GSD: Strategic Plans (Game of Thrones Edition)

Have you ever been given a project and thought, "Where the hell am I gonna start?!" Totally overwhelmed, staring at a lot of emails or piles of paper, you're nearly paralyzed. Or worse...nothing. Has someone ever handed you a project without any context, background...or goals? Just a simple, "do this," and sends you along. If you haven't been in that situation, you will be someday and that day is a terrifying one.

A strategic plan helps with both of these situations and so much more. Trust me - it's among my top takeaways from my time at Boston University's School of Communication and has been the most useful tool in my toolbox at work the past ten years. The best part is, it doesn't just apply to communications work - it looks an awful lot like Harvard Business Review's Guide To Building Your Business Case too.

So let's start with the basic outline and definitions of each section...using Game of Thrones as our guide

Situation Analysis - A brief analysis of where we stand now, identifying both opportunities and challenges.

Game of Thrones Edition - You start with a map of Westeros and a list of all the houses vying for the Iron Throne. Who are they? What are their weaknesses and strengths?

Goal - What you are trying to achieve? Keep in mind here that goals are quantifiable. What are the measurable metrics for this campaign? Example: Pass X bill. Reduce X by Y% You can (and should) have multiple goals for any campaign you're tackling.

Game of Thrones Edition - Sit on the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms. Ah, duh.

Strategies - The ways we plan to achieve our long-term goal. Examples: Engage social communities in advocacy to protect policy X.  Recruit social community members to become e-advocates. Identify and build relationships with key media outlets and reporters who will tell X story.

Game of Thrones Edition - Determine which lands or regions you need to conquer to secure the Throne. Which houses do you need to get on your side so you have more troops to fight your battles with you? Secure The Twins, a critical passage point in the Riverlands by courting House Frey. (Gosh, that went well, didn't it Robb?)

Audience - Who are you trying to reach? The more specific the better. Okay but not great examples: Members. LGBT communities. Millenial men. Better examples: Single people in California between 25 and 34. African American women living in New York City. You will save yourself a lot of time spinning wheels and trying to talk to EVERYONE (and not doing it very well) by honing in on the audiences that matter most to you depending on the goals you are trying to achieve.

Game of Thrones Edition - You need to know exactly who you're talking to - and learn as much as you can about them. So when you go talkin' to Daenerys Targaryen you best know she speaks Valyrian, she has some pissed off dragons and a crap ton of Unsullied under her command!

Messages - What are the one or two key messages you will deliver to your key audiences that will resonate with them? If you had just 30 seconds with a target audience member, what would you want to convey?

Game of Thrones Edition - What's the one thing Ygritte really wanted Jon Snow to understand? Yep. Her messaging was short, to the point and she stuck to it! Or, in the case of Robb Stark he really pounded home that he was fighting in the name of his highly revered father, Ned Stark, which was a persuasive message to get people on his side.

Tactics - This is the fun part! Tactics are the nuts and bolts  of how you plan to achieve your strategies - and a chance for you to get creative! Example: Tweetups. Contests. Promotions. Petitions. Press releases. Facebook ad campaigns. Paid search campaigns. User generated content campaigns married with a hashtag to raise awareness and build community.

Game of Thrones Edition - Stannis Baratheon knew that to achieve his goal he needed to take Kings Landing. Given his robust naval forces he decided to take the city, by night, via Blackwater Bay. But little did he know one of the many defense tactics Tyrion Lannister had in his back pocket was more wildfire than anyone knew existed. That use of wildfire effectively defended Kings Landing from Stannis and his fleet and kept House Lannister on the Iron Throne.

Timelines & Responsibilities - Pretty simple, this is an outline of who is doing what by when. A simple table in a word doc can do a load of good for your campaign. This portion of your plan allows you to lay out expectations very clearly, manage the project and manage the people working on your team. With everyone on the same page, it becomes much easier to run a streamlined, efficient campaign.

