Books That Help You Understand Social Media

If you are a hip and sage wanna-be and feel the need to learn more about social media, check this out. If you are hip and sage and think you understand social media, you should check this post out too, because there is a lot of good context here.

The folks at 800CEOREAD offer this great post called, Books for Understanding Social Media. Check it out - whoever you are!

I like that the books they recommend don't just focus on technologies that we should know about - they focus on how communication and collaboration are changing, fundamentally. This is really what it means to be hip - not that we are using the latest Web 2.0 tool. We are hip when we are communicating and collaborating really well with all generations and cultures.

I was interviewed for a newsletter for CLOs (Chief Learning Officers) today. I was asked the question about succession plans and whether I thought that HiPos should be told they are HiPos. After reading even just one of the books recommended in the 800CEOREAD post, you would likely come to the following conclusion:

YES!!! Tell the HiPo they are a HiPo. 1. We need to have the courage to be transparent. 2. If you don't, you might lose your HiPo.

And for those of you who say that you don't want to set up false expectations or incorrect expectations, this is not a good reason. Don't fix your communication problem by not communicating. There are ways to tell HiPos that they are HiPos clearly and without making promises you cannot keep.

HiPos, BTW, are high potential employees - people who you think have the potential to move up in the organization.

Comments

[jah live]

Do you tell your LowPos or MidPos?

[lisa haneberg]

Yes, of, course. Everyone should know how their performance stands up in their managers' minds and why.

[Dan McCarthy]

Lisa -
Yes, by all means, managers should have frank conversations with their employees about their performance and potential. Just leave out the labeling (hipo, lowpo, alpo, etc…).