Everything we do that is meaningful involves an element of confronting a fear or challenge and pushing past it.
It’s part of our learning process.
We read of famous authors with writer’s block, yet they publish great works. Public speakers say they are shy yet they orate to thousands.
And in my LinkedIn training I see professionals who have achieved a significant degree of success and yet their profile is dull, lifeless, biographical, backward-focussed.
They can’t adequately explain their present and futures, their self-earned value proposition, their differentiators, their “why they do what they do,” all of which makes them worthy of consideration as a future business collaborator.
I have worked with the actress who can’t tell about herself (how does she get parts in auditions, I asked), the divorce attorney who appears disjointed though brilliant (how do potential clients evaluate him and feel comfortable baring their souls, I wondered), or the financial planner who must rise above the noise in her field and the confusion in the markets (how can she convince a family to place their net worth in her hands, I queried): all of these professionals need to convey their brand, their unique vision and talent, on their personal and business profile pages (yes, both!) on LinkedIn.
The initial impression 
made goes way beyond a referral.
It is part of the marketing of you.
It makes you stand out.
Are you getting out of your own way to impress the casual reader who happens upon your LinkedIn profile, by referral or by a search of the LinkedIn database, to pick up the phone or email to see if you are right fit for the expertise you offer that they need?
Would you contact YOU?
