Aug 24, 2010 | blog
Ever take a minute and think about all the people in your life? Often we recognize so few – mostly family and friends. In life, though, there are many, many people who we interact with, are influenced by, and work with.
The people we know and interact with bring so many things to our lives. What we think, how we do things, the way we learn. It’s these things that expand our horizons and allow us to grow as individuals.
Our peers are not only our friends and coworkers. They are clerks at stores we visit and buy things from. They are our mail carriers and delivery people. They are our representatives in government, and teachers in our education system. They are leaders in business, and in faith. They are the women and men who protect our country, and help us in emergencies.
Each of the people bring something unique, something special to the mix. Knowledge, leadership, compassion, guidance, strength, or camaraderie – our peers provide all this above and beyond our friendships.
In short, our peers make up the communities we participate in, both offline and online, which give us all such great resources to do great things together. I’m grateful to have so many people in my life, and to have the privilege of learning from them and with them.
Photo credit: johnko
Aug 12, 2010 | blog
One of the most amazing things I’ve experienced in the past decade of social media is the aspect of sharing. From the first time I read Cluetrain to the current place it takes in the multiple buzz word lexicon of social media – sharing is a central pillar of social engagement.
For many of us today, sharing is an easy exercise. Cut & paste a link, click a share button for a photo or embed a video in a post. We take it for granted… it’s easy!
For those getting started, or for businesses both large and small, sharing is not as clear as one would think it is. Businesses may worry about ownership of content (copyright) issues, or the context of the content they’re sharing and how it reflects or impacts their brand and reputation.
Individuals may have similar concerns, and might have trouble understanding the technical “how to’s” of proper attribution or embedding of HTML code. But that’s what the seasoned folks should be, and are, helping with – that’s a lot of what we share.
Back to sharing itself though.
As online social engagement grows with mainstream participation, people and businesses gain more from sharing than we initially realize. Giving back to the community has always been a cornerstone of corporate responsibility, and participating in online communities is easier and more cost effective than in the physical community.
Offering up tips, tricks, ideas, solutions, trials, samples, free product, services and more helps build community and reflects on individuals and brands in a positive light. Who doesn’t enjoy or respect those who are helpful? That’s not the same as giving things away simply for favors, that has it’s place in brand building, but not for community building.
Many will call it the “pay it forward” method, and indeed giving back to your community is crucial to the health of that community. It motivates others to do the same and thereby provides a basic, common knowledge to the community that benefits the whole. In the end, ideas are shared back to you or your business that you might otherwise not have thought of. And that’s always a good thing.
Photo credit: Andrew Crummy
Jul 9, 2010 | happiness
Watching the ball game is fun, but being in it is more so.
Dec 2, 2009 | blog, leadership
I want you to succeed.
Whatever it is you’re passionate about and want to do – I want you to succeed.
For many of us it’s our career. You know that 9 to 5, Monday through Friday effort that allows us to support our families and obtain our dreams. Yeah, that one.
There is something that I wanted to share on that front, and hopefully it’ll help a bit. I want you to define your role. Define your role in your department, and in the organization as a whole. It could be in the company you work at today or the one you want to work for tomorrow. You need to take an active part in defining what you offer, and what what you bring to the mix.
Don’t allow yourself to be typecast or pigeonholed. Letting other people define the boundaries of where you’re supposed to participate or allowed to participate is unacceptable. You alone have that right.
You have the ability set boundaries and goals. You have control of the decisions that move you forward or backward. By defining your role, you establish your voice. By being vocal and establishing a presence, you have the means to share your perspectives and expertise in any situation your role lands you in.
Its not easy and it can be a little scary when first starting out, but the rewards are unending. Its also up to you to fulfil the role you define, but that sholdn’t be difficult because the definition of success and failure is also within your control as well.
Take that step to define your role in life, in work, and in the success that you want. Without figuring out what you want from your efforts, and what you want for your family, it’ll take a lot longer to get to your definition of success.
I want you to succeed.
Photo Credit: yeah buddy!
Mar 17, 2009 | happiness
Opinion, ideas, debate…? Oh hello my old friends.
