The document outlines 8 ways that a CEO can use LinkedIn to more effectively manage relationships, identify potential partners and employees, research competitors, close sales, and spend less time doing so. Specifically, it discusses how LinkedIn allows CEOs to help their team by leveraging connections, vet time demands, hire smarter through referrals, check references easily, find and reach experts fast, gather competitive intelligence on former employees, gain industry insights, and manage their online profile and information sharing preferences.

1. 8 ways a CEO can use LinkedIn
How can CEOs benefit from LinkedIn? LinkedIn makes it easier to manage relationships which
means more effective hires, sales, and better use of networks. You can check out prospective
partners, find experts, close sales, identify potential employees, contact media, and research
competitors - and spend less time doing it. You control who sees your connections, your
questions, and your experience. Here are seven tasks LinkedIn helps you do better.
1. Help your team
LinkedIn puts your network to work for your whole team, when you and your team
members connect with each other. You have a great network already but suppose one
of your salespeople is calling on a new prospect; she searches for the company on
LinkedIn and sees that one of your connections knows the VP of purchasing. She can
leverage the trust of that connection to build her relationship with the customer and
you can accelerate your business.
2. Vet the demands for your time
Someone wants to meet with you to pitch a service. A group wants you to speak at an
event. LinkedIn makes it easy to check whether they are a legitimate company that is
relevant to your needs before committing. A quick search reveals anyone you know in
common, gives you a capsule impression, and helps you allocate that valuable time.
3. Hire smarter
LinkedIn helps you to connect and engage with the largest network of passive
candidates; people that are currently employed, but who may be interested in
advancing their career. Your best hires come from referrals from people you and your
employees trust. With LinkedIn you can leverage your employees’ networks to find more
talent.
4. Check references with one click
The best time to check out potential hires is before you meet them. Do it afterwards and
the tendency is to use references to validate the decision process. Validate the pool of
applicants instead, before they jump in—with one click on a LinkedIn profile. You can
run reference checks on a potential candidate by searching for people from their
previous companies. Reference checking also comes in handy when you’re considering
an acquisition.

2. 5. Find and reach experts fast
LinkedIn is a rich directory of experts that you can tap into when you’re looking for a
critical skill set or need to perform market research. By using the advanced search page
you can find a specialist on almost every topic, industry or company. LinkedIn’s InMail
messaging system allows you to reach out to them directly.
6. Gather competitive intelligence
Contacting former employees of a company is a great way to conduct competitive
research. Perform an advanced search for company name and uncheck the ‘Current
Companies Only’ box to find people who used to work at a company. This is also a good
way of recruiting employees with experience at particular companies. You can also
follow companies that are of interest to you.
7. Gain insight
Use LinkedIn Answers to solicit input and gain perspective from your connections or
from the broader LinkedIn community. Learn how others approach new markets,
revamp processes, and resolve problems. Find funding, question industry experts and
draw on the collective knowledge of your trusted connections - and their connections.
8. Manage your information
Take control of your profile and information sharing by managing your privacy settings.
Modify your contact preferences to reflect the reasons for which you would like to be
contacted by other professionals. You can also set your activity broadcast to ensure that
it is visible only to your trusted contacts or the whole network. It’s also possible to
change your email preferences to select the types of messages you’re willing to receive.