S o cial N e t w o r k in g
Stress
I
To
Success
was, and still am, one of those
people who’s not especially
interested in keeping up with real
friends on social media sites, or
opening the door for old high school
pals to ask what I’ve been up to
since 1983. But, succumbing to that
pervasive social and professional
pressure to get on the social
networking bus—and fearing that
not doing so would be bad for my
business—I got my butt on Facebook.
After a couple of months of passive participation of just waiting for friend requests, I received a message
from my former babysitter, Sue, who I had not seen or talked with since the end of the Vietnam War and
the epoch premiere of “Jaws.” Sue was prompted to say hello after seeing “stress management speaker”
on my Facebook profile. It turned out that Sue worked for an enormous midwest company that was
looking for stress reduction programs. Sue set up a meeting, I made my pitch, and Sue’s company is still
one of my most reliable and rewarding clients five years later.
Social media stress and other techno-tension impede the real potential for Google+, FourSquare and
Facebook friends to help us learn, market, network and sell. Based on social media trends, it seems like
a wise business investment to spend a little time addressing whatever’s fueling the digital dissonance.
No matter one’s sources of stress, the first step on the path to reducing or eliminating it, is answering
this question: What is it about a situation, activity or person that causes you to feel unsettled,
disinterested, overwhelmed and even ill, and therefore less likely—in this case—to latch on to LinkedIn
and face up to Facebook? When social media pops up as a stressor for my workshop participants—I
always ask this important first question: “What‘s stressful about it?” Their five most uttered responses
are below with accompanying stress-busting advice.
14
Coaching World |
February 2013