Game of Thrones Edition - Pretty much everyone knows by this point that winter is coming and they won't be able to fight a war when they're buried in ten feet of snow and their smallfolk are dying of starvation because the jerk you're fighting burned down their crops.

Budget - List the approximate costs for implementing your plan, along with the business unit or individual that will be paying for each tactic. Budgeting for a campaign is like salary negotiations meet budgeting for a house renovation and make a baby. If people don't push back on your budget when you hand it over, you probably didn't ask for enough...because at some point you will go over your budget. Build in an "oh shit!" slush fund, about 20% of your total budget, to account for overspending or unforeseen opportunities.

Game of Thrones Edition - Wars don't pay for themselves, folks! Littlefinger is the master of coin and makes sure the Iron Throne can make it rain Gold Dragons whenever it's needed.

Where I see many people flourish is at the tactical level - coming up with ideas and getting creative. Where it gets a little dicier, and where you'll most often get pushback, is when it comes to defining goals and identifying strategies everyone can agree on. It's okay to start with brainstorming a ton of tactics, but trust me, it's worth the awkward moments or tired/sore brains to answer the hard questions. Ultimately, you are setting yourself and your team up for success.

While this is the most basic of strategic plan templates,  there are many, many others out there to choose from depending on your business and your needs. Simply being able to walk a client, business partner or team of people through this process will elevate you as a leader and significantly increase the quality of your campaign.

What else do you put in a strategic plan? Where have you run into trouble trying to implement a plan? Tweet me or leave a comment below!

Photo Credits: 1 | 2 | 3 |

#GSD: Imposter Syndrome Sucks

I have a confession to make. I recently got a promotion. And I have found every reason under the sun to minimize it since I found out. I haven't toasted myself with a glass of bubbly at home, squeeeeed with excitement to my girlfriends or even done an over-the-phone high five with my mom. It happened. It came, it went and I've acted like my sprained ankle is more newsworthy.

The funny thing? I totally busted my ass at work over the last few years. I achieved a ton of success with the work blog, consistently worked to be someone my manager can trust to get shit done (and done well) and tried my damnedest to add value anywhere I could, whether it was "my job" or not. In short, I worked as hard as I could to earn a new, possibly higher, role. I completely believe I earned this.

Who busts butt to get a job and then...acts like it didn't happen?! Honestly, I don't think I've experienced this level of cognitive dissonance since my ex told me I wasn't enough for him and yet I still really (really) wanted to be with him.

Here's what I'm talking about. The scene? A networking happy hour where I'm with my best friend/mentor. We run into a few people I know but haven't seen in awhile. They say, "What's new? What have you been up to!" I say, "Well I'm not running the blog anymore. I got a promotion, but the blog is being run by a different department now." Talk about burying the lede! Also, way to make it sound like I'm being punished in some weird way! My friend/mentor then said, "Well now I know what you don't do..." Ouch. And true. *insert awkward Lean In joke here*

What I'm doing...it's called Impostor Syndrome, and if you've read Lean In (pages 28-30, for reference) you've already heard of it. Basically, I feel inadequate even though I've been quite successful. I'd rather chalk it up to luck or timing or thinking I have, in some weird way, duped everyone in my chain of command into think I'm competent and deserving. Which is HILARIOUS because if you know me, I pretty much present an air of self confidence all the time. This Harvard Business Review article breaks down impostor syndrome pretty well (emphasis my own):

Imposter syndrome can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. ‘Imposters’ suffer from chronic self-doubt and a sense of intellectual fraudulence that override any feelings of success or external proof of their competence. They seem unable to internalize their accomplishments, however successful they are in their field. High achieving, highly successful people often suffer, so imposter syndrome doesn’t equate with low self-esteem or a lack of self-confidence. In fact, some researchers have linked it with perfectionism, especially in women and among academics.

The next paragraph goes on to explain how it's all our parent's fault. Sorta. Sorry, mom.

