The Weakest Link(edIn)
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
I can no longer deny what has become obvious to me. I have failed to use LinkedIn appropriately for too long, and it’s starting to make me rethink my approach. Maybe you can learn from my mistake!
LinkedIn suggests: Accept invitations only from those who you know and trust.
This past week, I finally realized how low I’ve let my requirements drop. I have long accepted connections from mere acquaintances. However, this time I accepted an invitation to connect from a former co-worker who I know for a fact is NOT a good worker. He was a nice guy, but we worked on a project together, and he exhibited some of my least favorite qualities. He complained when asked to do work. He would kiss up to the project leader, and then disregard her when she was gone. He consistently did the bare minimum that was required, or even less. This person was an awful teammate. I kept hoping he would drop out of the project, but he never did. Is this someone you want working for you? Me neither. Would I ever consider recommending this person, or offering to connect them to another contact? No. So why did I accept his request?
It’s an easy answer actually. I was laid off a year ago. Like most people in that situation, I started networking like crazy. I met a lot of people, and many of them elected to connect with me via LinkedIn despite our lack of real connection. I should note that I rarely reached out myself unless we had broached the topic of connecting during our own conversation. Here I am, one year later, with 176 connections, and 3 invitations in my inbox. How many of these are quality connections?
My connections:
Category
#
Description
Work – Good
61
These are people who I can legitimately recommend based on their work.
Work – Casual
40
We worked in the same company, but I can’t really tell you much about the quality of their work. To varying degrees, I can likely tell you if they are a nice person.
Networking
49
People I met at networking groups, or professional groups (Java User Groups, Agile Bazaar)
Family and Friends
13
I know these people well enough to tell you they are good people, and I might be able to judge how they might be at work.
Old School
8
People I went to school with, and may not have seen in 15-20 years. I can’t say too much about these folks, but I can vouch that they were good people then.
LION
4
These are those annoying but necessary people who with Link with anyone. They can possibly be useful since most are recruiters. We are mutually predatory, so it’s ok.
Work – Bad
1
The inspiration for this post. People I can verify are BAD to work with.
The good news: My largest segment is the “Work – Good” category. Bad news, it’s only about 32% of my overall network. I think I can add some of my friends and family section, but still low. Yikes.
Although LinkedIn doesn’t offer one, I think I’ll start using the following rating system for my contacts:
5 stars:
You can ask me for a LinkedIn recommendation, and I will connect you with my other contacts.
4 stars:
I can connect you with my contacts, but it’s been a while since we actually worked together, so I can’t write a recommendation. (I can recommend you generally, not specifically)
3 stars:
I can likely connect you with my contacts, but only for information, not for information interviewing.
2 stars:
I can provide you with information about a company I have worked for, but will not share contacts with you.
1 star:
I can’t remember what you look like, and will likely deflect requests in a manner to suggest I can’t help.
Next step: I am going to do the right thing, and drop the Weakest link. In fact, I’ll do it before I post this! How about everyone else? I think I will leave them for now. However, I will look at future connections with a more discerning eye. If we are already linked via a Group, we do not need to be connected directly. If you are a recruiter, I may connect since you are unlikely to ask me for a connection anyway, and may be able to help me out some day. If I met you once, and we started building a relationship, well maybe LinkedIn will help us get to the next level. I’m quite torn, as it’s hard to flat out reject connections, because this is an accepted way to network.
What are the alternatives? Well, I will relay one experience. I met a guy named Larry at a networking meeting last summer. We had a great conversation, and I wanted to continue the conversation. As he had no business card, I looked him up in LinkedIn and invited him to connect. He wrote a great message back explaining why he was not comfortable with that, based on LinkedIn’s own standards, and that started a great dialogue. We have continued that dialogue since then, and I can honestly say I know a lot more about him than about many of my contacts. I still don’t know if he is great at his job, but I know he’s one smart dude. My point here is that there are other ways to connect if one chooses to truly build a relationship, versus just adding another notch to your LinkedIn bedpost. Hmmm, that got weird.
Although I do enjoy the email correspondence, it seems much more personal than LinkedIn messaging. Email is in my personal space, whereas LinkedIn offers that extra layer of separation that many people appreciate, myself included. Even more personal would be talking on the phone, which I honestly hate, and would consider a total intrusion.
In the end, it should be about Quality, but it’s so much easier to expand your network by Quantity instead. It takes patience over time to truly build a strong network. I recently started a new job. I hope, in about 12 months, I will have proved my value and will be able to connect with many of my co-workers. Because I work remotely with only one other person right now, that might only turn into a few connections. However, they will be quality, the types that can be of value, so they will be worth the wait!
Some might say, “Hey, are you sure you want to put this out where your LinkedIn connections can see it?” I say yes, because only my good connections will make the extra effort to support me by reading my blog posts. Those weaker connections aren’t likely to see this at all.
I invite you all to analyze your own results and post them in the comments below, I’d love to see them and hear how you do your analysis. Of course, I can’t help but wonder if my connection count will fall after this post!
Now, what to do with those three invites in my inbox?
