Summary: “…if this were your last day on earth, would you be happy with what you are doing and who you are as a person?” Digital Leader, page 89 I am literally reeling from reading Erik Qualman’s Digital Leader: 5 Simple Keys to Success and Influence. Qualman tells us that the first habit of digital leadership is to “Simplify” and then gives so many tips (along with numerous examples from companies, politicians, CEOs and others) for how to do that and the other four habits that I’m overwhelmed with exciting things that I know will work if only I did them. He says that even he does his best to adhere to the principles he’s laid out but he’s a long way from following them consistently. The only reason I kept reading after the hyperventilation state I had reached by the end of Chapter 2 (and these are short, easy to read chapters with lots of quotes, bullet points and white space) was the quote - “Once you accept the fact that you aren’t going to get every thing done, then you can better address what should get done.” The five habits of digital leadership: SIMPLE: success is the result of simplification and focus TRUE: be true to your passion ACT: nothing happens without action – take the first step MAP: goals and vision are needed to get where you want to be PEOPLE: success doesn’t happen alone These form the acronym STAMP because these are the habits that create your personal stamp -on your life and others’ lives. Qualman’s tips and examples of how real people implement them are primarily digital ones (social media, email) but all have components that people have followed for centuries as leaders. The difference now is the far reaching and the long lasting effect of your influence as a leader. We all know this as we deal vaguely with how best to write an email so it’s not taken differently than it’s meant because it’s missing our facial expressions and tone of voice. Or, as we read about a potential employee who doesn’t get a job because their Facebook page has pictures of them doing some obscene gesture. But what really brought the long lastingness of our digital legacy to “I better take this seriously” level for me was this statistic: it’s estimated that ¼ of babies have sonogram photos posted online before they are even born. That means our parents (and their planning for our digital legacy or lack thereof) are shaping what people think of us before we can read this book and implement its ideas! We’re behind the game with words, videos and pictures describing us to the world before we start working on our legacy. Whether I implement any of the specifics in this book or not I am absolutely committed to acting on the fact that leadership legacy isn’t what I leave people when I’m not the leader anymore – it’s what I do now. Golden Egg We are all mini-digital celebrities and heroes to someone “If you truly want a life that inspires, you need to change your leadership habits today to adapt to the new digitally open world.” Digital Leader, page 2 Now. It’s something I do now. It’s everything I do. It’s every second. There is no time off from my personal stamp in the digital age. So many more people are influenced by my actions compared to when it was just the people I saw, wrote a paper letter to or called on the phone. In this digital age, I am influencing people who don’t know me, people I didn’t even intend to. These people don’t know my humor, they don’t know my history and so don’t know why I said or wrote something. And it’s not just what I write, it’s pictures even if they’re from my personal life. Before digital we did let people at work see our personal lives – think pictures on your desk. But those pictures came along with a person, in person, to mitigate whatever they saw in the pictures. Even if I choose not to be digital (close to impossible, but let’s assume I could not use email or the Web or social media) everyone I interact with may be posting about me (pictures and words).
