Unsolicited LinkedIn Recommendations

Inspired by Gayle’s post, I wrote an unsolicited LinkedIn recommendation a few days ago. I found one of my previous managers on LinkedIn and just decided to recommend him. He was a great manager/architect/tech lead, so he deserved it. I wasn’t looking to get anything from it – I just thought he’d appreciate it, and I was hoping to make his day (or at least his evening, or hour, or something). I’m not sure how he reacted.

A friend and I were discussing this, and he told me he wouldn’t want an unsolicited recommendation.  I never asked why – maybe he thought I would expect some sort of payback.  Hopefully he’ll speak up in the comments.  ;)

I, on the other hand, would love to get an unsolicited recommendation on LinkedIn.  I’d be really excited about it (especially since LinkedIn keeps showing me that my profile is only 80% complete).  And I think it would motivate me to pay it forward by recommending someone else.  And pretty soon, everyone would have a recommendation…

So how would you react if someone gave you an unexpected recommendation on LinkedIn? Would you be thankful, excited, appreciative? Or would you wonder why they recommended you (maybe they’re trying to get something from you…)? Would you think it was a waste that they wrote it now, when you’re not even looking for a new job? Would you wish they had waited until the right time?