When she first tried Twitter, Cher said, she felt old and stupid: She was slow and clumsy with the social media channel; many of its other users were born well after her first hit song. But she persisted, she told a TV interviewer, because she wanted a real-time forum in which to express her views.
Now, 3.5 million fans follow the 70-year-old singer's emoji-laced, widely shared tweets. By choosing to master Twitter, she has burnished her star power, boosted her brand and touched lives. In short, she stayed relevant.
In an era of disruption, technological advances, new workplace trends and constantly emerging communication styles, everyone needs to follow Cher's example: Embrace change to stay relevant and effective.
Today, "relevant" means current and connected with what's happening in your industry and the world. Doing so helps workers remain employable, relate to younger customers, influence the next generation and protect their careers. And it helps business leaders make better decisions.
Fail to stay relevant, and you become stale — as a person, leader, employee or organization.
So in the quest to "stay relevant" on the job, how do you begin?
The first step: Assess whether you have the tech skills you'll need. And look at what colleagues and competitors are doing: What emerging technology are they adopting? Learn these tools, and become comfortable with them. There are efficiencies to be gained in the workplace by adopting new apps, software, platforms and devices. They can keep businesses and professional lives running more smoothly.
People are embracing the process of ongoing learning by experimenting, watching online tutorials, subscribing to newsletters, participating in webinars and certification programs, going back to school and asking younger employees for help.
Liza Walton, 42, principal at Miami Social Marketing, says she often learns tech skills from her young staff. When she recently had a problem with the newest software update for her iPhone, she resisted giving in to frustration and asked young staff members for a tech tutorial. "People tend to lose out if they are not willing to ask someone to show them how."
Miami human resources consultant Sharlyn Lauby says it's easy to dismiss learning opportunities because of a lack of time or work-life balance. However, she has conquered new social media outlets such as LinkedIn by starting small and finding friends to help her along. She tries one new thing on the site every day and aims to become comfortable on it after 30 days.
Another way to stay relevant: Improve your ability to listen.
In general, listening skills suffer as people get older, according to Ralph G. Nichols, a retired University of Minnesota professor and author of "Are You Listening?" But, of course, language and social trends change all the time. Today, it's not enough to simply rely on what you already know. Ask the young people in your life open-ended questions — and listen carefully to the answers.
