Sun Tsu and The Art of LinkedIn

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1st Edition, November 2010

By Stephen Hart,

"The art of war is of vital importance;

Background to this book

a road either to success or to ruin."

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About two and a half thousand years ago an individual called Sun Tzu wrote a book called The Art of War. In it he outlined what he considered to be the best and most effective strategies for waging war. Over the intervening years whilst the methods of waging war have changed, his book has held its value. Over the last five years the business networking site LinkedIn has established itself as a significantly powerful business tool...when used correctly. In the last three years of delivering training and coaching on LinkedIn, it became apparent to me that the key mistake people were making with LinkedIn was focusing on tactical, daily activities and ignoring the bigger picture, something they really should have focused on first. So with that realisation and a single coincidental quote the idea for this e-book was born. What this book is all about Sun Tzu was a master of his topic and his advice on strategies to triumph in the world of war are entirely applicable in the world of business. In this book I have taken key quotes from Sun Tzu and presented them with my own take on how they translate into successful and profitable activities on LinkedIn. This is a book on strategy for LinkedIn; for tactical advice give me a ring and Id be delighted to offer some help. You will also find a range of informational articles on LinkedIn (and other business matters) on the Edenchanges website. The articles and e-books from Edenchanges are always free. Stephen Hart Owner, Edenchanges

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The general who wins a battle temple ere the battle is fought

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makes many calculations in his

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Before you even start working on your profile or connecting with people you need to consider your overall strategy. #1 How do you want to be thought of? LinkedIn is all about personal and professional branding and consequently you need to know how you want the world to think of you. Next you need to consider what your objectives for being on LinkedIn are. Are you looking to learn more about your speciality or gain clients (or both)? #2 Tie in objectives with timescales Timescales are important here. A wise person would make some short, medium and long term plans that all support each other.

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Let your great objective be victory, not lengthy campaigns

The world of social media can be very seductive and here Sun Tzu makes the point of staying focused on getting victory rather than simply fighting for the sake of it. The best way to achieve victory in the social media world is to identify specific targets and objectives and be ruthlessly focused on achieving them. To give you an example, a long term objective might be to win new clients in a particular sector. The short term road to victory is then selecting a timescale to work to, say two weeks, generating a list of maybe forty or fifty companies, contacting all of them, and aiming to convert as many of those companies into clients as is possible. Once that first target list is exhausted review your results. New clients = victory! You can then either generate another list or move onto a different objective. And if your results are not what you wanted, consider what you could have done differently and either revisit your original target list or generate a new one and approach them differently based on your experiences with your first list.

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Cleverness is taking swift action.

You can sit around and contemplate the ideal project or pick something and action it. Remember if you dont do it one of your competitors will.

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In war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won.
The great temptation on LinkedIn is to join up and immediately start connecting and contacting people. Before you do that however you need to think ~ are you ready? Consider ~ does your profile say just how amazing you are? Does it outline the brilliance of your company and its services? When you read it are you impressed? If not then quite honestly, you arent ready yet. So be wise and put your ducks in a row (as they say where I live) before you broadcast your presence on LinkedIn too widely. Its a bit like getting a new boy friend or girl friend: you probably want to get to know them a little bit more first before you introduce them to your parents. After all, you want them to look their best to make that strong first impression.

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Security against defeat implies defensive tactics;

ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive."

If you are in the business to business world in any capacity then you should have a LinkedIn profile. More specifically you should have a brilliant profile that showcases what you are, what you know and what you do. It should impress the casual viewer and show the knowledgeable viewer the breadth and depth of your abilities. But thats merely defensive tactics. Thats simply ensuring that your abilities are on show for anyone who chooses to look for them. That in itself will win you little business. To win significant business you are required to take the offensive. This requires that you are active on LinkedIn. Actively promoting your personal brand and that of your business and services. Like a merchant walking the streets of a city and calling out his wares I would expect you to be in groups, commenting on discussions, giving away bits of information. In other words leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to lead people back to your main profile and websites. Taking the offensive is also actively searching for specific people then seeking an audience with them. All these things you must initiate.

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The consumate leader strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in their power to control success.