So Impostor Syndrome was identified in the 1970s and has been researched and discussed since. I'm not alone! I'm in the company of lots of high achieving folks! CalTech even says it's very common among gifted women. (Wait, does this mean I'm gifted!?) Yay! We're a whole club of people who rock but think we suck! Grrrreaaaaaat! (Mandatory GIF time.)

Let's be clear, I didn't just become this way in the last month. I've been this way my whole life. But I've realized lately that this could actually be really bad for me. (Like, really bad.) I have dreams and set ambitious goals for myself in life. If I'm going to achieve any of them, and feel good about it - worthy - it's time to get a grip on this impostor stuff.

One article advises me to ask my inner critic, "Where did you come from?" No, seriously, she wants me to talk to it. She also says that I can't just ignore it because it'll just get worse. Louder, if you will. There's a book I could buy about it. I could get a therapist. Almost every article I read about it basically said I need to visualize my success, engage in positive self-talk and find a support group. Sure. Something like that.

Over the years I've found a few ways to cope with feeling like an impostor at work. It definitely helps in the short term, and I can only assume that if done for a prolonged period of time it'll get better in the long term too. I think I need to get back to doing these things, but also get more honest about how I'm feeling or what I'm telling myself.

As a first step, I'm showing this blog post to my boss - before I publish it. I'm gonna guess she doesn't even know I feel this way, but it's probably a good idea that she knows. And then I'm going to do some of these things:

Update Your Resume

Nothing forces you to acknowledge your own accomplishments like a good 'ol resume update! I usually start by writing a laundry list of things I accomplished in a role, then group them by category and finally, look for data points to support it. This makes me feel good about myself, but it also shushes that inner biatch because I can't possibly argue with numbers that back up my success.

Have Other People Read Your Resume

I guess this is something like finding a support group, but a highly productive one. One former colleague and friend read my resume and said, "This is great, but this isn't what you do every day." She'd had the benefit of seeing me work every day while she was on a project so her feedback was both kind and insightful. Her advice? Write a narrative describing what I do, break it down into bite-sized lines and finally, find some data/visible successes to support it. Writing that narrative gave me a more full picture of what I accomplished at work.

Keep A Running List Of Accomplishments

I do this for practical and emotional reasons. I have reviews every six months at work and I've definitely been caught in a last minute rush to fill out those damn forms. About once a month I update an Evernote note with anything I've completed - big or small. I also dump even slightly praising emails into a special folder in my Outlook. I read that folder when I'm feeling down, and use it to update my Evernote list which I also read when I'm doubting myself.

Refine Your Elevator Pitch

What sounds better: I don't run the blog anymore because I got promoted. Or, I've been promoted to a chief-of-staff type role with an emphasis on special projects for the company. The former is going to lead to the latter eventually because people are going to be confused. I know, it happened to me a couple weeks ago. Might as well start with the highlights and have the next question be, "Oh! What kind of special projects!?" Also, sometimes I practice my elevator pitch in the mirror after I've put on make up for the day. It's some self-help shit for sure, but it makes me feel better!

Ask For Praise

Sometimes you just need to hear nice things from people you respect and trust. Sometimes I call my mom and say, "Hey do I make you proud?" She says, "Of course you do!" (She doesn't have to say that, and if you knew her you'd agree.) I routinely ask my bosses at review time what they think I do really well. I turn to my closest friends and say, "Hey I'm not feeling so great/smart/successful lately, can you help me?" Within 30 seconds I get a plethora of sweet observations and uplifting words. There's nothing wrong with asking for some positive feedback when you need it, actually, I think it requires a lot of strength. Hell, ask a bunch of people for recommendations on LinkedIn even!

These days I'm trying to be a little bit gentler with myself. Being self-critical can be a positive, but when it gets to a certain magnitude, it's the opposite of productive. Like most things in life, I'm working on a healthy balance.

So, fellow impostors, what do you do to get yourself out of a self-doubting rut? Do tell, I think we all need more than just the five things I listed above.

