Leading Questions

Leading Questions - a Best of Leadership Blogs 2010 nominee

Leading Questions has been nominated as a Best of Leadership Blogs of 2010.
You may vote once per email address. I'd be most grateful if you'd would vote for Leading Questions.

There are some excellent leadership blogs in the contest. After you vote for Leading Questions - remember to vote all the email addresses that you have - go check out the other leadership blogs. You'll find some great ones like last year's winner Steve Roesler and my Weekly Leader colleague Wally Bock. Also share with your friends and colleagues. Thank you for you vote.

The Stuff in Your Head

Rabbi Issamar Ginzberg wrote to several of us who are in an online community asking for feedback on a blog post.  He wanted some help to get the stuff in his head on to paper.

Here's  some of what I wrote.

1. The stuff in your head is your voice.

The more you write, the more you'll find what you really need to be saying. I started in blogging in 2004 at the same time I began writing a twice-monthly column for my local paper. The columns weren't bad, though not great. The blog posts were unexceptional until about a year and a half ago when I began to discover what I really wanted to say. What I discovered, in addition, is that I began to spend more time writing than reading. All my life I had been a consumer of other peoples' ideas, and through constant attention to writing, I am becoming a producer of ideas.  So, write, write, write and write some more.  As you do, you'll find yourself waking up at 3am, getting up, going to the computer, and spending five hours producing something that is personally meaningful, and takes you one step farther down the road of discovery and excellence.

2. Create a structure on which to hang your thoughts.

The easiest way to do this is write series of posts. Typically, in odd lots, of 3 or 5, or maybe even 31. Several years ago, when I knew I'd be traveling for most of the month of July, I wrote a series on questions that could be posted each day for the month. It became the 31 Questions ebook later. As I read through it today, I'm amazed a how much further my thinking has gone.

The basic idea is to create an ideological system for your ideas. It allows not only for people to follow your train of thought, but also for you to build an ideological system for influencing people in a sustainable way.  And if you are a very complex thinker like me, meaning your ideas tend to confuse people more than enlighten them, then you need ways to make it simple. That is why I started creating my one page conversation guides. The personal result is that I have a system for addressing a wider range of issues than I did before. I'm not suggesting you create diagrammatic charts. I am suggesting that you systematize your thinking so that people can get it easily, and you have an ideological platform for expressing the stuff in your head.

3. Write for yourself, your audience will follow.

The tyranny of the marketplace is that it is fickle and doesn't pay close attention. It does not follow but constantly finds you. The loyal audience will give you good feedback, but for the most part, if you try to build your writing around what you think other people are looking for, you'll not find joy and fulfillment in the process of writing. 

Writing begins as self-expression, and leads to connection and influence with others. We must not see it as a means to aggrandize ourselves with the public, but rather how we give to them in service and contribution.

Writing is a painful experience because it attacks us at our most vulnerable points. My suggestion for those who feel that they must get the stuff in their heads out on paper is to write. You can find support in the thoughts of writers like Seth Godin, especially his chapter called The Resistance in his latest book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensible?, and Stephen Pressfield's Writing Wednesdays posts and his essential, The War of Art.

Lastly, while you may be writing for yourself, it isn't always about you. It is about expressing yourself in a manner that provides a context for connecting with the world outside your head. Write for yourself, but write to be read, so that the influence of your ideas may make a difference that matters.

Surprise! I'm on a list!!!

Update below.

I've been blogging since July 4, 2004. Leading Questions has always been a place for me to try to bring clarity to my complex mind. Honestly, I've not thought much about numbers or rankings or any of that stuff. I've just tried to understand my own perceptions of leadership and the world we are in. That fact that some people do read my blog is very gratifying. Thank you very much loyal readers.

I was shocked earlier this week when I received an email from Jurgen Appelo alerting me that I had made his list of the top 150 management and leadership blogs based on his research.

My first reaction in seeing the list was to begin reading up from 150, thinking surely I'm one of the last on this list. I'm going up the list, thinking, "Did I read his email correctly? Maybe he's just telling me about his list, so I can blog about it." 

No, there at number 44 was Leading Questions. What a surprise! Thanks, Jurgen.

