I am being interviewed this evening by Kim Nishida.  Kim is a coach who works with service professionals who struggle with being their own boss.  Kim also runs a series of free teleclasses that I think are a great idea:  “We Learned the Hard Way So You Don’t Have To” and I get to be the “expert” for LinkedIn.

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So, do you know how Kim and I met?  On Twitter of all places.  I had seen postings of hers on a Discussion Forum where we were both members and I decided to follow” her on Twitter.  All of this brings me to discuss: Why Social Media Is Worth Anyone’s Time – including mainstream executives and leaders.

A year ago, BusinessWeek updated and republished there article from May of 2005, Social Media Will Change Your Business and you ain’t seen ‘nothin’ yet.  This month Steve McKee wrote: Why Social Media Is Worth Small Business Owners’ Time.  He argues that the biggest reason to use social media is that it is free.  This may be helpful for small businesses on a budget but it should not be the primary motivator.

“Because what is louder than a shout? A whisper. Social media is a way to get next to your customer and speak only with them. Whispering is intimate. It’s done up close. And it’s closely related to listening.”  Valeria Maltoni

The above is a great quote from her blog post on Convesation Agent.  And here is why everyone from the individual member of society to the Member of the Board in the Executive Suite needs to know about Social Media . . . it is all about communications.  And communications is all about Trust.  And this brings me full circle to the blog article The Power of LinkedIn and The Speed of Trust by Paul Allen.  Here he draws parallels to Stephen M. R. Covey’s best-selling book in 2006 called The SPEED of Trust.

I am not going to list all the things you SHOULD be doing if you choose to use the various internet social networks. There are enough articles out there to keep you reading for a week.  What I do want to point out to leaders is that this is a tool that will help you listen and if you so choose understand what engages people.  More on communications and leaders in future posts.

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To stress the fact that Social Networks and Media are forces to be addressed the following came across my desk as I write this:

How Many Millions are in Your Network?

- so starts the Executive Book Alert from Soundview Executive Book Summaries. This is a quick review of a new book 33 Million People in the Room:  How to Create,

Influence, and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking by  Juliette Powell.  Here is one point that I allude to above that is well worth mentioning:

Powell devotes some page space to the internal uses of social networking, as well. This is an often-overlooked area of this technology. Executives would do well to pay extra attention to this chapter, as it may help them increase communication between various levels in their organization.

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