Photo via dholdredge on Piccsy.

#GSD: 8 Tips For Brand Blogging Like A Pro

This blog post is only about, ehhh, four months late? Sorry, guys! But late is better than never, no? If you follow along, I spoke at the Wordpress DC meet up about four months ago about blogging. What about blogging? Well, I shared the lessons I learned since taking the work blog from one post a day and barely a hundred hits a week to 5-7 posts a day, 40+ contributors and about a million hits a month. This is a slightly shortened version of my talk, but here we go!

1. Find Your Wolfpack

Very little at work is a solo effort. When it comes to managing a platform, creating content and coordinating a ton of people and efforts around it, you will need a veritable pack of people who are on your side. Think about who you need to bring on board to help you achieve your goals. The list could include, but is not limited to: marketing, IT, design, social media, media relations, government relations, legal, SEO and analytics. Rallying these folks to your cause, keeping them informed and consulting them from the earliest stages will make your life so much easier down the road!

2. Know Enough To Be Dangerous

You are but one person, and you probably have a unique skill set you've spent time building. Unless you're some anomaly of a professional wherein you can code, are a photographer, writer and marketer - chances are you're a pro at just one or two things, and that's okay. Here's where you need to educate yourself and know enough to be dangerous. Read articles, take some online courses and go to meetups in your community where you can get an introduction to topics you need to know more about. I needed to learn more about design, WordPress as a CMS and content strategy so I did all of the above early on. When I huddled with my afore mentioned wolfpack, I knew enough lingo to be respected and start an intelligent conversation. I also knew enough to know what I didn't know and that helped in building trust with my key stakeholders.

3. Be A French Parent

Awhile ago I read Pamela Druckerman's book, Bringing Up Bebé. In it, she describes life as an ex-pat mother trying to navigate the vast differences between American and French parenting. In one chapter she describes how French parents place broad boundaries for their children and allow them to operate freely within them with little to no control or questioning. I love this idea not just for kids but also for work. At AARP, we built out Social Media Guidelines early on. These (intentionally) broad boundaries gave folks a good idea of what was allowed, equivocally not allowed and what might give them a moment of pause. The blog falls under the purview of the guidelines, which means folks have plenty of wiggle room to experiment and share relevant content while still playing it relatively safe. Of course, the boundary pushers are always the ones with interesting, engaging and shareable content. So I'd say, operate on the edges and test the boundaries mindfully.

4. Be Prepared For Screw Ups

But hey, even Druckerman acknowledges that French kids act out or push the boundaries too far. And at work that has meant snafus with citations, taboo topics and departments going rogue. That's alright. Because we have the Social Media Guidelines, we also have a framework for, not punishing people, but rather holding them accountable. For us that means the person in question and their manager are consulted about how best to move forward, outline what went wrong, adjust wherever it is needed and move on. Problems are far and few between, easy to fix and we have no repeat offenders. I have to admit, empowering our employees and writers to be personally accountable and not helicopter parenting them, as it were, has been hugely successful. For many brands this is a huge change in thinking and an even bigger leap of faith, but in the end it's the most time efficient and strategic way to leverage all your resources, enterprise wide, without driving yourself mad.

5. Done Is Better Than Perfect

I totally stole that from Facebook. I used to have a boss that would say, "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!" Basically the same thing. Many people at (big) brands, particularly higher ups that are used to operating in a more glossy, traditional or calculated field find the rough and tumble, DIY, hand over-all-message-control nature of social media and blogging totally paralyzing. Yes, there are the Oreo's of the world who spend $4 million dollars on an Instagram campaign, but then there's AARP's member-takeovers which are budget friendly, hugely successful, and still audience-centric. The point being, if you have an idea, run with it! Don't wait for (bigger) budgets or new leadership - just go give it a whirl. The lifespan of a tweet is mere minutes, a blog post? Maybe a day. Even if you mess up, the beauty of it is that earnestly apologizing will actually endear you to your audience even more! Amazing!

