Let me explain. When it comes to corporate communications I believe that the devil is in the detail – the detail being that it is corporate comms not personal comms. That if you are representing a company, normally on a company related platform – ie their website, possible on their social media or even if on someone else’s platform – eg in a publication – it will be as they feel your level of experience or expertise might be interesting to their readers. And there is another clue there – it is your expertise that they are interested in. And in the majority this means within your chosen field. Now of course I am talking B2B comms here – which is what we do here at Antelope – not B2C which of course is a different ballgame altogether (although I am not sure whole, whole self is appropriate there either).
I was listening to a celebrity interview on podcast the other day – it was with a celeb who has a larger than life persona – physically, behaviourally and verbally. This is a man who had become ‘famous’ from reality TV which is probably the closest you are going to get to bringing your whole self to work if there was ever an example. However, what he was saying, which isn’t the first time you will have heard this, is that he has two names – one for TV and one he was born with. And what he reveals about himself depends very much on who he is at the time – so if he is on TV, he is larger than life, dressed to the nines and with a whiter than white smile. If he is at home, he is, like us all, in his tracksuit bottoms, eating Cheerios out of a bowl.
Which brings me onto social media and how many are confusing this ‘bringing their whole self’ on LinkedIn. Creating a personality behind a profile is great. Putting a bit of colour into the posts about who you are and what you do, super. But whole self…
It feels like we have forgotten the relationship we have signed up to at work – one which is professional as well as personal. One where normally we are paid for providing a service to others, and that people trust and rely on us to do that. So, knowing that I am often walking through the bluebells in my local wood, or that I am juggling life and work, isn’t something I want to share with my ‘network’. Sure, I might want to tell my close colleagues about these things, or talk through with my line manager – but everyone else? And what about that whole self who sometimes doesn’t act or live up to what I want to be. Is social media my confession box to not feeling 100% myself?
This isn’t saying I don’t think we should be authentic at work, or feel like we need to hid things from others – not at all. It is around audiences and understanding that social media is like talking at a conference, to a mix of delegates – some you might know well, some you might work alongside, but a lot of them that you know through association, or you don’t know at all. So, like in that conference talk, make it personal, be yourself, tell a personal story but relate it back to what they might be interested in, your role, the value to them.
Highlighting EDI and issues like menopause, the struggle for working parents juggling it all of course should be talked about widely and openly and often real people’s stories create connections and help others. And I am not for a minute suggesting we stop these campaigns. But I am suggesting the mindless diarisation of daily live on professional networks isn’t really of interest to anyone but those who are posting it. And perhaps they need to a real break from work to rediscover their whole self again.