Monica O'Brien is the author of the book Social Pollination: Escape the Hype of Social Media and Join the Companies Winning At It. The book is a step-by-step guide for small and mid-sized businesses that want to find more customers effectively. Get the book:

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Authority

Gen Y Cares About Conversation; Everyone Else, Not So Much

By Monica O'Brien on March 11th in Blogging 51 comments

Back in college, my sorority had a rule when we were voting in new members: anyone who used the word “nice” to describe a rush candidate got sprayed with a Super Soaker.

Yeah, it’s weird. But we never made the mistake of voting in women just because they were nice. That’s the point.

It amazes me how many PR and marketing professionals talk about the importance of conversation – that numbers and fans and followers don’t matter, and that’s it’s actually about building relationships. I don’t disagree with them. The part I disagree with is the conversations they seem to want.

The conversations most people want are the ones where you nod your head in sheep-like agreement, write a comment like “Wow, that’s amazing!” and generally participate in the virtual circle jerk.

Continue Reading…

President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize win proves age matters less than ever in the workplace

By Monica O'Brien on October 9th in Activism 10 comments

Barack Obama- 2009 Nobel Peace Price winnerObama won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. And while plenty of people are saying he doesn’t deserve it, I completely love the idea of someone winning a prestigious international award at the young age of 48.

It gives me hope that the workplace is actually changing from a stodgy focus on number of years at the company, to promotion and recognition based on ideas, leadership, and raw talent. The prize makes sense to me for these reasons:

There is no rule that young people can’t move up quickly

People keep harping on Obama’s age and experience as a reason he doesn’t deserve the award. Get over it. If the accomplishments warrant award, there is no reason to wait until a person hits a certain age.

I hate when companies do this. I worked at a Fortune 500 out of college and a position one level above mine opened up in my department. My coworkers told me to apply because I was already performing every single one of items listed under qualifications. It makes sense – why should they hire someone else, when I was right there doing the job already?I applied, but was rejected because I had only worked at the company for a 1.5 years and they didn’t like to promote people until they’d been there for 3.

Paying your dues is fine and necessary – but some people pay faster than others. Basing due-paying on age alone is lame. It’s for academics. It’s for old school thinkers. And I’m glad the Nobel Committee is not so old school.

Leaders who inspire people win

The workplace is nothing without strong leadership, and no company moves from good to great based on its products or services alone. Likewise, the United States would not be out of the global dog house if it weren’t for the way Obama represents our country to the rest of the world.

Truthfully, not much about our country has changed since Obama became President – we are not suddenly a better or smarter or more productive group of people. What has changed is our leadership – and the way Obama has inspired both the US and other countries makes him worthy of winning. And frankly, it’s amazing and shocking that one man can change global perceptions of an entire country.

Plus, now that Obama has been recognized as a leader of world peace, he has more clout to continue his mission, and more incentive to continue inspiring others.

You can’t grow without a stretch position

It’s career suicide to take on a role that’s past the breaking point of your talents and experience level. But we also know that the best way to advance in your career is to do the job you want before you have the title or authority to do so.

That’s where stretch positions come in. Obama has an aptitude for taking stretch roles that allow him to grow, without screwing up. US President was a stretch role for Obama, but he beat out several competitors with more age and experience than him, and he seems to be faring well.

While Obama hasn’t accomplished world peace yet, he’s a Nobel laureate for world peace because he has been executing on his vision of world peace all along, before he even won the presidency. This prize is yet another opportunity to grow into a stretch position – and I’m confident he’ll do just fine.

What do you think? Workplace revolution in the making?

What It Means To Be an Expert, an Authority

By Monica O'Brien on March 4th in Blogging 33 comments

Yesterday was a big blogging day for me. Regular subscribers will know that I had a guest post about how to create a blog growth strategy on Problogger yesterday.  Also, the Brazen Careerist network launched yesterday, and one of my articles was featured on there too.  Between the two, Twenty Set received more hits and comments than ever, from a diverse group of people.

Don’t worry, this isn’t an article about self-promotion.  This is an article about hate emails.  Or rather, disagreement emails, which is what I received yesterday as a result of all this extra traffic.

The emails all basically read like this:

“You are only 24 years old (yes, since the second week of February).  You have less than three years of work experience (actually, less than two; I graduated in May 2006).  You don’t work in Human Resources (nope, software engineering).  What makes you think you’re an expert/authority on HR topics/Generation Y/career development? (… huh?)“

Of course I immediately looked for somewhere on Twenty Set where I put that I was an expert or an authority on any of those topics listed above… and came up with this: Moving Away -Advice From an Involuntary Expert.  Right on.

What Makes an Expert 

I’m not an expert at HR topics, or Gen Y, or careers.  I never claimed to be.  What I am an expert at is myself – I know what I like, I know what motivates me, and I know I’m the type of person you want to recruit for your company.

And naturally, I associate with people you want to recruit for your company.  I have access to hundreds of twentysomethings in all different industries at all levels in their companies, and I talk to them regularly about their careers, their goals, and what they like and hate about their companies.

My experience with Generation Y and the workplace can’t be measured with time.  It’s based on my own life and what I’ve gathered from my qualitative, informal research.  Maybe that’s not good enough for you, and I’m okay with that.  Then again, an expert is someone who has high skill or knowledge on a subject, so I don’t understand why a twentysomething in the workplace can’t be an expert on twentysomethings in the workplace.

Either way, I still didn’t call myself an expert - you did.  Which segways into my next point.

What Makes an Authority

Simple.  You.  You who hasn’t left this page yet.  You who linked to Twenty Set last week.  You who let me contribute to your website.  You who emailed me for advice, or asked me to promote your product, or told me I suck and I’m wrong about everything.

Look at Oprah.  Why is she an authority?  Why does every book in her book club become a bestseller, even though she’s not a publicist?  Why can she make Ugg boots one of the hottest Christmas items every year, even though she’s not a shoe designer?

Because these days, authority doesn’t come from a badge, or a press pass, or a degree, or a date on a birth certificate.  Authority comes from attention.  You’ve given me your attention, and in doing so you’ve given me authority.  You can take away my authority by ignoring me, and then convincing everyone else of why they should ignore me too.

Until then, I will continue to write about why we should take birthday celebrations seriously at the office, or why every company should let their employees develop a Guitar Hero obsession on the clock.  And of course I think I’m on to something, or else I wouldn’t bother writing this stuff down.  That’s why I enable comments, though; so everyone can have their say – criticism is always welcome.

One final note – I’m not in the business of becoming an expert or an authority on Gen Y career and recruiting issues, or anything else really.  If it happens organically, I’m maybe okay with that – but it’s not my goal.

I’m really in the business of generating unique ideas that have the potential to change people, and change myself in the process.