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It happened so fast. As it does.  I was returning to my hotel after watching the Super Bowl with friends on Sunday night.  I was in New York City at a rather non-descript sports bar called “Reade Street Pub”.  As American football fans know, after a first half drubbing, a power outage during the opening moments of the second half seemed to electrify, pun intended, the struggling 49’ers and defused the leading Baltimore Ravens.  In the end, they couldn’t muster quite enough skill or time to win but it was certainly an entertaining way to spend my first evening in New York.

On the way back to the hotel, I decided to take the train after a brief search for a cab. It was near freezing temperatures and a subway entrance appeared like an oasis before me.  I took the E train from around Canal St. – I’m not sure – uptown planning to get off around 34^th St, my hotel, the Affinia, was just across from Madison Square Garden on 7^th Ave. As happens too often when I’m travelling in New York, I missed my stop, not realizing it until around 49^th Street.  No problem, I was now well within striking distance, I would just walk from there. 

I guess it was just short of midnight, early by New York standards. There were plenty of people on the sidewalks and many of the souvenir shops, restaurants and bars were still open, some just coming to life.  I walked briskly down 7^th Avenue down a very wide sidewalk.  I was feeling good, despite the cold, to be in the fresh air with a clear sense of direction, no mean feat, and with still toasty though bare hands. 

I’m guessing I was around 38^th Street, a relatively dark stretch, most of the storefronts were really office buildings with low illumination.  I was walking on the curb side of the side walk – a habit learned from long ago, you’re less likely to be accosted by beggars and other less savory types with a clear escape route – or so the theory goes. 

I soon noticed in my peripheral vision three dark shapes approaching up the right side of the sidewalk, talking loudly and laughing.  Two of the shapes were rather large, one tall and thin, the other tall and stocky. The third, judging by the pitch of his voice and his smaller stature was a young teenager.  As was also well ingrained, when walking in New York, I didn’t look at them directly but carried on down my “lane” as if they didn’t exist, keeping up my brisk pace. 

Without warning, the tall slender figure broke away from the group and was suddenly directly in my path, leaning forward, his left hand in the pocket of  his hoody, his eyes attempting to bear maliciously into me, “Give me your money!”  My first reaction was disbelief as I stepped back, “Is he joking?” I said to myself.  Something about my expression must have caused him to say almost immediately “I ain’t playing, give me all your money!” I stepped slightly to the left as his momentum continued forward, we touched for the briefest of moments, my forearm against his right arm.  I was surprisingly relaxed but at the same time acutely aware of his hidden left hand, it was clearly for effect – or did it actually hold a knife or a gun, nagged me for both the shortest and longest time. Amazing how the mind seems to slow time and grab onto the minutest of detail. 

After his insistence that “I’m not playing!”, I heard a voice say “I’m not playing!” and realized that it was mine.  My teacher has often talked about the importance of contact, the mantra “I know my opponent, but my opponent doesn’t know me” now rings hauntingly in my mind.  Even though the briefest moment of contact, it was clear that my young hoodlum “friend” was an empty suit, if he wasn’t packing a knife or a gun, or without help from his mates, it wasn’t going to be a contest.

And then, it was over as quickly as it started, the whole episode probably lasted less than ten seconds.  He thought the better of it and walked away with his buddies.  I thought briefly about pursuit but quickly decided that was a stupid idea, still bothered about whether he was carrying a weapon, not to mention not knowing how his friends were equipped.  And so, I continued down the street, welcoming a return to more crowded sidewalks and a flood of light. 

Later, in the safety and comfort of my hotel room as I replayed the events of the evening, I had a strange thought – social media interactions are so much different.  In the social media world my would-be assailant and I would have been decorated with the appropriate tags, for me “consultant”, “social media”, “martial artist” and for my attacker “convicted felon”, “repeat offender”, “wise guy”, etc (okay perhaps not that obvious).  The chances that we would have ended up “on the same street”, figuratively speaking, would have been much less.  And of course, if not from his profile, then from his messaging it probably would have been clear that we were unlikely to be friends.  This is what we call “digital body language” reading people, assessing their likely interests and their desire to connect by the digital records they leave. 

Soon, Google glasses and similar technology will be available that will allow us to use facial recognition among other things to assess the likelihood that a random passerby will attempt to mug you, factoring in their digital records – an interesting thought.  In the meantime, I’m going to stay out of “dark chatrooms”…

More than tags

CEO Presence on Social Media

This was a response made in the comments section of a Forbes article entitled: “CEOs Afraid of Going Social are doing Shareholders a Massive Disservice.” Below, we discuss why CEOs should have a social media presence.

