What’s Going to be Your Social Media Legacy?

Image courtesy of Flickr user Douglas Staas

Image courtesy of Flickr user Douglas Staas

As I sat down the other night to write another blog posting for my company’s internal social media platform, I thought to myself what would happen if I were to stop.  Stop blogging.  Stop Tweeting.  Stop evangelizing.  Stop everything related to social media.  What would happen if I took a job in another industry where social media wasn’t a key component of the job? What would happen to all of the blog posts that I’ve done?  What would happen to all of the people on my social media team at Booz Allen?  What would happen to the social media practice there?

What’s my legacy if I were to leave my company?  Specifically, what’s my social media legacy?  People tend to think that their value to their organization is directly proportional to the amount of destruction that would occur in their absence.  Not only is this not true, it’s the exact opposite of what you should want your legacy to be.  Indulge me with the following analogy – when Bill Cowher retired from the Pittsburgh Steelers after an 8-8 season in 2007, he was widely considered one of the best coaches in the league.  In Pittsburgh, his retirement was met with loads of “the sky is falling” criticism.  Cowher was one of the best coaches in the league – what would the Steelers do without him?  When Mike Tomlin took over as the new Steelers coach, he retained a majority of the coaching staff.  Without Cowher, the team didn’t fall apart, the team didn’t collapse.  In fact, the team got better – they went 10-6 in Tomlin’s first year.  Compare this to Lloyd Carr and who retired from the University of Michigan after going 9-4 in 2007.  Rich Rodriguez took over and in his first season, is 3-7 and on his way to leading the Wolverines to one of the worst records in their history.  Who would you say was the more valuable coach – the one who created an organization that could be successful even without him or the one who created an organization that fell apart without him?  Do you look at Bill Cowher as any less of a coach because the team didn’t implode without him?

This concept doesn’t just apply to sports teams though.  Applied to the government, this is akin to those leaders who create new initiatives in their last year of office because they want to leave a legacy.  How many of these efforts continue after they’re gone?  Have they created something that’s going to continue to benefit the organization even after they’re gone, or something that’s going to have a short-term benefit, but will ultimately fail without someone driving it?  Take a look at something like Intellipedia which was founded by Don Burke and Sean Dennehy more than two years ago.  They’ve fostered a environment in which dozens of collaboration leaders from across the Intelligence Community have emerged to not only sustain the Intellipedia vision, but also to build upon it.  What started out as just a wiki now includes social bookmarking, social networking, blogs, and most importantly, a culture of collaboration that will continue even if one or two pieces is taken away.

I am openly challenging myself as well as every other social media evangelist who is reading this post to be like Bill Cowher.  Have you helped develop other leaders who are capable of taking the reins if you’re gone?  Have you shared your skills and knowledge with others throughout your organization who will help ensure the success of your efforts after you leave?  Have you helped create a successful organization full of others like you?  What’s going to be your social media legacy?

,

About sradick

I'm an SVP, Senior Director at BCW in Pittsburgh. Find out more about me here (https://steveradick.com/about/).

View all posts by sradick

21 Responses to “What’s Going to be Your Social Media Legacy?”

  1. sradick Says:

    @Adam – absolutely – I didn’t mean to slight DNI/ICES at all, and I’m truly appreciative of all the great work that they’re doing. It’s just that Sean and Don were the “faces” of Intellipedia – out there briefing it, talking about it, etc. To Andrea’s point in her comment, it’s not just Sean, and Don and you and Andrea – it’s the whole community that the DNI/ICES technology has enabled. That’s the beauty of it!

  2. sradick Says:

    @Adam – absolutely – I didn’t mean to slight DNI/ICES at all, and I’m truly appreciative of all the great work that they’re doing. It’s just that Sean and Don were the “faces” of Intellipedia – out there briefing it, talking about it, etc. To Andrea’s point in her comment, it’s not just Sean, and Don and you and Andrea – it’s the whole community that the DNI/ICES technology has enabled. That’s the beauty of it!

  3. Bill Murray Says:

    Good stuff, Steve, although it’s hard for some in leadership positions to understand that part of their duty is to set up other people to take on more responsibility and eventually become leaders.

    In the Army, one of the criteria for judging officers, I’m told, is how well they prepare others to take their place. This is particularly important since soldiers accept new assignments every two or three years, if not earlier.

