LinkedIn’s Q&A is a great way to get answers from some of the smartest business people in the world. It’s also an excellent way to demonstrate your expertise to those very same people. Sadly, not everyone is going to give you a straight, or even a polite, answer.
In life, we live and we learn. The wise share what they know and help others avoid their own hard mistakes. And then there are those who choose to be unhelpful, egotistical and just plain ignorant. What was it I was saying about professionalism again?
“A huge salary is not a sign of professionalism. Nor is a insulting the competition, getting blind drunk in public, beating up your girlfriend, illicit affairs, gambling addictions, abusive behaviour or questionable TV appearances.”
Being openly hostile, ignorant, rude, stupid and generally annoying don’t count towards professionalism either. Case in point: the Q&A section on LinkedIn, sometimes littered with some very unpleasant replies.
So what is LinkedIn?
“LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals.”
Goals. Remember that word.
A few days ago, I answered the question: “What are the key criteria for making a business decision?“, posed by Gary Lennon, co-founder of Ideas2Reality.
Yes, the question is a little broad, but I was reminded of what my dad once said when asked: “How long is a piece of string?” To which he replied: “Half its length multiplied by two”. There’s usually an answer to even the most ambiguous question, which his actually wasn’t, it was just broad.
Gary replied to me personally, and thanked me for taking the time out to answer his question sensibly. I was just glad to help. However, he’d posted the question in several different areas on LinkedIn and the replies he got weren’t all as helpful as my own.
I wasn’t in the least surprised. I recently made my thoughts very clear, concerning the total lack of professionalism exhibited by some on the LinkedIn Q&A:
“If you don’t like a question in the LinkedIn Q&A, don’t answer. Smart arse replies show a lack of professionalism, plus you look stupid.”
As a professional, the Q&A on LinkedIn is a perfect venue to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise, not only to the people asking questions, but to everyone else besides. The good news is, idiocy, rudeness and belligerence are usually self-regulating; why should anyone consider you as an expert if you’re acting so unprofessionally?
Gary called me on Skype a couple of days later, to discuss a great idea he’s working on, directly related to the question. Fortunately, he was fine about some of the replies he got, and laughed them off.
But it was towards the end of our hour-long conversation when he said something that really struck a chord and conjured up a very clear image in my mind, and sort of put the LinkedIn Q&A into its proper perspective.
“We’re all just trying to move the ball along. We might not be there to see the end product, but at least we try!”
Or words to that effect. And in an instant, I could see the business playing field before me. Immediately, I began to see business as a game of football / soccer.
Our loved ones are collectively the goal keeper, there to keep the other side from taking the advantage, to control the pace of the game and to get the ball in play again, back up the field.
Our financial backers, business support organizations and the many, many support groups and business forums like LinkedIn are the defenders, each taking a turn at moving the ball forward.
Our business partners, senior management and directors are the mid-field, linking the play from the back and holding the attacking line.
We, the innovators, the doers, the creators and the people with the ideas are the strikers, stepping in and out of the wild tackles, dodging the attempts to bring us down and take possession of the ball. We press our advantage, aiming to make a Net gain.
Fans go wild…