6. Find Your Voice

Blogging (and social media in general) is like walking into the world's largest cocktail party. When you go to cocktail parties (or BBQs or Magic: The Gathering parties or WHATEVER your thing is) chances are you don't robotically respond to every question the same way. Nor do you engage with folks devoid of any personality, cadence or charm. You probably chit-chat, find commonalities, approach each person in a new and different way - right? (God, I hope so! If not, that's a whole other post.) You, and key members of your wolf pack, need to find your brand's voice. Since you probably won't have an ad agency to walk you through some shnazzy exercise involving far too many post-it pads here are a few articles and resources to get you started: 1.2.3.

6.a. Rhonda

In our case, AARP got a little help from our awesome Facebook reps who walked us through that afore-mentioned post-it pad exercise where we very clearly defined the mission, vision and voice of our Facebook page. It helped immensely since we have six very different personalities contributing to it, and our other social media pages. Through a random turn of events we eventually named our brand voice Rhonda. She's a trusted resource, a gal who wants to keep you in the know and is bold, fearless and helpful. Now whenever we share or write something, we try to keep Rhonda in mind. It's created a consistency and continuity across all our properties and is a guide for determining what new content to explore.

7. Ego vs. Audience Content Strategy

Oh brands, big paternalistic brands. It's so easy to talk about ourselves all day, no? We're awesome! We have the best products, resources and information! People should trust us! And no one else! Except, they don't...and they do...and when we make it all about ourselves and how awesome we are, it makes it really hard to build a rapport (never mind a relationship) with our audiences. When folks approach me about blogging, particularly our employees, I almost always walk them through a series of leading questions. What are your goals? Who is your audience? What support will you or your department put behind promoting your content? Do you understand the minimum requirements to writing/blogging/using social media? Because at the end of the day, if their goal is purely self promotion, the allure of a byline or a box-checking approach to communication strategy - the audience will sniff them (and your brand) out for being self-serving and probably unhelpful or disconnected. You want to put your audience first - how can you help them? What information do they want? Need? Didn't even know they needed!? How can you surprise, delight or engage them? Doing so is not at odds with your message or your brand, it just puts a different person or need at the center of building a content strategy.

8. It's Not About Your Goals

If I learned nothing, I mean nothing, else in the last four years it's that to achieve my goals for the blog I had to ultimately make it all about helping everyone else achieve their goals. If you're starting from scratch, with no budget and little support, you're going to need to closely align yourself with the goals and needs of other departments and business units and show them how blogging (or social media) can help them get there. Resist the urge to argue the merits of an individual platform, or urge your brand to get on board simply because it's the right thing to do (and it's the 21st century, damnit!). Nope. How can blogging help disseminate more meaty messages? Maybe some Twitter action will help an executive establish himself as thought leader like he wants. Some Facebook jazz can act as a focus group for an upcoming campaign. Bottom line, make your case with numbers, stats, industry-leading information and well thought out, strategic plans. You can't go wrong.

That's all I got folks - but I know it's a lot. I'll leave you with this though: if you've got the gumption and the balls, you can...

#GSD: Working With A Mean Girl

Six years ago, I interviewed at AARP with Tammy and Cecelia. Aside from being just desperate for a new job, there are two things I remember about that interview. First, I think I actually admitted to barely knowing what a 401(k) was but promising I could learn...I'd figured out patent law for my (then) current job and didn't know shit about that before! (I mean, I can't even. What was I thinking?!) But the second thing I distinctly remember is both Tammy and Cecelia telling me they didn't do "mean girls" in the department. There was no room for women hating on women - we were going to support each other.

Is it any surprise then, that Tammy and Cecelia became my mentors and eventually my closest friends? Ah, no.

In the years since that interview, there have been plenty of mean girls. And mean boys. Mean older people. Mean younger people. Frankly, mean people at work know no stereotypes, no background and can come out of nowhere.