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You can cast your boat out onto the waters of LinkedIn and be swept away by the tide of opportunity and chance. Or you can have a definitive plan of action. Put it into affect and then withdraw when you have taken your planned actions. #3 Discipline will stop you from being seduced by the enchanting depths of LinkedIn. Method and discipline will help you keep balanced about your activities on LinkedIn. It is a great business tool but it is not the only one. It is wise to remember that and spread your time out amongst your other routes to market. Also having a clear method and discipline reaches further than simply the mundane every day activities. It should encompass matters such as having a discipline regarding who you will connect with, what recommendations you will or will not give and what your expectations are for your colleagues or workers on LinkedIn.

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The onrushing of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep.

I know what the other LinkedIn Gurus say, you can make money instantly etc. etc. blah blah blah If you cant tell, I disagree. Sun Tsu sums it up well with the above quote. That moment when you get your first business lead or the first prospective new client rings you because of your profile it can seem like a flood of waters bursting forth. But take the analogue back a little bit...the days, week, and even months of activity that you put into LinkedIn are like filling the reservoir in the first place. It can seem very slow and even pointless (That stupid site, as one business development person described it to me recently). Its easy to question whether there will be a return. So remember Sun Tzu and think of the pressure that you are building up in the market place. At some point the dam has to burst and you will get your first order then your second and so on. It might take a little while to fill the reservoir to bursting point but consistent effort will pay off.

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"Fighting with a large army under your command is no small one; different from fighting with a it is merely a question of

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instituting signs and signals.

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"Fighting with a large army under your command is no different from fighting with a small one; it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.
I was asked a good question recently: All this LinkedIn advice might be easy to do for a one person company or a small firm, but how do we do it? The question was from the HR Director of a multi-million pound, international, plc I was working with. With the things I believe you HR folks love I said clear guidance, policies and procedures...and oh a little training might help It doesnt matter how big your company, how widely spread or how technically literate your people are. At the corporate level the strategy needs to be decided. The tactics then should be worked out in conjunction with the people on the front line. These should then be codified, written down and made available to everyone. (And sure bringing in Edenchanges to train up everyone can make a difference but then I would say that wouldnt I!) You will find in any work force a wide range in the knowledge and understanding of LinkedIn. It is powerful to level it off so everyone knows what can, cant and should be done. I have one client who is composed of a husband and wife team where the wife is very clued in and the husband can barely log in. Next week I will be sitting with him to explain the fundamental principles at work. I think its going to change his perspective and I know his wife will be happy when that happens!* (* For the record, that meeting happened prior to me finishing this text and I can say that the husband did indeed change his view and he has embraced LinkedIn and its potential with some excitement.)

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"There is not more than five primary colours yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever be seen.

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Now putting aside the discussion of exactly how many primary colours there are (anything from three to six depending on who you ask) the above quote has something very important to say to anyone seriously interested in using LinkedIn for commercial gain...the number of things to do on LinkedIn to generate new business are fairly limited. The power and the benefit is from combining them. The Germans have a word for thisgestaltmeaning greater than the sum of its parts. The ground level, tactical activities of posting status updates, commenting in groups, searching for key contacts, to mention a few, are straight forward and simple. Yet by doing them consistently and with care and diligence it is possible to actively find and attract new clients. The power comes from the way you do the actions and how you interlink them i.e. posting a status update that describes something you are doing for a particular type of client might then attract the attention of other, similar companies. If they then follow your posting through to your profile and they can read some exciting achievements you have had in their industry then it might prompt them into giving you a call. And to continue the example, I can think of at least three ways that the above example could be done in a more powerful way than the one I have described. Same basic actions, different details. To use a culinary example; what makes a Michelin starred restaurant different from your local curry house? They both cook and serve food after all. The difference, of course, is in the details of how they do it.

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the field and awaits "Whoever is first in

enemy, will be fresh the coming of the

for the fight

"Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.

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So what do you imagine your competition are doing right now? (Well okay it depends at what time you are reading this, but you know what I mean.) They are preparing to rule LinkedIn as far as your industry goes. They are planning for battle, assembling their troops and drawing up their strategies. In fact They might already have done that and be encamped outside your city as we speak. Or rather, the city of your potential clients. So your potential clients may now be being besieged by your competition who got on LinkedIn first, who drew up their profile first and started to give away snippets of information first. Make haste #4 Better to have your competitors be exhausted from chasing you than the other way round.

