This is the second video in the social media strategy series. In it I walk through the first step in the social media strategy process which is to determine prupose. I stress the importance of looking at the overall organizational strategy, goals, and objectives. From there, you select a few goals that will lend themselves to a social media solution.

This step in the process is not about social media but about strategic thinking.

This video discusses how a leader can strengthen a diverse team. Diversity is a reality in today’s workplace and teams will continue to become more diverse. This video explains what a manager needs to know about building great team cohesions for today’s diverse office environment.

A Facebook friend suggested I read Umair Haque’s article on the Harvard Business Review blog titled, “The Social Media Bubble”. The title sounded interesting so I gave it a read. In general, I don’t agree with Haque’s thoughts and conclusions on social media. Let’s take this one by one.

First he states that there is relationship inflation in which our “friends” are an illusion of a real relationship. I won’t argue with that point at all. I have friends on Facebook who I barely interact with in the “real world”. What I don’t agree is the hypotheses he induces from relationship inflation.

Trust
Haque states that there is no increase in trust given the number of friends we have on social networks. While it’s true I wouldn’t trust many of my friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter to watch my 5 year-old daughter, I do trust them for specific information in a variety of content areas. So, I’d argue that a person’s access to trusted resources has grown using social networks, not diminished.

Disempowerment
Haque states, “The internet itself isn’t disempowering government by giving voices to the traditionally voiceless; it’s empowering authoritarian states to limit and circumscribe freedom by radically lowering the costs of surveillance and enforcement.” Try telling that to the students in Iran after the elections in 2009. The world was getting on the ground reports from real citizens in the streets of Iran. It wasn’t the media feeding us what they wanted us to see. I saw the tweets. I saw the photos. I’d argue that social media could be the most democratizing technology we’ve experience in society thus far. It gives a supercharged megaphone to the once voiceless.

Hate
Haque says, “today’s ‘social’ web is a world full of the linguistic equivalent of drive-by shootings.” Okay, I’ll admit that I’ve seen pretty heinous comments on YouTube videos and news stories that allow comments. Some are what I’d classify as hate-speech and some are simply childish un-intellectual rants. However, social media allows all individuals the ability to make their voices heard. I am responding to Haque’s blog with my own blog post. If he reads this post (and I hope he does), I hope he sees this as a dissenting opinion and not hateful rhetoric. I’d rather social media allow for both childish rants and intellectual discourse then bar the conversation entirely.

Exclusion
Haque states that having 1000 friends together who are passionate about a single topic isn’t friendship, but simply a solitary shared interest. I assume he is suggesting that instead of creating inclusive, diverse groups, we are self-selecting into a group of like-minded individuals. Social identity theory (SIT) states that we, as humans, have a tendency to stick together (as Haque says, “birds of a feather”). Is this any different than the real world? I agree that SIT is a challenge to diversity and I’ve blogged and produced a video about how to overcome it. I think that what needs to be considered is the social process. I might belong to a social network that discusses “vintage 1960s glasses” but within that group is a diverse set of individuals. As I become closer to these individuals I learn about these differences and am better for it.

Value
If I understand Haque correctly, he believes that because social friendships are not real relationships, they lack value. I disagree entirely. In his book, Enterprise 2.0, Professor Andrew McAfee goes into great detail demonstrating the value of social networks. He presents a convincing argument that there is value in strong-ties (close friends), weak-ties (acquaintances), potential ties and no ties at all.

Haque also discusses three cancers eating away at today’s internet.

First cancer: He posits that attention is not allocated efficiently. I really won’t elaborate on this but on the social web you can determine for yourself how attention should be allocated. The individual is free to decide.

Second cancer: He states that people invest in low quality content and points to Farmville as the example. I don’t know about you, but I, as well as many of my friends on various social networks, use these networks to become more knowledgeable about a variety of topics. In fact, I believe organizations can use social media become more effective. Also, what’s wrong with having a little fun? If users of social media want to spend 15-20 minutes (or more) playing Farmville to de-stress or simply because they enjoy it, is society going to fall apart because they are not spending their time doing something more intellectual?

Third (most damaging) cancer: Finally, Haque says that the internet is not being used as a force for good. I believe in freedom of speech and expression so the internet and social media will become whatever we make of it. There’s a lot of junk out there, for sure, but there are a lot of social enterprises and charitable organizations expanding in ways they never could have if it weren’t for social media or the Internet. Is the internet to be used for social good or social evil? Neither and both. We have the wonderful freedom to make it whatever we want.

Overall, I disagree with Haque’s article on almost every count. However, as I re-read his blog article, I almost get the impression Haque purposefully wrote the piece to stir-up some controversy and encourage us all to think. If that was his goal, then he succeeded. So in that respect, nice work Mr. Haque.

As I flip through the prime-time cable news channels I see and hear the following:

“Small businesses and entrepreneurs create jobs.”

“The small business is the backbone of our economy.”

If you’re skeptical take a look here, here, and here.