The Anatomy of A Mean Girl

Let’s just level set here. Mean Girls are mean because they are insecure. There’s always something going on under their noggin that’s driving malicious, or just rude, behavior. Maybe it’s personal insecurity. Maybe she has a bad relationship with her boss. Maybe she doesn’t feel like she’s turned out enough work product lately. Maybe your company is going through layoffs and she’s nervous. Or maybe she just wants to take over the world – MGs are notorious for trying to angle to run the show. Point being, just recognize this is coming from a place of worry and nine times out of ten it has nothing to do with you.

And on that note, let’s try to remember that work is about work. Most of the time when someone is coming at you with jerky behavior it’s not personal. Someone going after your business strategy or cutting you down in a meeting is not an assault on your character or values. It’s not even a challenge to your passion for your job or your intellect. It helps to remember this because it will help temper your own defensive reactions. If you divorce yourself (your personal self) from the situation, you can see all the tactics for what they are – petty attempts to discredit you.

It’s Strictly Business

The best way to defend yourself against a mean girl is to always be about the business. Whether you’re laser focused on developing a better customer service program or generating new memberships or fundraising more for your cause, stay focused on your business’ bottom line goal. Everything you propose, work on and do in your 40+ hour week should always be tied back to the goals of your company or organization. Not only does driving the bottom line make you a more valuable employee, it also covers your ass big time - especially if you're in the business of innovation or exploring new/cutting edge projects.

See, while the MG is focused on you – cutting you down, discrediting you, etc. – she’s not focused on the real task at hand: the company’s bottom line. And probably doing so in front of her peers and leadership.

Essentially, this is the business equivalent of taking the high road.

What this is not? This is not being cold and detached, not taking people's feelings and emotions into account. You need to up your emotional IQ to be effective here, so listen more and pay attention to what's going on around you.

Prepare For Battle

Consider every meeting, every call, every hallway conversation a battle. You need to prepare for battles, right? You need to be armed with stats, examples, key messages that support your strategy and tie it back to business goals. You need to anticipate all the weaknesses in your strategy, address them or knock them out. You need to anticipate what MG is going throw your way or how she’ll pick you apart. Have a hand out, a slide or a handful of stats that combat or speak to those jabs. You will feel much more confident about the plan you’ve laid out but you’ll also look like a rock star to the team you’re working with and the higher-ups who are managing you and MG.

Group meetings are not the time to float a big new idea that could leave you feeling vulnerable or unprepared. If you're planning on broaching a new project with your team, rally your bosses and higher ups. Run ideas by the decision makers first and make sure you're going in with backup support. I rarely introduce ideas or speak authoritatively about something without running all the traps - up and down the ladder - beforehand. MGs involved or not.

What is this not? This is not snapping at MG in meetings. This is not attacking her in public settings. It's a fine line between being smart and on-point and embarrassing someone publicly. You are are going for the former, not the latter.

That Said, Choose Your Battles Wisely

You are but one person - with limited emotional capacity and internal political capitol. You cannot win every fight, nor should you even try to. Learning to choose which fights to engage in is a skill you'll acquire over time. Before you run with a knee-jerk reaction, take a walk and game it out. Think ten steps down the road:

• What happens if you engage?
• What happens if you don't?
• How long is this fight going to take you away from more important work, or does it actually help you move the ball down the road on that work?
• Who will you have to call in for reinforcements? Is this where you want to spend your political capitol at work right now?
• Do you have a bigger fight or ask coming down the road you need to save your energy for?
• Will anything truly bad happen if you just let MG have her way?

Finally, ask yourself this: am I going to win this fight eventually anyway? If the answer is yes, ignore and move on. I'd say most of the time, engaging in fights with MGs are a waste of time. Fly above it, sister.

Educate Everyone. Particularly Everyone Around MG.

