Book Review #2: Digital Leader

I have been going through Erik Qualman’s book Digital Leader: 5 Simple Keys to Success and Influence which means it’s time for another book review.

Qualman is also the author of Socialnomics, a keynote speaker and a YouTube content creator, with one his videos grossing over 1,300,000 views. His book Digital Leader reads like a self-help book for companies and individuals. He says we are all leaders who leave behind a digital STAMP in relation to what we accomplish and how we interact with others. STAMP is the acronym that makes up the five simple keys to success and influence, and the letters stand for:

Simple: success is the result of simplification and focus

True: be true to your passion

Act: nothing happens without action–take the first step

Map: goals and visions are needed to get where you want to be

People: success doesn’t happen alone

Once you get past the cheesy poem in Chapter 1, you’ll find some great life advice backed by quotes and examples from powerful people and companies. Some of my favorite takeaways from the book follow.

Chapter 2 – Multitasking is bad for your brain. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great said, “If you have more than three priorities, then you don’t have any.” In order to reduce interruptions and boost productivity, Qualman suggests checking your email twice a day for 30 minutes, at 10 a.m. and at 3 p.m., to get through as much as you can and then to not let email distract you as your work on other tasks.

Chapter 4 – Digital leaders have integrity, and integrity is doing the right thing even when on one is watching. Digital dirt was dug up on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who sent conniving and degrading instant messages at his time in Harvard when Facebook was just starting to take form. Zuckerberg has succeeded in rebuilding his reputation, but that just goes to show that even something you did online decades ago can rear its ugly head and damage your reputation.

Chapter 5 – This chapter talked about simplifying processes. Qualman gave the example of In-N-Out Burger, who only specializes in burgers, fries and shakes. Because of their limited menu, they are able to serve fresh, never frozen beef. All franchises are within a one day’s drive of a farm. They can also serve guests quickly, as both the consumer’s decision time and the food preparation time are reduced. Another favorite one of my takeaways is using the LIFO (last in, first out method) with your emails. By responding to the most recent emails, you may surprise and delight some people with your quick response. If you respond to emails in the order that you received them, everyone will just get varying levels of lateness back, and you impress no one.

Chapter 8 – Qualman encourages digital leaders to find their passions and show their authentic selves to their audiences. One example is GaryVaynerchuck, who showed his love for the New York Jets, his humor and his larger-than-life personality on his show Wine Library TV, which sold $50 million worth of wine.

Chapter 10 – This chapter is titled “Fail forward, fail fast, fail better” and is about learning from failures sooner rather than later and moving on in the right direction. Qualman suggests breaking projects into smaller parts, so if you fail at one part, you can correct and move on without waiting for the whole thing to fail. This strategy also allows for the testing of risky ideas at the early stages where the consequence is reduced. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, ignored the advice of experts in the publishing industry and decided to start off with a massive inventory of books instead of focusing on the best-sellers. Amazon quickly learned this was not the best business model, but they tried this out with books before trying with every single product on earth.

Overall, I give Digital Leader four out of five stars. It’s cheesy at times, and sometimes I don’t agree with the full extent of Qualman’s suggestions. For example, how far should someone go in sharing themselves on social media? Do we really need to know everything someone is interested in if they’re selling wine? Is it really better to only work in one niche market instead of being well-rounded? What about falling prey to marketing myopia? And is it better to make a snap decision and fail rather than delay the process to get help from others and then make a foolproof decision? Regardless, Digital Leader is still a good read for companies trying to use social media to their advantage and to regular everyday people who are leaders in their social groups.

Who are some of your favorite digital leaders, individuals or companies, that use social media well?