I've become the designated "social media guy" for a massive organization (25,000+ people). For a while, the responsibilities of this role consisted primarily of explaining what the Twitters were and why people cared about what you ate for lunch. As social media has grown in popularity, so too has the internal and external demand for people who know what they're talking about (the demand is so great that even people who have no clue what they're talking about are in demand). My time has since become monopolized by my colleagues asking me to join meetings, review work products, pitch clients, and "pick my brain." Once the words "social media" were uttered, the call went out – let's get Steve in here right away!!
I liked it. I was in high demand, and I became well-known throughout my huge company as THE social media guy. It was fun and led to awards, promotions, and raises. I became the social media Superman, flying in to win new work, solve problems, and offer innovative solutions! I built a team and developed a mentality that if there was social media involved, I'd swoop in and save the day, wherever and whenever I was needed. The fact that I didn't have the resources, the budget, or the authority to scale this across an entire organization was a concern, but I figured that would come soon enough – how could it not???
That's when I realized I had a problem. I had a Superman complex. Wikipedia defines a Superman Complex as an unhealthy sense of responsibility, or the belief that everyone else lacks the capacity to successfully perform one or more tasks. Such a person may feel a constant need to "save" others.
I felt this enormous sense of responsibility that if there was a project using social media, I needed to know about it and my team needed to be involved. If I heard about a project where we were doing any sort of public outreach, I felt like I needed to butt in and help them integrate social media. If there were people working on a knowledge management strategy for a client, I had to get on the call and talk with them about social media behind the firewall. I felt like I needed to be there to ensure that we had the absolute best people working on these projects, that they were armed with the best intellectual capital we had and that they were consistent with the overall approach to social media that I had established. When a project's social media efforts fell flat, I felt personally responsible. What did I do wrong? Why didn't they get me involved sooner? Why wasn't one of my people working with them already? Why didn't they just ask for my help?? Now, remember, I work at a firm that generates upwards of $5 billion in annual revenue. That's a LOT of projects to keep an eye on.
My team and I quickly found ourselves drowning in reactionary meetings just trying to keep our heads above water. We were becoming a social media help desk. My Superman complex, helpful at first, had become a detriment. I soon realized that my small team, based in our Strategic Communications capability, was never going to get the budget, resources, and authority needed to manage EVERY social media initiative for the entire 25,000+ employee, $5B company. My Superman complex had led me to believe that I could fix everything, regardless of the challenges that had to be overcome. Our recruiters aren't using social media as effectively as they could be? No problem – I'll hop over there and give them a briefing! Intelligence analysts struggling with how to analyze social media in the Middle East? I'll be right there! Instructional system designers stuck in a rut? Give me a few hours and I'll get them up to speed on social learning! I saw opportunities EVERYWHERE to fix things. I needed to be a part of that proposal team. I had to attend that meeting. I had to review that strategy. I had to give that presentation.
Fact is, I didn't have to do any of that. What I had to do was stop. Stop and realize that by trying to fix everything, I wasn't fixing anything, and in some cases, I was actually making things worse:
- People were lacking incentives to develop their own social media skills because they could just rely on someone from my team to swoop in and help
- We were too focused on just equipping people with the social media fundamentals that we weren't able to focus on diving deeper into some of the niche areas of social media
- We were becoming "social media experts" instead of communications professionals who understand social media, pulling all of us away from our core business area and into all kinds of discussions that may have involved social media, but had nothing to do with communications
If you find yourself developing a social media Superman complex (or need to manage an existing one), try the following:
- Know your role. Do others in your organization expect you to have a hand in EVERYTHING related to social media or is that a responsibility you've taken on yourself? Understand what's expected of you and meet those expectations first before trying to solve all the world's problems.
- Let others learn. Sometimes people in your organization are going to fall. It's ok – they'll learn and do better next time. Focus on the people and the projects you're responsible for first, do what you can help people in other departments, but don't let them steal your time and focus away from your core mission.
- Develop your team and set them free. You can't be everywhere all the time. Spend some time developing people on whom you can trust, equip and empower them to succeed and then step away and trust that you've developed them right.
- Accept that there is no one way to "do" social media. Social media are just tools, and different organizations will use them for different purposes. What works in the Department of Defense may not work in the private sector and vice versa.
- Respect other people's expertise. Sure, you may know social media better than anyone else in the room, but also realize that you're going to be working with people who are experts in their chosen fields too. Successful social media initiatives require both old and new school expertise.
- Assess the situation. Don't assume that because someone isn't using social media that they need your help – they may not have the budget, internal expertise, client support, or a whole host of other reasons for not using social media like you think they should.
Social media Supermans bring a ton of benefits to your organizations but they also run the risk of burning out, alienating their colleagues, and creating a culture of dependency. Understand and embrace the balance between Superman and Clark Kent.
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Hi Steve– Welcome to the next level of leadership, I’m sure you will find no shortage of challenging opportunities. There are a couple of tactics that I have found useful to avoid drowning in a sea of demands. A) You’ve already mentioned you are building up a team of ‘go-to’ folks, B) As you set them free to deliver, be clear to your team about what results you are expecting, and C) Given your unique position and situation, identify what is it that only you can do? This will likely be a short, but high impact list.
Ad Astra.
at
Thanks Eric – yep, have already been working on that short, high impact list and have some things in the hopper now that will hopefully lead to some clarity!
at
Nice write-up, Steve. Sounds very familiar to my role when I worked at Air Force. My current job gets a little bit of this happening, but it’s an organization with more fear, so there’s less doing (I hope that makes sense written as much as it does in my mind). Basically, I always have to remember that while social media is de riguer for those of us who have worked in the field for a while, there are many others that are still just getting started. And I guess at times I don’t mind helping, as long as the requestor is willing to listen. But yes, it can get burdensome.
BTW–I like your term “Supermans” 🙂
Paul
at
Thanks Paul – I think all of us guys who were around for the start of “Gov 2.0” have experienced this to some extent. Glad to hear things are better now though!
at
Hey Steve, This post is insightful. It reminds me of a strategy I recently heard from a friend who owns his own business. He says he has taught his employees to come to his office with a problem or opportunity only after they have found three or more possible solutions and a suggested course of action. This makes for some interesting discussions and teachable moments as he shows them how he would make the call. He finds that the best employees begin to see the thinking pattern he uses, and they start to mimic it. He knows he has succeeded when an employee emails him telling him the problem, what the possible solutions were, and finally how they solved it.
at
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??Thank you for your email. I’ll be out of the office in training from February 15 through February 17th. During this time, I’ll only have intermittent access to this email account. While I’m out of the office, please consider reading my blog (www.steveradick.com) or following me on Twitter (www.twitter.com/sradick).
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Booz Allen Hamilton
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