Connect, Share, Learn, Refine

Did you notice anything new on LinkedIn? This graph popped up in my notification feed, under my profile views! That’s interesting to know something about who viewed my profile.
It made me think to connections. I already wanted to speak about them, they’re in my list since ages, and now it’s the right moment to speak about them.

Do you have any policy regarding LinkedIn connections?

How do you decide who you should connect with?
Do you accept all the connection requests you receive?

At the beginning, it should be fine if you:
● add all the colleagues and classmates that you can find;
● accept all (or almost all) the connection requests you receive.
You need a bit of a pool, having some connections makes your notification feed more interesting. You can see:
► the companies they start to follow (maybe you’re interested as well);
► the articles/jobs they like or share;
► the discussions they participate to in open groups (maybe it’s a group worth joining);
► the updates to their profiles (hey, they added a project, maybe you can do it as well);
► the people they connect with (maybe somebody else you should connect with).

When your notification feed starts becoming interesting, and you have a good amount of things to read, maybe it can be time to tailor a little bit the way you connect. You will understand when it’s time. And you’ll understand your own way. Here one of the possible paths you can follow. You can:
● add only colleagues and school mates that you trust;
● consider whether accepting connection requests due on some parameters of your choice (do you trust the person? do you like their profile? are they in your industry? do they look professional? did they write you a personal message or the standard one?)
● add people you knew in the groups, because they started interesting discussions or did smart comments;
● add people who posted content that you like, because you want to see more of that;
● add people who liked your posts, because they could like more of your posts and give you better visibility;
● add people who viewed your profile, if they have something interesting for you (a neat profile, the right job field, or whatever else);
● add recruiters soon before or soon after applying to a company, to be noticed a bit better;
● use the connection request to share a thought with somebody, like replying to a poll from a LinkedIn influencer, or replying to a question that was posted in a group you can read, but where you can’t post since you are not a member. Or if you want to connect and make a completely different connection request!

At such a time you should have learnt that the best way to connect is to send a personal message, I explain some theories in the last post I wrote.
Now you are refining, and not only increasing, the pool of your connections.
How should it be reflected?
► The amount of information you can read in your notification feed is getting huge. There could be some people who post a lot of things that are not relevant, feel free to hide them from your feed.
► You start to see jobs, articles, statuses, that become more and more relevant. If not, feel free to hide again something from your feed.
► Since you start getting more engaged with people, you start posting, you participate to groups and you start getting more informed about the fields you find interesting; this is a virtuous circle.
► You feel like you want to share the information collected, and you find your own way. You can start blogging, writing discussions, help people in your connections. You start feeling like you understand something a bit better.
► You start feeling inspired.
► You get the feeling that you are inspiring others, and you want to get better at it.

Find your own way! Do it completely different! Share your ideas, in your LinkedIn network, and maybe even here, if you have two spare minutes.

Don’t Be Selfish

Or better, to use one of my favourite quotes… somebody must have said it before me, but I thought it on my own… Be selfish in an unselfish way, and vice versa.

Share your ideas. Give what you have. Let the information flow. Be the link between people. Smile, especially if you see somebody needs that smile. Those are rules that work in everyday life.
What about LinkedIn?
How can you be focused on other people?
Here some suggestions.

1. Share articles and job offers
   Both on your feed and with people who would need the information.
2. Like and comment contributes from other people
   Let people know that you care!
3. Participate actively to some groups
   You will have to go back and forth to find groups where you feel engaged, but that’s worth it.
4. Engage others
   That’s more or less easy to do in groups. If you have an interesting idea, post it in a discussion. That could bring good results for you and for others.
5. Give recommendations and endorsements
   Give recommendations to exceptional coworkers, and endorse people if you have worked with them with the given skill and they did well.
6. Be ready to help
   Sometimes you will have to follow up or help, to make your idea grow, and let people understand it. Try to do it. We are not perfect communicators, and we need time to reassess our statements and to get fully understood. On top of it, if we help others, we discover something of ourselves!
7. When somebody writes to you, follow up!
   Somebody got back in touch… That’s a great news! Get interested, chances are there is some big change in their lives, they need some help, they have something to share, or simply they need to talk a bit. That’s a big occasion to listen! Please encourage others, and tell your stories as well.
8. Share your success stories
   Your happiness is contagious!
9. Say thank you
   Because you’re not the only one responsible of your success, many people walked with you along the way, even if you didn’t notice.
10. Listen!
    I already listed it in another point, but you can never listen enough. It’s crucial to understand others and yourself, to get free feedback, and to learn!
11. Ask
    Ask with the goal of helping the other person to understand themselves better. Don’t expect an answer. Ask for the pleasure to help the person who talked to you.
12. Be sincerely interested
    If you’re not sincerely interested in others, all the suggestions given so far, won’t work. If you’re not interested in others, ask yourself why. After that, ask yourself why others should be interested in you, in case you don’t care about them.
    But if you are interested, if you care, if you feel that the wealth of people around you dramatically improves your wealth, you will contribute to improve a little bit your surroundings, and maybe all the world around it.