You make some good points – and very eloquently(!) – but your conclusions miss the mark, with respect. It’s a mistake too many people make about social media, that is, separating it as a quirkily, non-serious communication means as compared to other vehicles, letters, public speaking, email, company intranets, company newsletters, etc. Social media platforms are simply new communication and information channels – like email once was or cable TV once was. Social media happens to be an incredibly efficient way to touch a large and targeted audience (if you so choose). If your audience (employees, customers, key influencers, etc.) aren’t using these venues then don’t use them.

The catch is, there are fewer and fewer instances where this statement is true. Facing facts, Twitter – though there are clearly many, many more, in fact thousands of social platforms, is the best source of breaking news – bar none. I repeat, Twitter is the best source of breaking news bar none. Anyone interested in being at the front of news should have a twitter account. Following influential journalists, industry experts, key market influencers can provide incomparable market, economic, and/or geopolitical intelligence for starters, often before it’s appeared, nicely edited in mainstream outlets.

I would perhaps boldly suggest that every CEO in technology, healthcare, media, consumer products, financial services should have at least some presence – even if that’s only to “listen”. Add to that, CEO’s whose personal brand is synonymous with or as important as their corporate brand. People do business with their companies because of the service or product they deliver but also because of the personality, character, and values of the person who stands behind the company – Donald Trump understands this, so does Bill Gross, as does Richard Branson. There is perhaps no better way for a CEO looking to add a common touch to his persona than to add a more informal approach to his communications, tough to do with email – just doesn’t win on the “look & feel” side, virtually impossible to do with internal newsletters. The obviously spontaneous post picked up by employees while a CEO is on holiday and mulling the big picture can give a welcome window into a CEO’s human-ess and how they come to the decisions they come to. An old CEO of mine used to do this sort of thing in the form of a folksy memo from time to time. It was always read with great interest by staff and added more glue to the working relationship. If social media existed during his tenure, no doubt he would have employed it judiciously.

CEO’s who care about whether their image, inside and outside of the company, is modern and, shall we say “youthful” will certainly not appear that way if they have little or no presence. More than half of University graduates judged the desirability of their prospective place of employment on their social media policy, i.e., their ability to use social media while at work. The CEO that doesn’t use social media is often the same CEO who has a lock down mentality when it comes to social media use at the office. How many times did we hear the following a decade or two ago: “[innovation?], John doesn’t even know how to use email!” No CEO, in any industry, wants to be tarred with this brush in the age of innovation.

Social media platforms can add immediacy and, dare I say, an intimacy to relationships difficult to achieve otherwise because of sheer numbers. Whether or not every post or tweet is written by the Executive is somewhat irrelevant. It can of course be more powerful when the CEO is writing his own content but, like in speech making, the most important point is that there is clear editorial direction, content that reflects honestly and accurately what he or she is thinking about.

Lastly, there are quite a few prominent CEO’s who are giving it quite a go: Richard Branson, Michael Dell, Greg Brown, John Donahoe, Peter Aceto, Martha Stewart, John Makey, Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump, Mark Bertolini, Alan Sugar, Bill Gross and Mohammed El-Erian. Each have a very active social media presence. They may not write every post but they add enough personality and direction that it’s clear that they are involved.

How content can create a worldwide network

In today's economy, we are faced with extremes: An extreme surplus of information and an extreme deficit in economic stability. In this strange environment, people are coming up with new ways to create and connect. Digital and Tech entrepreneurial hopefuls seem plentiful and all of these people want and need the same thing: Information. Smart networkers know that although content is king- you needn't rely on original content alone. Yes, it helps if you can provide some thought leadership and opinion of value, but it isn't necessary to churn out volumes of original content every day. Simply curating and commenting on existing content and helping like-minded people wade through the informational over-load is a a valuable service. Once you establish yourself as a credible source of quality content, you can expand your network. As long as you provide something of value to an audience- they'll ask for more. The following blog is about young people who started a site called Under 30 CEO. These people started in their dorms and homes curating content (creating some as well). Reinventing and re-purposing what was widely available, building a network with trust and credibility. The blog talks about how the content they curate and promote has given them access to a broad network of people around the world. Essentially, social media at work, making the world a smaller place.  

Link to original blog here: http://bit.ly/s5N8Ql

How the Fortune 100 Companies are using Social Media

Thanks to Allison Morris <morris.allison85@gmail.com>  at http://www.mbaonline.com/the-social-ceo-graphic/ for the material 

Source: Flowtown

Social networking increases workplace productivity

Study finds workers who surf social media sites are 39 per cent more productive than those who do not

IT leaders who restrict employee access to social media sites are not doing their employers any favours, according to new research.

An experiment by the National University of Singapore found that workers who are allowed access to social media sites are 39 per cent more productive than those who are not.

They were also less mentally exhausted and bored, and more psychologically engaged, the research found.

"Managers must recognise that blanket policies that prohibit all forms of personal web usage are ineffective, and excessive monitoring is likely to be counterproductive," the researchers said.

Click here to see original article