I co-moderated a LinkedIn Event for professional practitioners as a conversation about LinkedIn successes. My cohost and I hatched this when we thought, “enough with the moaning about LinkedIn, let’s get optimistic and positive and share our successes in using this power tool well!”
We held it last week, and the best part was the conversation was quite robust.
Especially about how to use LinkedIn to reflect your personality: by being personal, to a degree, in what you post.
One woman in Canada chimed in with her successes in using stories of her backyard chickens as a metaphor in LinkedIn posts. I thought that was a novel way to be memorable, professionally, but for something unique…hey, isn’t that called brand marketing?
And then it happened, someone clucked that they didn’t think that personal material belonged in LinkedIn at all. Never, ever.
To which I say, be yourself.
The naysayer above was showing their personality. The chicken lady was hers. Fine for both, as they please. That’s what makes the LinkedIn world go round: we can be ourselves, metering a bit of fun while seriously learning from each other, and still be professional.
So with the LinkedIn Event fresh in my mind, I added to someone else’s post today with a personal story.
And I added my own photo to respect the innocent Ukrainian civilians caught in their existential struggle too.
Yes, both on the same day. On a weekend morning.
No chickens, no hard-crusted black-and-white my-way-or-the-highway POV either.
Just me. To you.
Take me as the professional I am, or it’s your choice, don’t follow me or keep the connection.
But if you do, I’ll try to balance lightheartedness and LinkedIn techniques for you to benefit. Bank on it.
Shades of gray.