At a conference I attended a few weeks ago I heard the phrase “the nobility of business” and “business as a noble profession”. We may not think of business in this fashion given the unethical practices that capture the headlines. However, for every negative story there are likely thousands of honest, hard-working entrepreneurs realizing their dreams and creating jobs. How is an entrepreneur’s drive and passion a noble profession? It’s pretty simple; they contribute to economic growth. Here’s an overly simplified snapshot of the process.

1. The entrepreneur creates something, a business, that did not exist.
2. This new business invests in itself, purchasing supplies, equipment, advertising, and other items.  This investment is good for banks, suppliers, and the workforce.
3. The entrepreneur fills a need or a want satisfying customers.
4. As the business grows, jobs are created and the entrepreneur hires employees.
5. These employees now have jobs to help support themselves and/or their families.
6. The employees who now have jobs can spend more to support themselves which in turn creates demand for products and services; spawning the need for more jobs.

Though the motivation of an entrepreneur may be to earn a profit and for personal fulfillment, the results they generate are noble indeed. Assuming that business is conducted in a ethical manner (and most entrepreneurs are ethical), the means justify the ends and the ends justify the means.

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games just came to an end. Canada did a great job at hosting this year. I think I now want to hike the Canadian wilderness…but that’s a different blog post altogether.

As I watched the Olympics the spirit of competition was in full display. These athletes, though partially driven by internal motivation, were also driven by the athlete that was only a step behind or a goal ahead. Competition drives us. It improves us. It helps athletes, businesses, and individuals perform at a higher level.

Sure, competition taken to the extreme can have dangerous consequences (remember Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding?). But remember anything taken to the extreme can be harmful. Heck, drinking too much water can kill you (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-drinking-too-much-water-can-kill) .

The spirit of competition fosters innovation, growth, and I’d argue greatness. I personally have performed my best at work, in athletics, and in other areas of life when I know there is direct or perceived competition.

As you proceed in your career and your business, realize that competition is a great thing. It keeps you on your toes and forces you to strive for greatness.

Corporate sustainability is all the rage these days; and for good reasons. Not only can organizations reduce their negative impact on the environment; but they can also potentially boost profitability.

I bought a Poland Spring water recently and saw this on the label.

One could argue that bottled water in general is “bad” for the environment. I’m not going to defend or refute that claim. I simply want to draw attention to this type of creative thinking in order to help lessen negative environmental impact.

A smaller cap…who knew that a smaller cap contains 20% less plastic than the average cap on disposable bottled water? I’ll admit that the cap is a bit more difficult to open but I’ll survive. All organizations need to start looking at their packaging and determine how they can reduce materials used.

Here’s an example of packaging waste and an opportunity for improvement. This Christmas my daughter opened one gift after another. Some packages were huge but the product inside could easily fit in a 1 quart plastic bag. Is all that packaging really necessary? Can the company achieve the same branding and visibility with a different style of packaging that would reduce materials used?

Innovation is the bedrock of American capitalism. With a little ingenuity I believe companies can re-create product packaging to be more environmentally sound, cut costs, and perhaps even improve the overall package design to attract more customers.

I recently read the book Monday Morning Leadership by David Cottrell. Overall, I’d give the book four out of five stars. Though the book regurgitates leadership ideas that have been proposed before by various other authors and researchers, it does so in a unique and simple to read fashion.

The book is about a manager, David Cottrell (the author), who is having a variety of leadership and managerial issues at work. He is at his wits end and decides to seek the council of a seasoned, successful leader by the name of Tony Pearce.  Tony agrees to mentor David for eight consecutive Monday mornings.

In this time, Tony listens to David and imparts his wisdom. He doesn’t tell David what he should do but guides him in his decision making.

The eight lessons Tony imparted to David were:

1. Take total responsibility for results without excuses. In addition, being a leader requires that one makes different decisions.
2. Be certain that everyone has bought into the shared vision and rowing the boat in the same direction. He also states that employees quit people rather than companies.
3. The job of the leader is not to lower the bottom but raise the top. He suggests really knowing and getting in touch with your employees.
4. Act with integrity. Be proactive and develop an action plan before a crisis.
5. Hiring high performers. It sends a message to the current team.
6. Manage your time and by being more effective at whatever you do. 
7. Coach, encourage, recognize, reward, and respect your employees. 
8. Be open to new opportunities, always learn, help others, stay positive.

If you’ve read most of the best selling business books over the past 20 years this all sounds very familiar. There is a bit of Covey’s 7 Habits and First Things First, Collins’ Good to Great, Rath and Clifton’s How Full is Your Bucket, Lee’s The Power Principle, and other random books on management and leadership.

What this book does do well is tell a story and puts all of these concepts into action. We all have been (or will be) where David was in the book. We struggle at various points in our career and question our own leadership ability. This book shows that simple principles can have big positive effects. Though the principles are simple, they are not easy to implement as we see David Cottrell struggle to live the eight lessons.

There was one “ah-ha” moment I had while reading the book. Step five states that a leader must hire top performers. That sounds obvious but the rationale was unique. All leaders want the best performers (would you seek out a low performer on purpose?). Tony says that by hiring the best performers you are positively impacting the team. You are sending a message that you respect the team enough to only bring on board those of a certain caliber to enhance the team. It was about respecting the team first. Performance was an outcome of this respect.