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"Compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.

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Is your person and company profile the best one on LinkedIn? Indeed is it the best one in your industry? More serious than thatis it the best in your industry in your geographical area? The only way to tell is to have a look. There are lots of ways of laying out a profile and by reviewing other peoples you will get ideas for what does and does not work. The next time you find yourself impressed by a profile then consider what has caught your attention. It might simply be a stunning list of achievements or it might be the layout, or a well scripted profile that you could take some tips from. At the risk of being totally egocentric Ill throw out mine for you to consider:
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stephenlhart

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There are other good ones out there, Im simply offering mine as a starting point as Ive had a lot of positive feedback on the way it looks and the way its updated. I also know that it has directly prompted new clients to call and do business with me.

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"On the field of battle the spoken

word does not carry far enough, nor enough; hence the institution of banners and flags

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can ordinary objects be seen clearly

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This is a point that is critical to making yourself stand out on LinkedIn. On the surface level it is a prompt to have a really good profile picture; a clear, up to date and close up picture of yourself. If you must change your picture then do it infrequently. You want people to build up a recognition of you and that happens over time. Taking things a little deeper, this is also a prompt to attach links, with pictures, when you post your status updates. And deeper still to post slideshows or media galleries on your profile via the applications available. #5 The aim is to visibly stand out. By the way I believe that using your company logo in place of a personal picture is totally wrong and against the very spirit of LinkedIn. Drop me a line if you want me to explain.

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"There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: 1) recklessness, which leads to destruction, 2) cowardice, which leads to capture, insults, 3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by 4) a delicacy of honour which is sensitive to shame, 5) over-solicitude for his people, which exposes him to doubt.

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As I would tell you if you came on an Edenchanges LinkedIn training or coaching course: #6 Every posting you make either increases or decreases your professional and personal reputation. Consider that in conjunction with the above points and make sure you maintain your composure and professionalism when you respond to posts or messages.

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"Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength

LinkedIn can be as deep and time absorbing as Alices rabbit hole was for her. The key to being effective with LinkedIn is to concentrate your energies around pre-planned objectives. As Ive already discussed on earlier pages you need to know clearly what you are planning to get out of being on LinkedIn. More than that you need to accept that there are too many groups, too many discussions and all together too many people with whom you can be involved. Its simply not physically possible to keep up or connect with all of them. # 7 focus on what you are interested in and watch your time spent online. Should you find yourself on LinkedIn casually browsing along like in a bookstore on a Saturday afternoon then log off and get on with something else!

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"The principle on which to manage an must reach.

army is to set up one standard which all

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Ensure that your profile is a shining example. Be the standard for all your colleagues to measure up. Especially when you are at the top (or nearly so) in the organisation. Then (where you have the authority) give your colleagues some clear direction about how you would like their profiles to be (and even possibly bringing in someone like me to train them on the hows and whys of being brilliant on LinkedIn). Whilst the lawyers would seem to suggest that an individual owns their LinkedIn profile (Im not a lawyer so dont quote me on that) I think it reasonable for a company to make some suggestions as to the content on their employees LinkedIn profile. For more guidance on this delicate point best to give me a ring!

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"We cannot enter into alliance with neighbouring princes until we are acquainted with their designs.
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Before you accept an invitation from someone have a look at who and what they are. Consider their company, background and location. Ask yourself ~ is there a downside to them being part of my network? And yes this is when you need to consider whether or not you will hide your LinkedIn connections from your network or leave them visible. If you leave them visible then anyone you connect with can view them. For a variety of reasons I have left mine visible.

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"Whether the object be to crush an army, to storm a

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city, or to assassinate an individual, it is necessary to aides-de-camp, and door-keepers and sentries of the general in command.

begin by finding out the names of the attendants, the

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Sun Tzu called this the divine manipulation of the threads; I call it basic research. Ive been delivering sales training to clients for years, certainly well before LinkedIn reared its head, and consequently Ive spent a lot of time over the years teaching techniques for obtaining the names of individuals prior to either headhunting them or selling something to them. Those techniques still have a place but before using any of them Id run a search on LinkedIn and looking up who is listed! And also on LinkedIn you have the chance to obtain a lot more information about the person than simply their name. Of course this also applies to your competition and clients...they can look you up just as easily. As an ex-headhunter I have to say that I think now is the time to truly aim to keep your workforce happy!

