Career Success In The Digital Era: Five Insights From Chief Digital Officer Sree Sreenivasan

This was the opening of Sreenivasan’s lecture on maximizing digital tools for business success at The Metropolitan Museum of Art . Sree Sreenivasan is Chief Digital Officer of The Met and also was the first Chief Digital Officer at Columbia University, where he received his Masters in Journalism and has been a professor (now an adjunct) since 1993. Navigating digital tools and rules is important not just for big organizations but for solo entrepreneurs and executives alike. Here are my favorite takeaways from Sreenivasan’s talk and implications for the individual:

Audiences are curious…Everyone wants a peek behind-the-scenes

Sreenivasan gave examples of how The Met now posts regular updates on restorations, unlike before when a piece might have been acquired and then…silence…until it’s unveiled. If it is useful for a business to share the details of its work, it is just as helpful to the individual. For an executive, this means sharing the journey of a project -- highlighting all of the moving parts, including the ups and downs -- and not just the final results. The benefit of more detail is to show the complexities of your work, to share credit with your supporters, and to give scope and scale to your efforts. The detail allows you to highlight the drama -- where you had to pivot, innovate or overcome obstacles. Do you tell the complete story about your work or do you just broadcast the end results? Do you captivate your audience – boss, senior leadership, direct reports, colleagues, mentors and sponsors?

Mobile is even more important than you think

Sreenivasan highlighted how The Met is increasing mobile efforts, including dedicating resources to mobile (there are no dedicated resources to desktop). This emphasis on identifying and incorporating where technology is moving is critical for individuals too. For an executive, this means your presentations, correspondence and even your resume need to show well on mobile. This also means that if you are currently creating or editing these works, you want to optimize them for mobile from the start. Finally, you want to stay abreast of what other trends outside mobile are impacting how your stakeholders are consuming your information (e.g., video, infographics). Will your boss, client or investor be able to review your deck? Will your resume be readable on various devices?

Useful. Simple. Delightful

Sreenivasan summarized the best apps as meeting these three criteria. For the executive, this same criteria could be used to judge your work. Does your work provide value? Is it easy to understand? Does it evoke emotion? In 20+ years in and around the hiring and promotion process for thousands, I never heard the word “delightful.” However, I often heard about likeability, personality, fit, relatability, even humor. How can you delight your stakeholders?

You have to help your audiences to understand, participate and share

Sreenivasan points out that even if you write the best message or design the best campaign you still have to encourage people to promote it. Many individuals also forget this critical insight – spending all of the time on the project but not sharing the results (and the story behind it!); thinking hard about the next big idea but then not raising it at the weekly meeting; or even raising an idea at the weekly meeting but not enrolling people in the follow-up. Promotion of the work, not just the work itself, is a key part of success. Do your stakeholders understand what you are doing? When you get a compliment, do you remind your happy client to refer you, or your happy colleague to let your boss know? How can your supporters better support you?

Almost everyone will miss almost everything you do on social media…until you make a mistake

Sreenivasan pointed out how social media amplifies who you are – if you’re good, you could appear great; if you’re bad, you could appear awful. The individual executive or entrepreneur therefore needs to proceed cautiously. Before you share, have you checked for tone and emphasis? Do you have your facts in order? Have you checked information about you already online via an internet search on your name?

A bonus takeaway from this event is a reminder about taking advantage of all the resources around you. This talk was sponsored by my alma mater, Barnard College, as part of the Barnard Entrepreneurs Network (BENet). Many universities and colleges sponsor events – lectures, panels, field trips, networking opportunities. If you didn’t go to school where you now live, many places offer virtual resources – online contacts, webinars, digital chats. Don’t forget your local university and/or alma mater for your small business or career management needs.

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is co-founder of SixFigureStart career coaching. Connect with Caroline on Google+.