BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Is Social Media Impacting The Business Results Of Your Millennials?

Forbes Coaches Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Danita Bye, M.A.

Might Facebook be one of the reasons your millennial leaders and salespeople aren’t exceeding their business goals and sales targets?

Chamath Palihapitiya joined Facebook in 2007 and became vice president for user growth. He recently told an audience at Stanford Graduate School of Business that people needed to take a “hard break” from social media. His criticisms were not only aimed at Facebook. He included the wider online ecosystem and said, “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works ..."

Inviting your millennial leaders to take periodic breaks from social media seems even more sensible when you read the 2016 research article published by The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their study examined the effects of social media usage on young adults. They found a definite link between the amount of time spent using social media and the possibility of sinking into depression. After all, it is easy to create a picture of an exciting, successful life on social media, even if it’s a façade. Many people, when comparing their ordinary lives to glamourous posts, become depressed because they feel their lives are boring and less successful.

What does this have to do with your sales and business results?

Beliefs drive behaviors. Ultimately, behaviors dictate the outcomes or results we get. Negative thinking generates counterproductive self-talk which has a devastating impact on the leadership footprint, business results and sales performance of your emerging leaders.

In my own sales development work, I use a validated process that quickly identifies over 75 hidden sales and leadership mindset weaknesses that are stalling growth and undermining results. Based on the insights gained, a growth path can be charted.

However, in a more informal setting, I invite the millennial leaders to complete sentences such as these with the first thought that pops into their minds:

I would be more effective if I wasn’t so __________.

I would achieve more if I didn’t have to deal with __________.

I’m afraid to __________.

I can’t __________.

People are often startled by their instinctive answers. It provides an indication of what is going on subconsciously that is limiting performance.

How might you challenge millennial leaders to convert negative thinking?

Let’s confront two of the common unsupportive beliefs: 1) a high need for approval and 2) the inability to recover quickly from rejection.

Fighting The Need For Approval

A likable millennial leader and salesperson is a great advantage, but when they show signs of needing their prospects to like them to boost their own emotional health, versus making a good business decision, it’s a problem.

Leading and selling from a need-for-approval mindset can be devastating to business growth. One of the tell-tale signs that a leader is not empowered by a drive-for-respect mindset is a tendency to avoid asking difficult questions at critical junctures in a conversation. This often leads to misdiagnosing the client’s needs or not assessing the root of the problem. The result is that they miss an opportunity to be a valued, trusted resource who brings long-term solutions to the table.

As a coach or mentor, encourage your millennial leader to become a member of the elite group by guiding them to change their nonproductive thinking to more beneficial thinking. Instead of getting stuck in the mindset of, “I need people to like me, so I avoid asking tough questions,” they can adopt these constructive mantras:

• I want to earn respect over time and become a trusted advisor.

• I earn respect by asking the tough business-appropriate questions and listening intently to the answers.

• Asking the tough questions helps me to better understand the root issue, so I can help find the best solution.

Dealing With Rejection

Social media encourages the accumulation of a large number of “friends,” even if they are people we've never met. We define our online success by comments, likes, hearts and numbers of shares. Being ignored on social media ignites feelings of rejection.

In the world of leadership and sales, it is guaranteed that your emerging sales leaders will experience rejection. They must learn to deal with this reality of life constructively, using it as a tool to help them grow stronger and propel their careers forward. This is hard for many of our millennials, but let’s be honest, rejection is hard for everyone.

Many salespeople and sales leaders have difficulty recovering from rejection. This negatively impacts their ability to bounce back and undermines the determination and grit needed to get the desired leadership, business and sales results.

Encourage them to shift their internal self-talk from, “I get really down after a conversation where I didn’t get expected outcomes” to more valuable thinking, such as:

• I embrace rejection, because I know that I miss 100% of the shots I don’t take.

• Hearing a “no” is not the end. It guides the direction of my next conversation.

• They aren’t rejecting me personally. They are rejecting my product or service.

By sharing your wisdom and experience, you can expand your emerging leader’s resilience, helping them to quickly recover from rejection.

Maybe Chamath Palihapitiya is right. To raise your millennial leaders' sales and business results, coach them to develop healthy social media habits and to couple that with positive thinking always. This fuels their capacity to produce results that move them forward in achieving and exceeding business targets.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?