The #LinkedIn two-step

2 steps behind…or ahead…or lateral.

Let me explain.

I ran in to an old colleague from several jobs back, many years ago on the train the other day. Of course we believe we both look EXACTLY as we did in 1996.

He has progressed and I have too. Years melted away as we talked about a trip to Mexico we took ages ago to see a new company our mutual employer we had acquired, and we played “what ever happened to {}.” I looked at his LinkedIn profile later that same day and saw he had not shown his last 2 jobs. I jotted off a quick note to suggest he fix that.

His career story is 2 steps behind. Uh oh. He admits it, and assured me he is working to update his profile.

Or the time I was working with a tax attorney client and he forgot to list his very admirable credentials, his required and ancillary licenses to practice in his particular expertise, a 2-part gap on his LinkedIn profile. Uh oh. Better fix that right away.

His career story plays out 2 steps ahead of his certifications. Who know how many opportunities he missed without listing the proper credentials?

Or two steps laterally, a coaching client needs time to get her story together and collect her papers, in order to cue herself of her own story, before she is ready to work with me. There’s something else in the way to prevent her from accepting my proposal. I feel it. She needs my services, she admits. She assures me it’s a matter of time to hunt and gather.

She has both legs stuck in her own mud and can’t move herself laterally to improve her profile. For this I can nudge, shove, and/or tackle (see yesterday’s blog post), but no one will be able to un-stick her, if she cannot herself.

Unfortunately, some professionals are more than 2 steps behind, ahead or lateral.

Don’t even be one step away in any direction, please. You have to keep up the right image. Step by step as they come your way.