Most people walk on eggshells. They\u2019re afraid to voice what they really think or do what will actually make change because, well, they don\u2019t want to piss anyone off. They\u2019re afraid of hurting someone\u2019s feelings, maybe even getting fired by offering a divergent thought from a more senior team member or \u201cthe way things have always been done.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the truth is, as counter-intuitive as this sounds, you should absolutely say it. Especially if it is going to ruffle feathers. In fact, skip the talk: if you can go ahead and do something that might piss someone off but it\u2019s in their interest \u2013 go for it. Some of the most dramatic (and positive) changes in the world required upsetting someone.<\/p>\n
If your company is afraid to publish anything digitally, but you see a demand in the market \u2013\u00a0flesh out a strategy\u00a0and just start doing it. Get the senior team out of their own way, they may even thank you for it later.<\/p>\n
I was able to create a\u00a06 figure Facebook fan page\u00a0for a national brand before that brand thought Facebook was a good idea. In fact, that brand wasn\u2019t doing\u00a0anything<\/em>\u00a0in the social web. Now they have a full on strategy across channels, are putting sigificant budget behind it and integrated social in everything from POP to their national TV buys. I pissed a lot of people at that company off by executing despite being told \u201cno,\u201d especially their digital agency who didn\u2019t think social media was a good idea. Funny, now their digital agency is managing the social presence for the brand (it\u2019s a huge, well-known company, you know them).<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just spotting trends and putting them into action. It\u2019s anything, in all aspects of life. Most people are afraid of change and to say it bluntly: need to be brought kicking and screaming into the future. Yet it\u2019s way more fun to be the one doing that than always asking permission (which is in many cases too slow).<\/p>\n I\u2019ve argued before not to be afraid of\u00a0having opinions or taking sides, but I think you need to even go a step further than that. Never being afraid to upset someone. I actually respect the heck out of someone who will say something they consciously know will upset me but it\u2019s the right consulting.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not easy to do, but it\u2019s exactly what you might need to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most people walk on eggshells. They\u2019re afraid to voice what they really think or do what will actually make change … <\/p>\n