3 Ways to Win with LinkedIn

Being known as the "professional's" social media, LinkedIn seeks to connect you to people you don't know. Your profile is meant to be a place where you can brag about yourself. Put up your experiences, jobs, education, even skills where others can endorse you. LinkedIn has effectively created a platform where you are meant to show off while simultaneously not seeming arrogant.

The catch?

Everyone makes it about them. The problem is that so many people us
e it as a self-marketing platform and have not given it the social aspect that it is meant for. This is how you can stand out on a site where you've already bragged about yourself.

Like and Comment on Others' Posts

This platform is not about competition. Just because you like, comment, compliment, or encourage someone else doesn't mean that you've given up an opportunity. The idea is to get others to connect you with those that they already know. A great way for them to generate interest in you is for you to show interest in them. Join groups that you're interested in, and find ways to genuinely participate with others.

Post Something to Help a Group

Yes, you might be all about saving the whales, so you join the Environmental Empathy Engagement Group. Great! If all you post are ways to save the whales, you're stagnant and you aren't helping the group. Look for what others might be interested in and post something for them. This doesn't mean research something for them that they might not need, this means already knowing them and posting something you come across that might help them. Make it genuine, not manipulative.

Go From Group to 1 on 1

As you follow the first two steps, others will begin to comment and participate with your posts. This isn't because you picked the perfect post for "Mr. Bossofmynextjob." It's because you've helped create an environment where others look outside themselves and are participating. When this happens, start the 1 on 1 conversations. This is where people get to know the person behind the resume. A person can look great on paper, but that doesn't mean that you're a good fit for their company. Get that personal interaction so when they introduce you, they can honestly say that you are a "friend, acquaintance, collegue, etc."

These connections and friendships are no different than real connections. For those beginning to network, City of Influence by Jared and Sarah Stewart is a must read.

Being LinkedIn is more than just having a digital connection with the individual, it's actually connecting with the individual. Focus on that, and your network will first grow larger, then stronger, then larger again.

It's Ironic on Purpose

I love the title of my blog, so let me explain why. The One Man Difference totes the ability of one person to do extraordinary things. It believes in changing the world right now with the efforts of one person. The paradox is that there is no way to change the world without working with others.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an incredible man who inspired change that is still felt today, but he wasn't alone. The March on Washington had roughly 250,000 people in attendance. Although he was one man, and he had the ability to create change, it was those around him that made that change stick.

Gandhi advocated for freedom for India and was a lawyer, a leader of the Indian National Congress, and led countless peasants, farmers, leaders, and urban laborers against the injustices imposed on them. He was an advocate of "Self-rule," but the change that he made in the world depended on the choices of others as well.

For lasting change to happen in any group of people, those people have to willingly change what they want. Anything else creates rebellion, distrust, contention, hatred, grudges. No man can shout loud enough to make the world listen. But a community that sings the same chorus will be able to reach every heart.

The One Man Difference is all about your personal efforts, your personal struggles, your personal viewpoints, you as a person. It is not about anything else. There will not be a list of how to be in 3 places at once here, there will not be a "how to make them change" here. This is a blog that will touch on the difference one person can make, but it is one person who has support from others. It is the story of what one person did and why people followed them.

Now comes the danger. We begin to see people as ways to get what we want, not as the people we want to help. If you want to see one reason why this is a bad idea, feel free to visit my previous post. A great book that talks about seeing people as vehicles is "The Anatomy of Peace" by The Arbinger Institute.  If you use someone as a vehicle, you begin to devalue them as a person. Again, this goes back to are you helping someone, or are you using them. I'll talk more about that point soon.

Don't get me wrong, this will focus on the individual, but this post is meant to illustrate that no man is an island. Do not forget what can be done with the power and support from others.