What are your ways to help others?

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Do You Want to Keep Your Privacy?

I am being pretty active on LinkedIn, I post on many groups, I share some articles, I write a daily post on my blog. I opened a twitter account as well, even if I don’t use it very much, I still don’t know very well its potential, to be honest.

There are not so many chances that I could pass unnoticed, if any of my connections open LinkedIn.

I have nothing to hide, yet…

Yet all my data is out there.
Anybody who would like to profile me, could do it without many problems.

I tend to avoid to care about this issue. There is so much information here on the web, why should anybody care about me? The other fact is that to some extent I want to be seen and be known and help people and share, and the price is a reduced privacy.

Is this desire to share coming from somebody that is interested I put data online, or is it a need I have?

I always needed to share, even if I don’t always find the best way straight away. That’s a basic need in my life.
Privacy? Not much.

If somebody can check all my emails, all my chats, all my private messages and private discussions… what can I do? My life is often lived online, since many of my friends live 8 or 900 kilometres away.

I decided to stay visible. And as usual, when I do something, I do it. With enthusiasm, with big letters, with passion, with commitment.

Privacy or visibility? What do you aim for? Why?
Did you find an healthy balance?

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Become a Mentor Yourself – My First Prezi

http://prezi.com/qmqfqf1m8pth/present/?auth_key=f1s65jb&follow=wq-jn7uunmmh

Yesterday I said I had an idea for a Prezi.
I know, the idea is not amazing, the Prezi is all but perfect. I can improve it a lot.
But I am happy because I understood the basic functions of this application.
It’s not so easy to share it, but please be patient and you will be able to see it from this post!

Presentations can be very useful:

• to prepare a visual resume;
• to show an idea in a powerful way;
• to make a bit easier a difficult concept.

Are you ready to make your first Prezi?
Do you use presentations often?
For what reason?
Do you think they are useful or a loss of time?

Don’t Be Shy on LinkedIn!

What’s the return of being shy in a social media? None.

You decided to be on LinkedIn.
There are many good reasons:

1. you’re unemployed and you’re looking for a job;
2. you’re employed or at school and you’re looking for a job;
3. you’re employed and curious regarding the job market;
4. you’re employed and you want to understand if you would have better chances somewhere else.

You never know when you will need to look for a job. Your employer could go bankrupt. Your significant other could be forced to move in another country, and you have to follow. Anything could happen, and let you lose your job, or force you to find another one.

Think at it. Now, out of the blue, you have to look for a new job. I hope you are not the one to have the following behaviour:

1. you start updating your resume, that wasn’t updated for ages;
2. you open your LinkedIn profile, and discover there are two job experiences missing and… oh, my, the most of the functions of the site have changed;
3. you try to recall the name of job boards and whatever;
4. you cry for help with all of your friends.

LinkedIn is your friend. You can perform regularly the following tasks:

