5 Reasons Recent Graduates or Interns are the best people to kick start and manage your social media presence

College students or recent graduates are being cited as the best people to look after your company’s social media presence, all be it with some supervision, as they are seen as being far better at interacting online than those higher up.. This was suggested recently by Lisa Barone of Outspoken Media writing on The Business Insider War Room.

Even if you think your online image is too important to entrust to interns or recent graduates you should take a leaf out of their book and follow their example.
Some of the reasons they can help you achieve social media success are:

They are chatty – this mindset and their willingness to interact and converse on a range of topics as they are happy to avoid the other perhaps more mundane and repetitive tasks such as photocopying works in their favour in the world of social media.

They are closure to the ground – they are more likely to pick up on information, interactions and underlying problems or difficulties from the ground up that CEO’s are unlikely to acknowledge or be aware of. They can bring an outside and fresh perspective and potentially help your company overcome its misgivings and things which could potentially be hampering it’s intended identity and perceived image.

They are excited and enthusiastic – they are in touch with day to day reality far more so than CEO’s are likely to be. They are potentially closure to your customers in terms of understanding their perspective and what they are interested in. Being in tune with the social world that your customers reside will come across in your social media presence as well as their general enthusiasm and excitment for potentially some of the same issues.

They know they have weaknesses – a student or a recent graduate is more likely to be in touch with their weaknesses and will be happy to admit them and their ambitions to overcome them. This is far more attractive to customers as opposed to being greeted by a constant message that your company is perfect which may be portrayed by a CEO.

They take chances – the risks may not be as high for a student or recent graduate, they are optimistic and striving to prove themselves and are therefore more likely to take chances. This is necessary within the world of social media as it needs to be constantly driven by ambitions to make everything better.

Once guidelines and policies are in place there is no reason why your social media presence shouldn’t be managed by your interns or recent graduate employees; seemingly it’s all about taking risks they just need to be monitored and quantified!

Open Your Eyes to the Solutions – Involve Your People

Just a thought for the day for those businesses which are struggling or are perhaps have resigned themselves to merely survive and weather the storm. Every day presents new opportunities, creativity can flourish and ideas can be created. Trying something new should always be the prerequisite, if you don’t someone else will.

"You are surrounded by simple, obvious solutions that can dramatically increase your income, power, influence and success. The problem is, you just don't see them."

Jay Abraham

The business world is constantly in flux, new challenges are emerging daily, new competitors surfacing and new standards being set. With the degree of change therein lies the temptation to throw in the towel and give up when it all just gets too much. We can become blind to the solutions, support and knowledge which permeates the world of business and in itself can seem a tad complex.

A business manager has a complex role to play, the tasks and responsibilities diverse however large or small the business. The functions within your organisation shouldn’t be underestimated and you should always look to the future… Whatever your size today, surely you aspire to achieve growth?

Teamwork and employee involvement is what I believe to be the key to opening up our minds to the solutions which may otherwise dismiss or fail to notice.
With innovation now being a key success driver, how can one person or even a small percentage of people within an organisation be expected to take on the mammoth responsibility to be consistently creative? Every member or your workforce will bring something to the table; they just need the opportunity to do so!

“Innovation today isn’t a sudden break with the past, a brilliant insight that one lone outsider pushes through to save the company. Just the opposite: innovation today is a continuous process of small and constant change, and it’s built into the culture of successful companies.”

Janet Rae-Dupree

“…the group effort allows us to move much more quickly and become successful much faster.”

Chris MacCarthy – Director of the Innovation and Learning Network

Leadership vs. Management, Do we need both?

What is the difference between leadership and management and does it really matter?

The answer is yes it does!

In today’s dynamic business environments it’s important for businesses to be able to differentiate between the two and to ensure that responsibility for each of the roles is assigned.

"There is a profound difference between management and leadership, and both are important. To manage means to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of or responsibility for, to conduct. Leading is influencing, guiding in a direction, course, action, opinion. The distinction is crucial" – Warren Bennis

Put plainly:

Management controls or directs people/resources in a group according to principles or values that have already been established.
Leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow.

In today’s dynamic business environments it is essential that organisations are driven by a leader in order to remain continually innovative and to sustain competitive advantages in their market place.

Two look at the distinction between the two in more depth I like the way Warren Bennis outlines his view of the differences in his book “On Becoming A Leader”. The manager administers; the leader innovates.

•The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.

•The manager maintains; the leader develops.

•The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.

•The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.

•The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it.

•The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.

•The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

•The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his or her eye on the horizon.

•The manager imitates; the leader originates.

•The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

•The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.

•The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

Another strongly influential thinker on the topic of leadership and management is John Kotter who describes them as two distinctive actions, each one being necessary and complementing the other.

It’s undoubtedly something which warrants the attention of business owners and managers.

Here are some basic skills that a good leader should possess…

Be a Good Listener
Lead By Example
Endeavour to Inspire
Facilitate Creativity
Continually Learn
Seek to Motivate
Articulate your Ideas and Share your Experiences
Learn from your own Mistakes
Get to Know your People
See the your Business as a Whole
Encourage Teamwork!

Do not assume you automatically have the necessary leadership skills. They are skills which you need to gradually develop as your business grows and develops.