Sometimes when people repeatedly come at us at work we focus on them too much. And how could we not? They’re demanding our attention by picking at us – in emails, in meetings and more. But these distractions are not productive. They knock us off our game, we end up spending more time than necessary bitching about them or recovering from their tactics. This is easier said than done, but: ignore them. I'm rubber, you're glue. Talk to the palm, cause you ain't da bomb. Lalalalala I can't hear you. You've got other things to focus on...

Like building a team of allies. Nothing can be done alone - but how much do you really need MG? Pretend she, or her job function, wasn't available to you. Who would you work with to execute your ideas? Who would you have to get buy-in from to make things happen? There's your new focus. For every minute spent lamenting MG, you will now focus on building better relationships and educating the people around her. Talk about your ideas, your plan and the data that supports it - to anyone who will hear you out!

Again, this is a double whammy - you get to establish yourself as an expert to more people in your organization AND you are effectively finding a way to #GSD without MG.

What this is not? This is not going over MG's head. This is not going to her boss and tattling on her (remember, snitches get stitches). This is simply educating and empowering a wider group of people to help drive your business' goals. Preferably with you.

Acknowledge Good Ideas & Success

Good ideas and success happens at all levels and from all corners of the business. That means sometimes MG is going to succeed. Sometimes, she might even school you on something. That's okay! This is when you flex your good karma muscle and swallow back some of that pride. You are a team player, and if a good idea helps the business, then that's what it's all about.

What this is not? This is not being sarcastic or condescending in meetings and emails. This is a genuine expression of gratitude or praise.

Don't Leave The Burn Book Out

Hey, we all need to vent sometimes! I get it. But keep that venting to a minimum when you're at drinks with coworkers. And certainly don't vent in company email. Save your rants for your mom, your BFF or your dog. Go ahead and write those scathing emails, from your personal account, and then delete them. Heck, sometimes I even say everything I'm just dying to say, great monologue style, in the shower or while I'm doing my hair in the morning. Get it out, but don't compromise your professionalism or your relationships at work in the process.

What this is not? This is not keeping it all bottled up inside, never letting anyone, ever know what's wrong.

Dealing with MGs at work is not fun - no matter what form they take on. But it's also a fact of life. Instead of curling up into fetal in your cubicle and letting them rule your work life, look at this as an opportunity to learn and grow at work. People skills, navigating internal politics and mastering the art of persuasion are the most transferable work skills you may have in your arsenal some day! How do you guys deal with MGs? Share below!

#GSD: Be An In-House Expert

A couple weeks ago I was presenting to a group of AARP field staff about the AARP Social Communications team. After sharing our structure, roles and some tips for rocking at social communications, I was asked, "How did you guys establish yourselves as the experts? How did you become the go-to people for social media at AARP?" It's not like we had a formula, or were plotting an exacting strategy, but in hindsight there were several things we systematically did to establish our expertise. When I thought back even further to my days in media relations or even my PR agency days, I realized I did the same things to establish myself as the go-to person for any number of subjects or tasks.

Consider this your hit list. Make time for two or three of these things a week and you'll be well on your way to being "that person who knows how to...." in your organization. Do the items that make the most sense for your role and your organization's culture, but also consider that being an expert means paving the way, leading, busting down boundaries and that may make you a little bit uncomfortable. That's okay, and mostly, that's good! It means you're stepping out of your comfort zone. But it also means you're embracing the risk as you put yourself out there and stand up for your ideas.

Always. Be. Selling.

My friend Jenna is in sales. She's whip smart and she can do the hustle better than anyone I know. But she's smooth about it - unobtrusive and never makes you feel like you're hearing a pitch. Listen, no one is going to get behind your idea just because. You have to sell your idea, but more importantly yourself. Jenna's so good because she understands what she's selling against. Maybe for one client it's driving traffic, while for another it's raising awareness. Depending on their needs she talks about how she can help people achieve their goals.