1. Add companies in your field, and any company you would like to apply to.
   In this way, you will receive updates from the company, including job openings.
2. Add influencers and channels on LinkedIn Today.
   You will keep updated on topics of your interest, will discover something on the market, and maybe will find inspiration. You never know in advance what will be the process that will give birth to your next brilliant idea.
3. Engage into some LinkedIn groups.
   There you can find people with similar interests and similar problems.
   Are people getting a bit too pessimistic? Look for solutions!
   Do you have an idea that can improve cooperation and boost morale? Share it!
   It didn’t work? Try to figure out if the idea was bad or if your audience wasn’t the right one. Maybe the same discussion could be very popular and helpful in another group. Ask for opinions to your connections!
4. Add connections.
   Add the colleagues you trust. Friends, school mates, if you wish.
   But I suggest you to connect especially with:
   ● people that you constantly talk with in groups;
   ● recruiters and HR managers from company you apply to (you want them to remember you);
   ● some people who check your profile. Go and check the profile of your visitors, if you think you could mutually help each other, add them.
   Doing this, you must take into consideration two important facts:
   Weak connections are not weak
   If you connect to somebody who’s not a friend or acquaintance in real life, you get the chance to peek in their connections, in their posts, and can have an overview out of your small world, that is priceless.
   Don’t send standard messages!
   Please, whenever you connect to somebody, don’t send the standard “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”.
   Give some value to the person you are connecting to.
   Did you read an interesting post of theirs?
   Do you find their profile interesting?
   Do you usually read their opinions in a group and enjoy reading it?
   Whatever is the reason, state it.
   If there is no reason, and you can’t find one, find somebody else to connect with.
5. Refine your profile.
   You don’t need to redesign it every day.
   Add relevant competences, when you start covering new tasks at work.
   Add projects, sites, and relevant experiences.
   Give a recommendation to somebody you worked with.
   Play with your headline. Try to make it more consistent with your competence and with the job of your dreams.
6. Share!
   Post on LinkedIn activities interesting articles regarding your industry, job in general, or whatever you think could interest your network.
   You can share also articles from influencers, it’s pretty easy!
   If you write something job related, consider to post it as well.
7. Comment!
   Comment articles and sites shared by your connections.
   That’s a great way to get engaged with people, and maybe you will find somebody worth connecting with.
8. Help your connections.
   Did you stumble on a job offer that is perfect for one of your connections?
   Did you read an article that could inspire another one?
   Did you have any idea or inspiration?
   Send a message to the person, and share your thoughts!
   This kind of help builds deep trust, and a positive energy, that will help your self esteem and will be pretty useful to keep you motivated in difficult times.
9. Ask for help.
   After you did your investigations, you looked for ideas, you did all your homework, and helped everybody, ask for help. You need help too. Find your own ways to ask. Offer mutual help, if you don’t feel comfortably asking. Try to be engaged with people with the same problems, share your piece of information and ask the other to do the same.

Be active on LinkedIn. Be positive. Be proactive.
As you should be in real life.
And you will see the benefits.
Maybe harvest time will come in a couple of years, but it will come.

Please share your ways to be active on LinkedIn!

Image courtesy of sheelamohan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Comfort Zone

The first time I read of the comfort zone was in the book “The Leader Who Had No Title” by Robin Sharma. From then, I have often heard of the topic. I would like to list what I learnt, sure that I will soon learn something new another time.

1. It’s very important to enlarge your comfort zone
   There’s only one way to do it: you must try to do something new. You have to dare. Use common sense, evaluate the risks. Unless you don’t enlarge your comfort zone, your field of experience, the area where you feel at ease, there is no particular room for improvement.
2. Many people will tell you to stay in your comfort zone
   Yes, it will happen. As soon as you discover you have a comfort zone, and dare to go out of it, you will probably dare a bit too much. You will feel empowered by some superior force, and won’t understand why you cannot follow this enlightenment. Listen to these words carefully and take them with a grain of salt. You have to learn from things you disagree, too.
3. Act next to the limits of your comfort zone
   You shouldn’t be always on the safest side. Make things and take decisions that are stretching to the limit. Don’t waste resources, of course, but don’t ask for permission if you are going to do the right thing, and that’s still in your responsibilities, even if not one of your core ones.
4. Now that you are next to the limits, make a small jump outside
   Don’t be scared of taking calculated risks. Peek your nose out of your comfort zone. Not much. Every small step you make out of it, it will become bigger. You will need time to understand the right balance, which are the steps that are too big, and when you can dare to risk everything because it’s worth it.
5. Share the story of your success!
   Leaving your comfort zone is all but easy, many people will be against you. But that’s something you have to do, if you want to grow.
   Help people in your network to understand the value of learning something new, of gaining new competences, of daring something completely new.
   All your environment, and not only your life at work, will improve!

Image courtesy of Toa55 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net