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Creating content on LinkedIn is one of the most impactful ways to stand out from the crowd. Creating content helps establish rapport with other LinkedIn members and helps you become visible to important people. The 2nd discovery journal will focus on finding your voice through LinkedIn. You are required to do the following:
1. Choose a professional topic area of interest. This could be something you want to learn more about or something you have a lot of experience with. To aid in identifying a topic, explore the content of Kelley alumni, fellow students, companies, LinkedIn hashtags, and LinkedIn professional groups. Notice the type of content that draws your attention.
2. Create unique content around your topic area of interest.
Examples of unique content:
Sharing your opinion on an interesting statistic
Asking a thought-provoking question on a topic of interest (context must be provided to set up the question)
Share something you read in a book or learned in a class to get additional feedback
Share a professional achievement
Why did you select the topic for your LinkedIn content?
What unique format did you choose? and why?
What did you learn from individuals that engaged with your content?
What were your post analytics?
What would you do differently next to reach and engage more people?
The art of asking instead of telling
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– This is an audio course. No need to watch, just listen. – American culture focuses on
telling instead of asking. But by telling people what to do, you can offend or demean
them. Asking fosters better relationships. When you ask people for their input, you
humble yourself and empower them. This nourishes long-term, productive
interactions. – In “Humble Inquiry,” published by Berrett-Koehler, retired MIT professor
Edgar Schein makes a solid case for humility. He explores the way American
culture prioritizes action, practicality, and competition over courteousness and
respect. Schein encourages the art of humbly drawing someone out, of asking
questions to what you do not already know the answer, and of building a
relationship based on interest in the other person. getAbstract recommends this
powerful book to executives and managers.
The three forms of humility
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– [Narrator] When you ask instead of tell, the other person can lead the
conversation and that builds trust. Even if you hear something you didn’t want to
know, you’ve still learned from the exchange. Telling shuts down
communication. People hurrying through the workday do ask questions, but often their
questions are biased toward action, and are not humble inquiries. – [Male Narrator]
Humility comes in three forms, basic, optional, and hear and now. You practice basic
humility when you avoid humiliating another person. Certain cultures have class systems
or hierarchies, people born into a particular status level never lose that status. Within
such systems, people treat each other with a basic level of respect and civility. – [Female
Narrator] Optional humility occurs in cultures where people are not granted prestige as
a birthright, but rather earn it. When someone’s achievements might humble those who
observe them, the observers can choose to be admiring or disdainful, practicing
optional humility. – [Male Narrator] You practice here and now humility when you
humble yourself and ask for help. People of high status find it challenging to become
here and now humble, because that means recognizing that they are dependent on
other lower status team members. – [Female Narrator] For inquiry to be truly humble, it
must be genuine. When you ask a question, don’t promote your agenda, try to minimize
your own preconceptions. Clear your mind at the beginning of a conversation and
maximize your listening as the conversation proceeds. Good starting phrases for a
humble inquiry include: What’s happening? What brings you here? And, can you give
me an example?
Humility in America and western cultures
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– [Narrator] Western cultures’ preference for doing and telling is the main inhibitor of
humble inquiry. Society in the United States is based on the individual. This mindset
considers each person’s rights and freedoms more important than those of a group or
society at large. Americans and many other westerners are practical, action-oriented,
and individualistic. They value getting the job done over building relationships. Hereand-now humility is hard to achieve in societies so fragmented by rank and
status. American society doesn’t readily acknowledge an individual’s dependence on
others. – [Narrator] Americans are competitive and want to win. U.S. politicians and
salespeople build relationships with their constituents and consumers but only as a
means to an end. Americans become impatient doing business with cultures that value
relationships more than productivity. They don’t want to sit through get-to-know-you
dinners before getting down to brass tacks. In the U.S., status and prestige are gained by
task accomplishment, and once you are above someone else, you are licensed to tell
them what to do. This causes problems when high achievers are unwilling to listen or
learn from lower status individuals. – [Narrator] Americans value telling more than
asking because requesting help or clarification denotes weakness. You’re supposed to
know what you’re doing, especially if you manage or lead others. Consider the preelection presidential debates. Observers became more concerned with who won the
debate than with the issues the candidates discussed. Americans fundamentally
believe life is a competition with clear winners and losers. They have little patience with
listening to information they think they already know. – [Narrator] However, the culture
of the U.S. is changing as people realize that the world is becoming more complex and
interdependent. Americans across a range of occupations see how much they rely on
their team members. People who trust each other work well together, but first they must
slow down and take the time to build the critical foundation of trust.
Polish your humble inquiry skills
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– [Male Voice] Researcher Amy Edmondson investigated how cardiac surgical teams
worked together on open-heart surgery. At lunch many teams segregate, with
professional peers sitting according to rank and status. However, one successful team’s
members sat only with each other. This team performed more complex surgical
procedures because everyone learned together as a team and eliminated barriers. [Female Voice] Status, rank, role and internal psychological makeup inhibit humble
inquiry. Subordinates and superiors follow their own codes of conduct. Subordinates
generally obey rules of deference that govern how they act in front of their
superiors while superiors generally obey rules of demeanor or appropriate rules of
behavior in front of their subordinates. – [Male Voice] Practicing humble inquiry
skills will help you in your personal life and at work, especially if you’re a manager or
executive. Leaders must acknowledge their subordinates in order to communicate and
establish trust. Expand your perception and insight to identify when and where you
might do less telling and more asking. You will find yourself battling the anxieties of
learning and unlearning. Learning new skills is difficult and may provoke
anxiety. Unlearning bad habits and developing good ones is often even harder. [Female Voice] Relationships can be task-oriented and revolve around transactions that
happen when you need something from someone or relationships can be personoriented when you like each other or share the same interests. Problems arise when
boundaries change, such as when task-based relationships become personal. Learn to
value personal relationships over task management. Reach out to others. For example,
invite your work colleagues to lunch to get to know them better. – [Male Voice] Slow
down and change tempo. Develop greater awareness of yourself and your
surroundings. Use humble inquiry on yourself. Ask, “What is going on here? “What
would be the appropriate thing to do? “What am I thinking and feeling and
wanting?” Consider whom you depend on and who depends on you. Practice
mindfulness. Learning a new skill, drawing, painting, acting, or the like, will humble you
and broaden your horizons. Experiencing a new culture through travel polishes your
humble inquiry skills.
