hand drawings on a white board that get tossed away by a human hand in the foreground.

Please share with me your observations…how does your authenticity show up when at work?  And does the “new business casual” work for you, or do you share my hesitations?

I took the kids to the zoo today.  While checking out the bonobo chimpanzees, I noticed an educational sign that said: “[For chimps…] Mutual grooming helps ease the stress of daily life and increases social bonds.”

Hmmmm…..

For some strange reason, Twitter popped into my head.  Immediately, the Internal Censors in my head started blaring…. “Don’t you DARE compare your Tweeps to Chimps.”

Let me be clear:  this post does not suggest that humans are chimps, or that they work with chimps, even though recent TV ads suggest differently. Although, don’t those ads just crack you up?  If we’re being totally honest with ourselves, there are times when it can sometime feel like we are working with chimps.  But is that a good or bad thing?  The ad suggests of course, that it’s not a good thing— that the chimps are undisciplined, messy and generally too chaotic to deal with. The implication is that as humans we are better than that and therefore deserve a more civilized workplace. Indeed, many would argue that this is true. 

But still, the notion intrigues me and just won’t go away. Here’s my thought process: a big part of the human experience seeks to reach out and connect with others.  Clearly, this need has been playing out recently with the meteoric rise of social networking sites.  So, if social behavior is a part of a chimp’s experience and indeed “grooming helps increase social bonds”—what’s human equivalent of a chimp’s mutual grooming?

In the case of Twitter, I suggest that retweets, #followfridays and so on are forms of mutual grooming…ways to build bonds with others.  True, it’s a more sophisticated way that uses higher-level thinking.  But the underlying desire to connect with others is the same. Primatologist Frans de Waal says  “Humaneness is grounded in social instinct that we share with other animals” (See full article.) 

It’s humanity that sets us apart from the other creatures in our world, yet that very humanity need not isolate us.  Is Twitter (or Facebook, or LinkedIn) a form of stress release to you?  Can it help you build bonds that are useful and productive? I’ll leave that discussion to our social media expert friends like Pete Cashmore  and and Chris Brogan  and others.

For today, I simply say that in attempting to “master the people equation” we can look to our chimp friends for inspiration. Look past the poo tossing and into the more humane acts of connection, empathy and support for one’s group.

Confessions of a belated Twitterer

Call me a late bloomer.  Long after early adopters claimed the micro blog Twitter  jumped the shark  . . . heck, even after Oprah, I started tweeting. Clueless as a newborn babe, here’s what I wish I’d known prior to starting.  Oh, and one other thing:  I don’t claim to be any sort of social media expert.  If there are technical inaccuracies or omissions, please accept my apologies in advance. 

It’s addictive.
I started out extremely skeptical but was immediately hooked with Twitter’s ability to link me with people from around the world in a real-time conversation.  Don’t be surprised to hear your family members saying , “Are you on Twitter again?”

Your friends will mock you.
Well, at least those not on Twitter. This is one of those times when you just need to listen to your inner voice.  If you are enjoying the Twitter experience, then continue. If not, then stop. But don’t let other people’s snide comments deter you.

It takes awhile to get your Twitter groove on.
It takes awhile to find the people whose conversation you’ll want to follow. One of my favorite Tweeps @thehrmaven lamented “am I only interesting to people who want to sell me something?” I know how she feels. Don’t get discouraged.  It took about a solid three weeks of tweeting get my footing.  Building a community of Tweeps takes time.  Be patient. After six weeks on Twitter, I finally feel like my community is taking shape.

Finding interesting Tweeps can feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack.  At first, you’ll spend time looking at people your friends are following.  That’s fine to start, but very time consuming.  Once you get 10 or so followers, check out these third-party Twitter search services:  MrTweet, Wefollow and Twellow . They track people in your industry/areas of interest and point you in the right direction.

You don’t have to follow everyone that follows you. 
I’m not sure of the Twitter etiquette on this, but in my mind it’s not a given that just because someone follows you, you must follow them back.  This is an issue of setting boundaries and being clear about your purpose for Twitter.  You will soon figure out that there are many people on Twitter who are into the “numbers” game—“how many followers can I gain?” In my opinion, to make Twitter a fruitful venture, you need to be more selective. When someone follows you, when deciding whether to follow back, ask yourself,  “Will it be mutually beneficial to trade comments with this person?”  If only one of you gets the majority of the benefit, it may not be good to follow them back.

