Social Media for Building and Managing Your Career

Posted on October 15, 2012 by John G. Self

Social media is an essential element of career brand management. Not to understand the available tools or effectively use them in this fast paced, hyper-competitive market is to place one’s self at a disadvantage.

When I first entered healthcare, executives advanced on performance, reputation, and their slowly evolving profile within the industry. This was largely controlled by membership in the American College of Healthcare Executives, the graduate school attended, the number of books or magazine articles written, speeches made, or the number of recruiters known. There was no instant access to the levers of brand development. It took time, consistent performance, and a healthy dose of luck. Self promotion was thought to be unseemly, a practice that mainstream, ethical executives did not engage in. Those that did were frowned on. There were far fewer hospital graduate management schools and virtually everyone was guaranteed of getting a residency—then a required part of the curriculum—and the vast majority landed permanent jobs.

Those days are gone forever as are the old school rules that governed career management.

Today, with LinkedIn, Facebook, and a variety of other social media platforms, executives develop their own branding strategy and execute using these tools. Blogging, posting articles and comments with special interest group sites, if properly done, can establish you as a thought leader on one or more topics. But there are new rules, and not to understand the power for good—or damage—to one’s career is a major mistake.

Mastering social media need not be a hit or miss proposition. There are a growing number of qualified social media consultants available to help you understand the strategy, the rules of the road, and which platforms offer the greatest exposure and opportunities for gains.

Here are seven ideas an executive should keep in mind, according to Becky Pearce, social media consultant and an advisor for JohnGSelf Associates, Inc.

Leveraging social media to advance your brand is not an automatic process that will run on autopilot. It takes constant attention.
Develop a comprehensive and complete professional profile with a winning picture.
You need to push content to your page on LinkedIn, Facebook or other sites you might choose to use. This includes interesting articles that others will find helpful. Add comments to emphasize your insights, skills and experience. If you want to maximize benefit of social media, you must post updates, or interesting articles several times each week.
Start by connecting with professional friends and those you meet at a meetings through your day-to-day activities. Focus on growing your networks around a personal brand strategy. Do not waste time linking with people who cannot, or will not, help you reach your goals.
When someone sends an invitation, respond immediately and follow up with a personal email thanking them for the connection. Productive networks are based on value and respect.
Unless the only job you have is to manage your career network, do not become an open networker—someone who is more into the total number of contacts accumulated as opposed to the value that the network can bring to enhancing your career. Networks, like vegetable gardens, require care and attention, including pruning. On LinkedIn, you will see the term, LION, which stands for Linked In Open Networking. This means you will to connect virtually anyone.
If you feel you have a unique perspective that you want to share, blogging may be another useful tool. However, this, too, requires a great deal of effort. There are millions of blogs. To build a following you have to provide content that interests people and you must post on a regular basis. Develop a written plan and a focus for your blog and post it where you can see it to ensure that you are staying true to your objective. Having a blog just to say you blog is a colossal waste of time. Typepad and WordPress are examples of well-known blogging sites.

Career Management, Not Luck

Posted on July 31, 2012 by John G. Self

By Cygnus921 (Own work) CC-BY-SA-3.0 or via Wikipedia Commons

I have had a wonderful career, uniquely varied, filled with multiple successes, some disappointments, but mostly great reward and satisfaction.

I was on the start-up team and served as the first director of Hermann Hospital’s acclaimed Life Flight program in Houston. I played a major role in setting up the next 13 programs nationally. I helped build one of the largest not-for-profit network of community hospitals in the mid-1980s. I have built two successful search firms and recruited in six countries on four continents. In the US, I have been involved in numerous high-profile executive searches. In 2010, I was honored with the Regent’s Award as Senior Healthcare Leader of the Year for North Texas.

I do not have a master’s degree, fellowship, or certifications from any of the professional associations.

The chances that I could replicate my career and its success without the graduate degree and credentials today is doubtful. The opportunities are more limited and the competition for career opportunity is intense. Today it is simply not sufficient to be a great relationship builder, communicator, or rainmaker. I had talent, but in an era of new rules where hiring mistakes are increasingly expensive, employers want more.

Employers today are elevating the bar for credentials, experience and prior performance. These three are the gold currency in today’s hyper competitive job market. For each one of these important qualities that you lack, you drastically reduce your chances for landing a top job.

Here are some strategies to enhance career management:

Have an updated mission statement. Who are you, what do you stand for, what do you want to accomplish with your career? This document should drive what you do and say, as well as the career opportunities you pursue. If you do not have the academic and/or professional credentials, you must address the deficiencies within your plan. If you cannot produce a compelling personal vision statement, how can you motivate and lead others?
Keep a career journal. Not only will this help you maintain an accurate account of employment dates, names of supervisors and compensation increases, but you can also record your significant accomplishments. Moreover, it is a tool for regulated thought—the practice of reviewing decisions from a different perspective. It is the process of thinking about what you could have done differently or better with your decision making and execution. Athletes and musicians, for example, practice. Regulated thought is a form of “practice” to improve your decision-making skills. Think of it as replaying the game film of, for example, a meeting where you executed on an important decision.
Cultivate an effective professional network. Size is important, but bigger is not necessarily better. You want a network that adds value. If you are a hospital executive in rural Montana, being connected to a telemarketer in Lahore, India or a financial planner in Northampton, MA who wants to sell you something, is of questionable value. Link with people who can help you solve a problem, or connect the dots for the next new job that will advance your career. This is a career-long endeavor.
Be active in professional associations—nationally and locally. Continuing education and professional development are essential to remaining relevant. Be open to new ideas because the transformation of healthcare will produce a tidal wave of new ideas and innovations. Volunteer for committees or even the board. This is a key part to building a network and enhancing your brand and can position you to achieve a credential.
Share your ideas on LinkedIn and other business and social media sites. Your posts should add value to your brand, which includes everything you write, post or say. If you enjoy writing, then blog. The blogoshere is crowded, but consistently delivered fresh ideas have a way of moving to the top. And this takes us back to having an up-to-date mission statement which should drive the boat for career management. If your posts and comments are not consistent with that statement, you may be drifting into image muddle.

Above all else, pay it forward. When someone helps you with your career, turn around and help those coming up behind you. Surprisingly, this is not a common practice in business today but is one way you can distinguish yourself in the market.

Stay Tuned for the Future

Posted on May 15, 2011 by John G. Self

I have been blogging for more than three years. I have written more than 240 posts and received more than 18,782 page views. My focus has been on recruiting, talent management and public policy in the healthcare industry.

The past three years have been challenging. I left a company that I founded and built. It was an emotional, gut-wrenching but necessary decision. I started a new company, JohnGSelf Associates, Inc. and things are going very well.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the process and the intellectual challenge of writing a blog twice a week. To my loyal and supportive readers, a heart-felt thank you for joining me at HealthCare Voice, either through the host site on Typepad, or through LINKED IN, FACEBOOK or PLAXO. Please know that your comments, compliments and suggestions have been an enriching part of writing the blog.

But now it is time to move on to a broader range of subjects and ideas.

In the next month, I will share my plans for the future. Until then, keep reading and commenting.

Thanks for your many kind words.

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