I’ve noticed that most management and leadership books these days simply repackage what’s already been said. However, this is a good thing. You read enough of these books and one will eventually strike an emotional or intellectual cord that will spur personal or professional change.

Yesterday I explained social identity theory (SIT) and why it was a challenge to building a successful, highly effective, diverse team. In this article I describe the ten ways to strengthed a diverse team and counteract the negative side of SIT.

Why is Diversity Important

1. The workplace is becoming and will continue to become more diverse. As a leader, you need to know how best to strengthen your diverse team. SIT says the odds are against you. Or are they?
2. Organizations exist in a complex and ambiguous environment. Some call it the post-modern era. Research shows that diverse teams are much more adept and effective at solving today’s complex business problems (McShane & Von Glinow, 2009)

There are other reasons but this should suffice for our discussion.

Please note: I’m using diversity in its most broad sense. This includes diversity of expertise, ethnicity, level within the organization, nationality, gender, and generational.

10 ways to strengthen a diverse team

1. Celebrate what everyone has in common
   In most diversity literature I’ve read the common theme is “celebrate differences”. That’s true, but differences can be a source of contention as well as strength. Celebrate what you all have in common. You’re on the same team. You work for the same company. Create a sense of emotional attachment to the team. Build social identity within your team.
2. Reward differences
   Instead of “celebrating” differences reward them. Diverse teams can be highly creative bringing different ideas and viewpoints to the table. Reward those who use their diversity to strengthen the team so others will be willing to embrace the differences and contribute their own unique points of view.
3. Be clear on team roles
   Make sure everyone on the team is crystal clear as to each person’s role and the value he/she brings to the team.
4. Provide a clear vision
   Every team needs a strong, clear vision but it is critical in diverse teams. Though diverse teams can solve complex and ambiguous problems, there should be no ambiguity or lack of direction in diverse teams.
5. Don’t tolerate overt or subversive stereotyping or discrimination
   This likely goes without saying but there should be zero-tolerance for this type of behavior.
6. Set milestones and make sure there are quick wins
   If you’re working on a project set milestones in the beginning so the team can celebrate an early victory. This victory can fuel camaraderie and emotional cohesiveness within the team.
7. Guide the team; be a true leader
   I won’t go into the details here as numerous books have been written about true leadership. However, you’ll need to provide leadership that will strengthen the team and ensure that diversity is used to create a highly effective team.
8. Have patience
   Research shows that diverse teams spend more time in the forming, storming, and norming stages than homogenous teams. As a leader, be patient.
9. Volunteer
   Take your team to a shelter, soup kitchen, or organize some other charitable event. Managers I’ve spoken with indicate that this is a great way to build cohesion in diverse teams.
10. Use the “old” rules
    Rules for building teams in general also apply to highly diverse teams. Setting up proper communication channels, empowering team members, ensuring individual and team accountability, rewarding when appropriate, and using the principles in a few of the books below will also build an incredibly effective team.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Teamwork 101
Effective Teamwork: Practical Lessons from Organizational Research

Teams will continue to become more diverse so it is essential for leaders to harness the strengths of team diversity and use SIT to build an incredibly effective team.

Have you heard of Social Identity Theory? It’s a big challenge to diversity in the workplace. Let me explain.

I never heard of it prior to starting my doctoral degree in leadership. Basically, social identity theory (SIT) is our natural tendency to identify ourselves with those similar to us. We often define ourselves by the emotional attachment we have to groups in which we belong. Here is an amazing, yet simple, example of social identity theory (SIT) in action from the ABC series Better Off Ted.

See how that played out? The cat people and the space people sit at different tables in the cafeteria. One employee decides to break ranks with the cat people and is chastised by another “cat person” for doing so.

What does this have to do with diversity? We identify ourselves with groups and those groups include our gender, ethnicity, age, and social class or status. This can lead to stereotyping and perhaps a variety of “isms” (i.e. sexism, racism) which may ultimately lead to discrimination in the workplace.

My next post will discuss the 10 ways to strengthen a highly diverse team. Instead of letting SIT create an environment that builds various “isms” and an ineffective workplace, I’ll give you ways to use SIT to enhance diverse teams and make them amazingly effective.

This post is a bit different from my normal posts regarding social media, personal branding, or leadership. However, the most watched video on my YouTube channel is when I created a test video with an infinite white background using a green screen. You can see it here.

I’ve gotten numerous emails asking how I setup my green screen. I finally had a chance to record a video showing my green screen “studio”. This is a really cheap and easy way to create “semi-pro” green screen effects.

All you need to set this up is:

1. 3 clip-on shop lights available at Home Depot or Lowes ($7 each)
2. 1 piece of at least 6ft x 12ft green fabric available at a fabric store (less than $20)
3. 3 tripods or some other item that stands 4-6ft ($0 – $40 depending on what you may have around your house)

Here is how it is setup:

Finally, here is the video. Enjoy.