There are going to be spammers and creeps, but it’s OK.
You can block any weirdos that follow you.  There are also many “get rich quick” schemes (“get 1000’s followers NOW”).  Just block them and move on.  It’s not a huge deal and the majority of people on Twitter are legit.

Not everyone will find you interesting.
Don’t take it personally if someone doesn’t follow you back.  Keep tweeting relevant comments and it might be that eventually they will follow you.  Besides, there are plenty of fish (Twish?) in the sea.  If you’re diligent, you’ll gain followers that will enhance your Twitter community.

Your tweets are public.
Google indexes them. Seriously.  Google your Twitter user name and you’ll see your tweets pop up.  Just something to think about in terms of how private you want to be.

Let’s hope that my wanderings through Twitterville will help you should you decide to use Twitter.  Feel free to follow me @jennifervmiller. Happy tweeting!

On May 14, 2009, I posted my first tweet.  It was part of a “30 Days of Tweeting Experiment” designed to help me (and fellow non-Twitter users) figure out what all the fuss was about. The Experiment has ended and it’s been an interesting ride.  As promised, here’s the recap to let potential new Tweeps know what they’re in for.  So here goes….

First of all, if you’re brand new, before you even set up your account, check out this blog post by Michael Hyatt.  How did I find him?  On Twitter, of course! These are the mechanics of getting started, plus some really great food for thought.

Here are some other things to consider when deciding “to tweet or not to tweet?”

Go on, try it!
Even if it is just a fad (someone on Linked In likened it to the CB craze of the 70’s), I suggest that you at least give it a 30 day trial run like I did.  It will show that you’re up on current technologies.  At the end of 30 days, you may decide it’s not for you, but you will be able to confidently discuss its pros and cons with folks who are active with social media.

Determine your focus—business or personal?
What “voice” are you trying to convey with your tweets? The people I follow can definitely be categorized into either business or personal.  Some folks blend the two, but for the most part, the tweets are either flavored with “here’s what I did for the weekend” or “here’s an interesting (business) article/blog”.

Twitter is about The Conversation.
Yes, there are plenty of stories about companies using Twitter to market their products, make sales and so on, but at its heart Twitter is a way for people to talk with one another. If you like to offer witty rejoinders then you’re custom-built for Twitter.  If you think that’s a bunch of nonsense, it may not be the space for you.

The verbose need not apply.
This is the place for pithy observations because no more than 140 characters can be typed per tweet.  Most social media experts say to avoid having a single thought that takes several tweets to complete.

Think of Twitter as an extension of your face-to-face networking activities, not a replacement.
With work schedules being so packed, it may not be possible for you to get to those noontime networking events like you used to.  But maybe, once a week you could invest 20 minutes of your lunch hour connecting with people in your industry via Twitter. In the space of a few Twitter sessions, I was able to connect to at least a dozen key thought-leaders in my industry.  Some of the Twitter exchanges have led to more meaningful conversations outside of Twitter.  So it’s a starting place for forming business relationships.

Common Sense Still Rules.
Twitter can be very seductive.  The first few times that someone “found” me first and followed me, it was thrilling.  I needed to remind myself that a professional photo and kind words do not make a person my “friend” or my “colleague”.  As in face-to-face networking, these things take time.  Trust and credibility must be earned online just as it is in a face-to-face connection.  Perhaps even more because one lacks the additional clues that facial expressions and tone of voice convey.

So, would I recommend Twitter to my colleagues?  Yes, if any of the following conditions exist:

• You are feeling “out of it” in relation to social media and would like to know more
• You enjoy networking with people of similar interests and aren’t shy about “talking” (tweeting) with strangers
• You can devote at least 60 minutes a week (spread out in 10 min. chunks is fine) to maintaining your Twitter conversations

For me, it was definitely worth taking 30 days to learn something new.  My guess is that many of my colleagues will not think it’s worth the investment of time. But that’s OK, because I’m still tweeting and I can pass along any relevant information that comes my way. So, it’s all good.