Understand the people you're selling to: what makes them tick? Maybe one boss loves numbers and analytics, while another religiously reads the Wall Street Journal and yet another might hate taking meetings but loves grabbing coffee. How you sell yourself and your ideas should be catered to the individual you're selling to, not yourself.

Share Ideas - With Context

I read more than 300 RSS feeds every day for a reason: sharing. When it comes to sharing articles and information with colleagues and higher ups, the key is context and ease.

In my PR agency days I learned that many of my clients weren't clicking on the links to news stories I sent them. Bummer. Then I switched up the format of my emails. I copy/pasted the headline of the article into the body of the email, provided a full link to the article and then a copy of the article in its entirety in the body of the email. At the very top I added a sentence or two of intro & context and 2-3 bullets with the key takeaways or questions I needed them to answer.

See, not many people have the time or the interest in reading the things you will send. What are the quick bites? What would you tell them if you were only going two floors in an elevator together? That's the most important part of the email, well, and a subject line that makes them want to open it. Add value to the article and it shows how you are valuable beyond being an over-glorified newsletter.

Walk The Walk

Don't just talk about it, be about it. You want to start a social media program for your company? You better have a social media program for yourself. Yep, a program. Think there's a more streamlined way of printing and mailing? Try it out on yourself first, take note of the cost savings, process and improvements for you alone.

Recruit the willing into your ideas. There are always a few people who are willing to try an idea or go rogue with you. Go for the low hanging fruit - easy wins, small projects and build critical mass around your ideas by actually doing them on a small scale.

Teachable Moments

For those times you want to scream, "I told you guys we should have done that!" Yeah, you knew you were right all along, and just now everyone else realized you were right too. Be gentle, focus on the positive and the future. Don't lay blame, and definitely don't be condescending. This is your chance to show the higher ups that you can fix a problem or improve upon a lackluster outcome by implementing that program, plan or process you've been selling so hard. Bonus points: work with your team rather than trying to lead the new plan or take it away from them.

Speak Sparingly

A friend just shared this anecdote: if it takes you more than 15 minutes to figure out who the asshole is in a meeting, there's a good chance it's you.

Listening! It's a lost art. Especially at work! You do not need to clamor to make your point first, there are no points for talking louder or faster and there is no rule that you need to speak on every point or even in every meeting. Listen to what's being said, absorb it - is there a subtext? What are the goals you're trying to achieve in the meeting/conversation? Who is in the room? What might that mean? - and determine if you have any value to add. No value? Don't speak. Value? Speak away, my friend!

Message Repetition

This is total PR girl advice. What are your three key points you're trying to make? You are these three points. Become the three points. Shamelessly repeat the three points. When you speak (sparingly) these are your go-to messages, or what you always bring your audience back to. These points need to speak to your capabilities, strengths or boil down your ideas into salient, easy to digest snippets.

Drive-Bys

Put on your big girl panties, this is going to require you to strap on some extra confidence. I want you to,  unannoyingly and unobtrusively, "swing by" influential people's offices. Sometimes I want you to just say, "Hi!" Sometimes I want you to have a loose idea of something (related to your chosen field of expertise) to chat BRIEFLY about. Sometimes I want you to make friends with their assistant. Are you catching my drift? To be an expert you also need to be physically visible to the people who can help validate you.

If you want to be known as a social media expert, swing by a few times and offer to help a higher up download Twitter to their phone and get all set up. If the person you're visiting loves reading things on paper, drop off an interesting article you printed out. If they have a sense of humor, or love, I don't know, buffalos, tell them a joke you heard or mention a cool painting of buffalos on exhibit downtown. This is about personal relationship building that transcends your technical expertise. People work with people they like, not just people who are the smartest or most qualified.

It's not a science, but try putting a few of these things on your calendar every week at work as a reminder. If you passionately embody your ideas, and aim to share the benefits of them every day with people around you, you'll become an in-house expert. But remember it's a slow build - like growing an audience on Twitter - it's just going to take some time. (So start now!)

Photo Source: Me! (Alejandra Owens)