  4. Bill Murray Says:

    Good stuff, Steve, although it’s hard for some in leadership positions to understand that part of their duty is to set up other people to take on more responsibility and eventually become leaders.

    In the Army, one of the criteria for judging officers, I’m told, is how well they prepare others to take their place. This is particularly important since soldiers accept new assignments every two or three years, if not earlier.

  5. sradick Says:

    @spoc – Social media is all about the people. Rather than having a replacement trying to pick up where I left off, I’d rather have what you’re talking about – a critical mass of contributors/leaders pick things up where I left off. The challenge isn’t in finding one person like me, it’s identifying and growing dozens of them!

    @Bill – I WISH this was part of our assessments. All managers should be judged at least partially on how they develop (or not develop) their staff.

    @Steve – I agree with you that technically, this shouldn’t be a challenge, but culturally, it still is. True, all of my presentations are available on the wiki; all of my strategy/approach materials are available on my blog, etc. However, the challenging part is getting people to not only understand that this material is there and available, but also what to do with it. Replacing the passion is what’s difficult, not the knowledge.

  6. sradick Says:

    @spoc – Social media is all about the people. Rather than having a replacement trying to pick up where I left off, I’d rather have what you’re talking about – a critical mass of contributors/leaders pick things up where I left off. The challenge isn’t in finding one person like me, it’s identifying and growing dozens of them!

    @Bill – I WISH this was part of our assessments. All managers should be judged at least partially on how they develop (or not develop) their staff.

    @Steve – I agree with you that technically, this shouldn’t be a challenge, but culturally, it still is. True, all of my presentations are available on the wiki; all of my strategy/approach materials are available on my blog, etc. However, the challenging part is getting people to not only understand that this material is there and available, but also what to do with it. Replacing the passion is what’s difficult, not the knowledge.

  7. Episodes Online Says:

    Good post congratulations

  8. Episodes Online Says:

    Good post congratulations

  9. christening presents Says:

    It feels really happy to see that some one thinks what would happen if he suddenly ceases to network socially through media. Very few people are so very much concerned about this. Many people don’t really bother and think this to be trivial.I appreciate that you differ.Good post.

  10. christening presents Says:

    It feels really happy to see that some one thinks what would happen if he suddenly ceases to network socially through media. Very few people are so very much concerned about this. Many people don’t really bother and think this to be trivial.I appreciate that you differ.Good post.

  11. brainfitnessprograms Says:

    This “one to many” and “many to many” strategy will create a wide scale social influence on the customers and communities they serve.Social Media marketing is a necessary element for all corporations today. Companies are also inventing innovative ways in leveraging social media.

  12. brainfitnessprograms Says:

    This “one to many” and “many to many” strategy will create a wide scale social influence on the customers and communities they serve.Social Media marketing is a necessary element for all corporations today. Companies are also inventing innovative ways in leveraging social media.

  13. best metal detector Says:

    This is a great post. I really liked reading your blog. This is real good information that you provided here. Thank you for posting and keep up the good work.

  14. best metal detector Says:

    This is a great post. I really liked reading your blog. This is real good information that you provided here. Thank you for posting and keep up the good work.

  15. wiigamerentals Says:

    Wow this is a really good article. I m glad to have read it. Waiting for more updates. Keep posting. Thank you.

  16. wiigamerentals Says:

    Wow this is a really good article. I m glad to have read it. Waiting for more updates. Keep posting. Thank you.

  17. web design in Ireland Says:

    Hi Today there are many options for social media connections and to compromise with quality depends on the company. I think the most successful social media efforts are those that are driven by passionate people who love people and who truly want to change the way their organization operates, not by people …

  18. web design in Ireland Says:

    Hi Today there are many options for social media connections and to compromise with quality depends on the company. I think the most successful social media efforts are those that are driven by passionate people who love people and who truly want to change the way their organization operates, not by people …

  19. Torremolinos Says:

    I really like reading your posts. They are very interesting and I really gain a lot of information from them. Thank you for posting. Keep up the good work.

  20. Torremolinos Says:

    I really like reading your posts. They are very interesting and I really gain a lot of information from them. Thank you for posting. Keep up the good work.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Taking a Break!! | Social Media Strategery -

    […] falling between the cracks because they’ve got the skills, the experience, and the passion to continue on even without me there.  In fact, while I’m out, look for a guest blog post here from Michael Dumlao on social […]