There are two reasons why I was shocked when I saw that one of my LinkedIn Connections had updated his* LinkedIn photo to this.
- He is not a professional surfer. Everyone knows that LinkedIn is the professional social network, right?
- He is a sales manager for a software company that promotes social selling.
Given his company’s role, I would have thought he’d be the last guy to post a picture like this. Then I started to wonder whether I was in the minority. Maybe I am too old, or too corporate, or too boring.
I realize there are people who think all social media should be “authentic”. The philosophy skews toward people who grew up in the social era. They started using social apps like Facebook to share personal information while still in school. As they entered the workplace, they started using social business applications like LinkedIn. It’s easy to see why they often have less of a wall between their personal social persona and their business social persona. Still, being “authentic” does not mean you have to go out of your way to share information that might negatively impact your work.
To me, the photo litmus test is: Would you show up to your first meeting with an important prospect looking like you do in your LinkedIn photo? My guess is that my Connection would not show up in his board shorts toting his Santa Cruz Pro Model.
When I managed sales people, I used to tell the new ones to dress one level better than their customers. Here is the guide I gave them:
If Customers Usually Wears Reps Should Wear
T-shirt and jeans Golf shirt & khaki pants
Golf shirt & khaki pants Collared dress shirt & slacks
Collared dress shirt & slacks Dress shirt, slacks, & sport coat
Dress shirt, slacks, & sport coat Shirt, slacks, coat & tie
Shirt, slacks, coat & tie “Sunday Best” suit and tie
So, let me know what you think.
[poll id=”3″]
* Before you Google Image Search-savvy Internet detectives start looking for this person, I used a stock photo above to protect him.