© Submit to Any - jjtcomputing.co.uk
I can no longer deny what has become obvious to me. I have failed to use LinkedIn appropriately for too long, and it’s starting to make me rethink my approach. Maybe you can learn from my mistake!
LinkedIn suggests: Accept invitations only from those who you know and trust.
This past week, I finally realized how low I’ve let my requirements drop. I have long accepted connections from mere acquaintances. However, this time I accepted an invitation to connect from a former co-worker who I know for a fact is NOT a good worker. He was a nice guy, but we worked on a project together, and he exhibited some of my least favorite qualities. He complained when asked to do work. He would kiss up to the project leader, and then disregard her when she was gone. He consistently did the bare minimum that was required, or even less. This person was an awful teammate. I kept hoping he would drop out of the project, but he never did. Is this someone you want working for you? Me neither. Would I ever consider recommending this person, or offering to connect them to another contact? No. So why did I accept his request?
It’s an easy answer actually. I was laid off a year ago. Like most people in that situation, I started networking like crazy. I met a lot of people, and many of them elected to connect with me via LinkedIn despite our lack of real connection. I should note that I rarely reached out myself unless we had broached the topic of connecting during our own conversation. Here I am, one year later, with 176 connections, and 3 invitations in my inbox. How many of these are quality connections?
My connections:
| Category | # | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Work – Good | 61 | These are people who I can legitimately recommend based on their work. |
| Work – Casual | 40 | We worked in the same company, but I can’t really tell you much about the quality of their work. To varying degrees, I can likely tell you if they are a nice person. |
| Networking | 49 | People I met at networking groups, or professional groups (Java User Groups, Agile Bazaar) |
| Family and Friends | 13 | I know these people well enough to tell you they are good people, and I might be able to judge how they might be at work. |
| Old School | 8 | People I went to school with, and may not have seen in 15-20 years. I can’t say too much about these folks, but I can vouch that they were good people then. |
| LION | 4 | These are those annoying but necessary people who with Link with anyone. They can possibly be useful since most are recruiters. We are mutually predatory, so it’s ok. |
| Work – Bad | 1 | The inspiration for this post. People I can verify are BAD to work with. |
The good news: My largest segment is the “Work – Good” category. Bad news, it’s only about 32% of my overall network. I think I can add some of my friends and family section, but still low. Yikes.
Although LinkedIn doesn’t offer one, I think I’ll start using the following rating system for my contacts:
| 5 stars: | You can ask me for a LinkedIn recommendation, and I will connect you with my other contacts. |
| 4 stars: | I can connect you with my contacts, but it’s been a while since we actually worked together, so I can’t write a recommendation. (I can recommend you generally, not specifically) |
| 3 stars: | I can likely connect you with my contacts, but only for information, not for information interviewing. |
| 2 stars: | I can provide you with information about a company I have worked for, but will not share contacts with you. |
| 1 star: | I can’t remember what you look like, and will likely deflect requests in a manner to suggest I can’t help. |
Next step: I am going to do the right thing, and drop the Weakest link. In fact, I’ll do it before I post this! How about everyone else? I think I will leave them for now. However, I will look at future connections with a more discerning eye. If we are already linked via a Group, we do not need to be connected directly. If you are a recruiter, I may connect since you are unlikely to ask me for a connection anyway, and may be able to help me out some day. If I met you once, and we started building a relationship, well maybe LinkedIn will help us get to the next level. I’m quite torn, as it’s hard to flat out reject connections, because this is an accepted way to network.
What are the alternatives? Well, I will relay one experience. I met a guy named Larry at a networking meeting last summer. We had a great conversation, and I wanted to continue the conversation. As he had no business card, I looked him up in LinkedIn and invited him to connect. He wrote a great message back explaining why he was not comfortable with that, based on LinkedIn’s own standards, and that started a great dialogue. We have continued that dialogue since then, and I can honestly say I know a lot more about him than about many of my contacts. I still don’t know if he is great at his job, but I know he’s one smart dude. My point here is that there are other ways to connect if one chooses to truly build a relationship, versus just adding another notch to your LinkedIn bedpost. Hmmm, that got weird.
Although I do enjoy the email correspondence, it seems much more personal than LinkedIn messaging. Email is in my personal space, whereas LinkedIn offers that extra layer of separation that many people appreciate, myself included. Even more personal would be talking on the phone, which I honestly hate, and would consider a total intrusion.
In the end, it should be about Quality, but it’s so much easier to expand your network by Quantity instead. It takes patience over time to truly build a strong network. I recently started a new job. I hope, in about 12 months, I will have proved my value and will be able to connect with many of my co-workers. Because I work remotely with only one other person right now, that might only turn into a few connections. However, they will be quality, the types that can be of value, so they will be worth the wait!
Some might say, “Hey, are you sure you want to put this out where your LinkedIn connections can see it?” I say yes, because only my good connections will make the extra effort to support me by reading my blog posts. Those weaker connections aren’t likely to see this at all.
I invite you all to analyze your own results and post them in the comments below, I’d love to see them and hear how you do your analysis. Of course, I can’t help but wonder if my connection count will fall after this post!
Now, what to do with those three invites in my inbox?
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| © Submit to Any - jjtcomputing.co.uk |
