Don't Forget to Press Flesh

John R. Stokka
CEO DomiKnow, Inc.

Welcome to the new digital age. We can share a picture with the world in seconds with Instagram or Pinterest. The era where we can share every thought, desire, action in seconds through Facebook and Twitter. Yes indeed, we can post, email, tweet, pin, check-in, update, follow, like, and share with relative ease and efficiency, but should we?

I recently "caught" two people in my office going endlessly bantering back and forth with each other about something fairly simple over internal email. Instead of getting up and walking across the room to have a 2 minute conversation, they had exchanged several emails over a couple days about the topic. Not only is it inefficient, it is an environment that can breed contempt, misunderstanding, and a myriad of other issues in an organization that is growing at the pace as quickly as ours.

There is no denying that social media is here to stay. It has changed the way we communicate and the way we do business. It's an extremely effective medium for certain types of messaging. But don't forget to press flesh. That's right, the good old-fashioned face-to-face meeting intro with a handshake. There is no substitute for looking someone in the eye and having a conversation.
The digital world is a wonderful efficient method of communication that should augment, not replace every other activity that we've developed and evolved over thousands of years of human existence.

The best thing about all of this digital communication is how much of the norm it has become. And in nearly every rule, there lies the value of the exception. If you are willing to make the phone call, if you are willing to go and have the one-on-one conversation, if you are willing to write a personal letter and drop it in the mail... Then guess what? As much as social media and digital communication have become the norm, you will stand out in a crowd of tweeters and posters as a true communicator. Those who understand this will have a leg up on everyone else in whatever they endeavor to do.

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