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The history of Sun Tzu and The Art of War

As I mentioned at the start of this book Sun Tzu wrote his book, The Art of War about two and a half thousand years ago. A valid question then is how relevant is it to todays world and particularly how relevant to a business person in todays world? Well if we take one of the most modern ways of conducting war...pilotless drone planes. These are literally remotely controlled planes that the military fly into enemy territories where they unload payloads of explosives onto their targets. I struggle to imagine what the equivalent to that would have been back in ancient China but not withstanding that I imagine that Sun Tzu would have had something to say about it. I imagine hed consider the psychological and physical impact on the enemy, the chances of civilian casualties, the cost in manpower and resources and Im sure that whatever he said it would be worth considering. The point is that the tools might have changed but strategy stays the same; fundamentally ~ maximise your gains, minimise your enemys gains. Sounds a lot like the business world to me. In The Art of War you might find that there are other two and a half thousand year old pearls of wisdom that can accelerate your business success. And if not you can at least tell people that you have read one of the most famous books in history! The Art of War is available as a free download from a variety of sites on the internet and indeed you can obtain a copy from the Edenchanges website under the e-books banner.

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Acknowledgements I am immensely grateful to the talented artists who have allowed me to make use of their worktwo pieces I would like to highlight in particular are the cover by Jim Spell and page 15 by Pip. Jim is a professional artist who has graciously allowed me to use a professional piece by him on the cover and Pip took the time to draw her picture specifically for this e-book; two firsts for an Edenchanges publication! I feel a little bad highlighting those two as it might seem to downplay the generosity of the other artists. No such downplaying is intended. I love all of the pictures in this book and I would whole heartedly encourage all readers to follow the links and view further artwork by all these artists. Be aware that some of their work might be of a mature nature and not be suitable for children or viewing in the office.
Cover Mr J Spell, USA, professional artist http://www.jspell.net and http://akyra.deviantart.com/ Page 2, Juan Pablozamora, Venezuela http://juanpablozamora.deviantart.com/ Page 4, Marko Ramljak, Croatia http://thezakon.deviantart.com/ Page 10, Francis Zammit, Malta http://frazamm.deviantart.com/
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Page 13, Mr C Pinheiro, Brazil http://semrosto.deviantart.com/

Page 15, Pip, USA http://eumeia.deviantart.com/

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Page 5, 7, 19, 20, 21, Nuno, Portugal http://nunofrias.deviantart.com/

Page 16, Marcelina Nawrocka, Netherlands http://kizu666.deviantart.com/

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Page 6, Tzaddi Tomondong, Philippines http://tzadman.deviantart.com/

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Page 17 Jordan Porter, USA http://aznunderdog.deviantart.com/

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Page 8, Igor Yglesias-Palomar, Spain http://igoryglesias.deviantart.com/

Page 18 by Allen Youl, New Zealand http://alleycatsgarden.deviantart.com/

Edenchanges delivers corporate training in five main areas:

Edenchanges www.edenchanges.com

Recruitment Sales Management NLP and Communication Using LinkedIn Commercially

Courses can be delivered off the shelf but we prefer to tailor our courses to your precise requirements to maximise the training benefits. Edenchanges also provides personal development coaching for groups and individuals who are interested in achieving more. Based in York, working worldwide. Stephens aim is to provide innovative training and coaching that is inspirational, practical and thought provoking. As an NLP practitioner, Stephen uses his skills to inspire and motivate his delegates to take on board the training provided and make positive changes. He welcomes approaches companies and individuals interested in achieving more! from all who are

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Practicing the art of personal and corporate development through training and coaching Stephen combines a unique background in sales, design, recruitment, management, marketing, and law to the benefit of his delegates. Stephen was trained to train by a leading, international plc from where he went on to be the Head of Training and Development for a group of companies prior to setting up Edenchanges in January 2009.

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Stephen Hart Owner of Edenchanges

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Excellent Refreshing Inspiring Original Powerful Engaging Focused Insightful Empathic Humorous Practical Exciting

Some words about Edenchanges from recent delegates

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