I was a latecomer to the social networking phenomenon. Following is the substance of my usual rant, which many of you may find familiar. “Already have too many emails I can’t answer, already have enough friends, already don’t have time to keep up, can’t be bothered, (insert your personal reason here).” I was the classic business ostrich, head stuck firmly in my own corporate sand, busy busy busy all day long and really really really not interested. But then a former colleague I hadn’t heard from in years sent me a LinkedIn invitation, and I grudgingly accepted.
The world proceeded to open up. As I sat there tinkering with the “find someone you know on LinkedIn” function, I discovered a few more lost comrades, and my list grew from 1 to 10…wow! Then LinkedIn did something brilliant. They sent out emails with their lists of people from the companies I used to work for and said, do you want to be connected with these people? Before you could say, click, I had 98 people in my list, and I was beginning to get it. Over the next year, I grew my list to more than 150, in part because of my efforts, but in great measure due to other people also beginning to see the advantage of collecting the folks they had worked with in one efficient database. My admiration of the technology knew no bounds when my use of LinkedIn’s job posting and referral service actually resulted in a new job. Wow! I became, and remain, a true believer in the power of online social networking to widen my horizons far beyond the normal “keep in touch” strategies. I now have nearly 300 people in my LinkedIn contacts, and I haven’t slowed down yet.
The business side of social networking is pretty easy to make a case for. Resume posting, and asking for introductions, and getting to the decision maker because your friend Steve used to be the VP in that organization…yup, yup, yup, no doubt about it. But Facebook? What’s that about?
I had classified Facebook as a tool for 20-somethings for whom virtual communities were the same as co-located neighborhoods, and a posting the same as a phone call. I lumped it into the same bucket as MySpace, and it held no appeal for me. My first invitation to Facebook came from a friend whose kids had insisted he join. He pinged me in some degree of desperation when they told him he had to have a bigger Friend list or he wouldn’t be cool. “Dad, you’re making us look bad!” We laughed about being Facebook geezers, and wondered what we were doing there. So imagine my surprise when last year, a former colleague, then a brilliant SVP at a very large, very successful company, said to me, “Are you on Facebook? Ping me and we’ll keep in touch.” I nodded sagely, with considerable aplomb and said, “Oh, yeah, of course. See you on Facebook.” Facebook? Sheesh! What’s up with this? When I signed on, I found that Facebook had become a 24/7 grown-up family reunion, complete with photos, inspirational stories, jokes, music clips, political brawls…who knew? I Friended like crazy. Now I had a window into Shari’s marathon and Candi’s experiences at the inauguration, Greg’s favorite recordings and Samantha’s running comments on the state of the world. I saw what Woody looked like in college, and giggled at Aaron’s new baby movies. I also learned to be very cautious about visiting the sites of my young relatives, and to remember that my boss was also a Friend! Despite my scoffing, I found that Facebook was an extraordinary bonding experience with people near and far.
So I’m converted. Who needs social networking? I’d go so far as to say, don’t leave home without it. Like many of you reading this post, I’m not a natural networker. OK, I’m gregarious and I love being around people but historically, I was not good at making new contacts and keeping in touch with old ones. And I’ll tell you true, it hurt me. Overly-focused on what was right in front of me, I allowed valuable business and personal connections to drift away, carrying unrealized opportunities with them. Not only had I not continued to let them know I cared, I didn’t even know where they were. Now I have a nearly painless way to reestablish, maintain and deepen those connections. As a result, I have a richer community that warms my heart at the same time it keeps me current with what’s going on in my profession. Go ahead, try it! Link! Friend! Your career and your life will thank you.
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Courtney Behm holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Performing Arts and Communication, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. In her corporate career, she has worked for wildly successful companies, and those struggling to stay afloat in the ocean of change. Through her consulting company, Viewpoint Solutions (www.ViewpointSolutions.com), she has helped a diverse client base, including Sun Microsystems, Adobe Systems, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, find creative solutions to classic business problems. An accomplished speaker, Courtney uses a combination of language, humor, insight and front-line experience to offer a fresh perspective on life in the fast lane. In 2006, she returned to the corporate world, and is currently Senior Project Manager at i365, A Seagate Company. She is writing a book on how to lead effectively in a time of constant change, and collaborating on a book on Personal Career Management.
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