There are lists of CEOs who tweet and CIOs who tweet … but where are the lists of CFOs who are active in any kind of social media? Yes, I do have a CFO list on my Twitter stream, many courtesy of CFOWise. Are there any others?
I was talking with the owner of MyCFONetwork.com earlier this week, catching up after the holidays, and inquiring whether his membership was engaging with each other within the various communities. He said not really. In fact, what he was hearing was that they wanted more content.
Wait. More content? Are CFOs missing the social media boat? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, ah … yes!
Whether you tweet or don’t tweet isn’t the issue. The real issue is that not embracing social media is a huge career mistake.
Twitter, Linked In, Facebook, and even MyCFONetwork are merely tools that facilitate the ability to … talk with people – and – get on the radar screen of people who need to know about you. In case you didn’t know, or you forgot, it is not who you know that matters today, but rather “who knows about you.”
I read a great article in which this quote appeared …
The only thing avoiding social media does for you is it takes your voice entirely out of the conversation. It doesn’t make you invisible, it makes you mute.
And, it makes you vulnerable.
I spoke with a CFO yesterday who was happily employed one day and shown the door the next. He was caught completely unaware, and was completely unprepared for a job loss and a job search. His digital footprint is non-existent. That means,
–he has two huge obstacles to overcome … age bias and unemployment; and
–his search must ramp up from ground zero.
He is in his mid-50’s and, understandably, very worried. He doesn’t have the luxury of a strong online and offline network, visibility among his target market, and the credibility of a dense digital footprint. What he does have is an uphill battle.
Look for Part 2 … Getting IN the Boat … coming up next.