<p>LinkedIn has a problem that is common amongst many useful things. It has started to believe its own publicity. As a recruitment platform, it is undeniably valuable. As a professional directory, it is convenient. As a place where senior executives are expected to share their inner lives, leadership journeys and airport reflections, it is ridiculous. The problem begins when senior people start believing that it is also a place where important business conversation happens. It is not. What happens instead is a daily parade of professional self-garlanding. Someone is humbled to have been invited to speak at a conference, another is delighted to announce that he has completed a course or has learnt leadership lessons from missing a flight. To be fair, this is not wrong, it is simply exhausting. LinkedIn is a platform of mild embellishment, where every activity or achievement is made to sound momentous. </p> <p>For younger professionals, this may make sense. They are building visibility and trying to be noticed by bosses, recruiters and occasionally parents who still have no idea what they do for a living. Middle managers, too, have a reason to be active. A good LinkedIn presence can help in career mobility, business development and professional networking. The modern career is a noisy marketplace and the person who shouts most politely is sometimes heard. But the case is much weaker for CEOs, CFOs and other senior executives. The more senior one becomes, the less one should need to announce one’s existence every morning. A chief executive who is constantly posting may create the same anxiety as a pilot who keeps coming out of the cockpit to ask passengers whether they enjoyed his last announcement. </p> <p>It is true that many senior executives are on LinkedIn. That is not the same as saying they are meaningfully engaged with it. Many have profiles because corporate communications teams have concluded that an unclaimed online identity is untidy. Some post occasionally about results, leadership changes or sustainability initiatives. This is corporate communication, not conversation. There are exceptions, however. Some CEOs use LinkedIn well. They write with clarity, say something useful and then disappear before the platform can corrupt them. This is admirable, but it is also rare. Most senior leaders who post frequently either become bland or become ludicrous. Bland is when every post says, in effect, that people are important, and the future is digital. Ludicrous is when a CEO begins to enjoy the applause. The “like” button is the villain in this story as it gives the illusion of importance. A post with 4,000 likes may still contain no thought, while a post with 17 likes may be excellent. LinkedIn does not always reward insight, rather it rewards sentimental phrasing. </p> <p>There is also the interesting case of retired senior people, many of whom are exceptionally active. This is understandable. After retirement, the office car goes and the daily calendar thins. LinkedIn offers a humane solution, as it allows the retired leader to remain visible without having to attend office. A post on “my reflections after four decades in leadership” can do wonders for relevance. The sensible rule for senior executives is simple. Be present, but do not be resident. Read selectively, post rarely and never confuse engagement with influence. Above all, avoid sentences that begin with “I am humbled”. </p> <p>LinkedIn is useful. It is just not as useful as it thinks it is. For senior executives, the real work still happens elsewhere, in customers’ offices, boardrooms, markets and moments of private judgment. The C-suite does not need to abandon LinkedIn. It merely needs to treat it like dessert at a buffet, pleasant in small quantities, regrettable as a main course. </p>
<p>LinkedIn has a problem that is common amongst many useful things. It has started to believe its own publicity. As a recruitment platform, it is undeniably valuable. As a professional directory, it is convenient. As a place where senior executives are expected to share their inner lives, leadership journeys and airport reflections, it is ridiculous. The problem begins when senior people start believing that it is also a place where important business conversation happens. It is not. What happens instead is a daily parade of professional self-garlanding. Someone is humbled to have been invited to speak at a conference, another is delighted to announce that he has completed a course or has learnt leadership lessons from missing a flight. To be fair, this is not wrong, it is simply exhausting. LinkedIn is a platform of mild embellishment, where every activity or achievement is made to sound momentous. </p> <p>For younger professionals, this may make sense. They are building visibility and trying to be noticed by bosses, recruiters and occasionally parents who still have no idea what they do for a living. Middle managers, too, have a reason to be active. A good LinkedIn presence can help in career mobility, business development and professional networking. The modern career is a noisy marketplace and the person who shouts most politely is sometimes heard. But the case is much weaker for CEOs, CFOs and other senior executives. The more senior one becomes, the less one should need to announce one’s existence every morning. A chief executive who is constantly posting may create the same anxiety as a pilot who keeps coming out of the cockpit to ask passengers whether they enjoyed his last announcement. </p> <p>It is true that many senior executives are on LinkedIn. That is not the same as saying they are meaningfully engaged with it. Many have profiles because corporate communications teams have concluded that an unclaimed online identity is untidy. Some post occasionally about results, leadership changes or sustainability initiatives. This is corporate communication, not conversation. There are exceptions, however. Some CEOs use LinkedIn well. They write with clarity, say something useful and then disappear before the platform can corrupt them. This is admirable, but it is also rare. Most senior leaders who post frequently either become bland or become ludicrous. Bland is when every post says, in effect, that people are important, and the future is digital. Ludicrous is when a CEO begins to enjoy the applause. The “like” button is the villain in this story as it gives the illusion of importance. A post with 4,000 likes may still contain no thought, while a post with 17 likes may be excellent. LinkedIn does not always reward insight, rather it rewards sentimental phrasing. </p> <p>There is also the interesting case of retired senior people, many of whom are exceptionally active. This is understandable. After retirement, the office car goes and the daily calendar thins. LinkedIn offers a humane solution, as it allows the retired leader to remain visible without having to attend office. A post on “my reflections after four decades in leadership” can do wonders for relevance. The sensible rule for senior executives is simple. Be present, but do not be resident. Read selectively, post rarely and never confuse engagement with influence. Above all, avoid sentences that begin with “I am humbled”. </p> <p>LinkedIn is useful. It is just not as useful as it thinks it is. For senior executives, the real work still happens elsewhere, in customers’ offices, boardrooms, markets and moments of private judgment. The C-suite does not need to abandon LinkedIn. It merely needs to treat it like dessert at a buffet, pleasant in small quantities, regrettable as a main course. </p>
