As I start to write this I need to say I’m 52 and male.
One of the issues people often bring to us, is one of diversity.
People might be looking to work at your organisation, or might be looking to buy something from your organisation, or we might be a journalist that has just heard a pronouncement that you don’t allow woman at your company to wear flat shoes they have to wear high heals.
Either way, the lost recruits and talent or the lost sales you will probably live to fight another day.
But the twitter storm you come engulfed in, you might not ride that out.
The fall out of “The Presidents Club” continues, the company is no more and the press have moved onto individuals that attended the event.
Tory councillor forced out over Presidents Club dinner remarks – read the Guardian article here
This is a great example of an organisation that hadn’t moved with the times. Now I’m sure there are people who attended the event who are believers in diversity, but from the outside looking in (your social media profiles), everybody is tarred with the same brush.
Which is why if your LinkedIn profile is white, male and stale, I jump to the conclusion that you are, well, white male and stale. In a social media storm, you are also a target.
There are also other examples..
If your LinkedIn profile is an on-line CV, I assume you are looking for another job and will pass you over for a promotion. Why would i promote you if you want to leave?
If your photo is you at a bar, i know you think that means you are “social” I assume you are a piss head and won’t wait for the day to finish and prop up a bar.
Same if you write your LinkedIn profile in the 3rd person, you don’t talk like that do you? No, so I can only guess you are pompous.
I could go on.
Related: Are You Sure What You Need is Another Sales Event?
Or I could look at your profile and think, hey this person, this person looks like they could help me and could contribute to our company, this person looks trust worthy, the product looks good, I’ll contact them about their product and service.
If I have a meeting with you, when I look at your LinkedIn profile, it could go two ways.
So “I’ve checked out Tim on LinkedIn and I’m really looking forward to our meeting” Vs “Tim looks like a loser, whose looking for another job, I think I’ll cancel the meeting.”
Now your LinkedIn profile is yours, not mine and not your companies.
You decide how much time you spend on it, what it looks like is totally up to you.
And the conclusions I draw from it, yes, that is up to you too.