45 Leadership Quotes And Lessons On Social Media From Renegades Write The Rules

I have just finished reading Amy Jo Martin’s definitive book on social media Renegades Write The Rules.  For those of you unfamiliar with Amy Jo, she is considered one of the world’s leading experts on building your personal and corporate brands through social media.  Every pastor and leader should purchase this book.  You can do so by clicking on the image.  I recommend you purchase one for each member of your staff.

Just so we clarify what a renegade is, Amy Jo describes a renegade a person who has the “ability to stick with what is sticking despite the occasional criticism, wry grins, and knowing nods…A renegade must often digest the positive feedback with the useful critique in order to make the best course corrections.”

With that as our foundation, the following are 45 additional leadership quotes from this incredible resource for leaders.  Pastors, if you and your team are not actively engaged in social media, I cannot recommend enough that you read the comments below.

• “Success largely depends on your ability to keep the conversation going by asking the right questions, listening for the most common answers, and then innovating your business or brand accordingly.”
• “Today, however, audiences own the market and dictate the expectations.”
• “Innovation is never static.  Now we have a place (social media) to keep it dynamic.”
• “No matter how sharp or seasoned you are, this intentional loss of control is a main component of pioneering today because it’s the quickest and most effective way to measure the value of just about anything you do.”
• “Brainstorming’s most important component is the absence of criticism and negative feedback…Innovation has always required a thick skin.”
• “Renegades are initiators…through social media they boldly provide that magical incubator for their ideas.”
• “Sometimes renegades wing it.”
• “Not having a strong, two-way communication strategy (in social media) is like not unlocking your doors for business or answering the phone when customers call.”
• “In the digital age, you are the media.”
• “The foundation is mattering in the moments of people’s lives…To matter, you have to continually deliver something your audience finds valuable, even if that value is simply great entertainment.”
• “The key to its success (Shaquille O’Neal twitter strategy) was a continual stream of deeper engagement matched with pure intent.”
• “We made the decision ahead of time to focus on people, not products…Nothing was more valuable to fans – and more viral – than Shaq being Shaquille…Nonsports fans who didn’t know anything about Shaquille – followed Shaquille because they were exposed to his personality day in and day out.”
• “If you deliver value, you and your ideas are granted global access.”
• “You have to let your audience help you define what is newsworthy.  Shaquille is a master at this, primarily because he is not caught up in feeding his own ego that he can’t hear what others are saying.”
• “Social media is today’s primary source of relevance.  And you should be your prime-time channel.”
• “Today’s success rises and falls on human connection.”
• “People don’t connect with logos and taglines, they connect with other people.”
• “Today’s top celebrities, businesses, and sports icons know that the quickest way to monetize their brands is to humanize them.”
• “Social media is not a popularity contest.  Followers don’t automatically equal influence…Impressions don’t convert, but influence does.”
• “Find a person or people connected to your company who are incredibly entertaining, and give them liberty to connect with fans in social space.”
• “It is not about gaining attention but keeping attention.’
• “Be real, and just use your best judgement.” – www.Zappos.com’s company-wide communication policy
• “Spilling your guts isn’t a good loyalty strategy, it will just freak people out.”
• “He (Tiger Woods) has given us no other reason to like him other than his performance – and his performance has yet to return to its pre-2009 form.”
• “Without the ability to nurture loyalty through human performance, you brand’s value relies solely on performance.”
• “Ultimately, people don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it…This completely different approach works because people become loyal to the brand’s intent, not merely a product.”
• “Your brand’s intent and personality are the differentiating factors.”
• “I was letting my perception of what the market wanted influence Digital Royalty’s identity instead of letting that identity be tied directly back to me.”
• “Integrity and innovation aren’t two words that come up together in conversation often.  But those two words taken together, are the bookends of all social media success.”
• “With more than a billion people using these communication channels, you can’t afford not to have an active role in the conversation.”
• “The most successful people trade comfort for momentum.”
• “The audience, not the messenger, decides what goes viral.”
• “Innovation is not for permission seekers…Innovation is messy, imperfect, and risky.”
• “Sometimes it’s not about being the best or smartest, it’s about being the first to try and the first to learn from failure.”
• “Personal access is the entry point for growing any brand.”
• “Authentic access builds authentic connections between brands and fans.  Loyalty comes along that path.”
• “The brand converts the fans to buyers with increasing degree of loyalty.  The more the brand continues to deliver the value the fans want, the more loyal (and lucrative) to the brand the audience becomes.”
• “If you want people to love the brand and remain loyal, it has to be theirs too.  They must own it with you.”
• “Even consistency gets old when it’s the only benefit.”
• “Only ongoing social media engagement allows you to truly remove the guesswork in branding.”
• “I don’t know what your R&D budget is, but if it doesn’t include a social media listening strategy, you’re missing your best opportunity to research, test, market, retest, and sell your brand’s offerings.”
• “Great ideas find an audience, even when the naysayers are powerful.”
• “The biggest hurdle to full-scale implementation of social media is the issue of control.”
• “Social media democratizes access.  Traditional gatekeepers and physical boundaries have lost their power to a network where brands and ideas are granted global access is they deliver widespread transcendent value.”
• “The brands that matter today and tomorrow are the ones that have embraced the simplest and most authentic way to ensure that people are far more often better for interacting with them.”

This only scratches the surface of the book’s content.  Amy Jo gives multiple case studies to support her thoughts.  This book is changing how I communicate and lead.  

Pastors and leaders, what is one thing said above that you are willing to not only retweet, but apply to life today?

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