There is a lesson here. There is no way to calculate ahead of time the full impact of any particular decision or action that we may take. Our challenge is to respond and adapt to the opportunities that come our way.

My blog will always be a place for me to clarify my thought processes. If it attracts people to read, I'm really glad. Now, back to a post I've been working on for two weeks, that I've just not reached clarity on. Somethings don't change.

In Addition: Jurgen's list is a real powerhouse. You can follow all of us by following his Twitter list at http://twitter.com/jurgenappelo/management.

In Addition 2: Thanks Peter for pointing out what I had totally missed that Weekly Leader is not only #34 on Jurgen's list, but is also PostRank's #1 Leadership blog!

Quick Takes: Why you should blog

Watch this Open forum video with Seth Godin and Tom Peters talking about blogging. Seth tells why blog and Tom the impact that it has been on him. I began blogging in July 2004, at the same time I began to write my Real Life Leadership column. Here's what I've gained from the experience.

1. Practice in writing clear, coherent, compelling ideas. Writing clearly is not the same as speaking clearly. They are different ways of articulating ideas. When we speak, it is not unusual to say a series of sentence fragments. However, the over use of phrases in writing, I've discovered, is a product of writing to think out loud. 

The most important thing I have learned about this is from my column. I describe the column as "Dear Abby for Leaders."  I take a real world question and answer it. Writing to what I hear people discussing is what I am trying to do.The 500 word limit for my column has shown me how much extraneous verbiage I use in my writing.

I understand, now, how to make every sentence count. One key? Cut out all qualifying adjectives and adverbs, and make complex sentences simple. A second key? Get over the feeling of not being understood. I see this in my own writing when I begin a sentence with something like, "what I mean ...".

2. Clarity about what I think.  Forcing myself to write everyday provides me the mental exercise to work through ideas. My Impact Leadership diagrams are the product of this practice. The result is the ability to think more clearly in context.

Blog writing is a healthy mental exercise because it tends to be a conversation with other writers. If I'm commenting on something Seth or Tom has written, I'm trying to elevate the clarity and intelligence of my writing to their level.

Lastly, I take my writing cue from Tom Friedman who a decade ago on the Charlie Rose said one night that his aim with his New York Times column was two-fold. First, it was to have the reader say, "Hmm, I didn't know that." And second, "Ah, I never thought of it that way."  In both cases, the reader is brought into different perceptual and knowledge contexts that make wanting to read the column more compellng.

This is my aim as well. And I have to do this for myself before I can do it for you.

If I've not said it lately, thank you very much for reading.

Quick Takes: The Return of Little Wolf

Please visit my friend Little Wolf's blog - Musing of an Eight Year Old. He's no longer eight, but nine, bright, imaginative, and full of mischief. Leave him a comment about your #1 weakness.

Delaware Employment Law blog selects the 100 of the top leadership blogs

Molly at the Delaware Employment Law blog has posted her list of the 100 of the Leading Blogs on Leadership.  Leading Questions is on the list.

I'm glad to know that I have something to contribute to those who practice in the field of employment law. I welcome your questions and insights.

Thank you very much, Molly.

Quick Takes: Steve Roesler - Best Leadership Blog 2008

There is an annual contest to determine the best leadership blog. Steve Roesler of All Things Workplace is this year's winner.

I highly recommend Steve's blog. Unlike so many blogs, it is very practical. There is opinion and sound theory expressed, but what I like best is that he is giving us real insight into how to lead.

For example, read Steve's post on the latest Leadership Development Carnival. Or, read his 10 Lessons on Self-Leadership.

I read Steve because he is smart, perceptive, and a really nice guy.

A Written Anniversary

Four years ago today I began blogging. A few weeks earlier I began writing my Real Life Leadership column for the Asheville Citizen-Times.

These four years have been the most productive of my professional life.

I attribute it to two benefits that have come from writing as a blogger and columnist.

1. The people I've met who have both taught me much, but also have been kind encouragers of my writing.

2. The practice of regular writing for publication.

My recommendation to anyone who feels like they have something to say is that they start a blog. Don't do it because you are going become wealthy or famous. Do it because you have something to say, and you want a practical means to develop as a person. 

To all those who have read my blog and my column over these four years, I thank you. There is nothing so sweet than for someone to tell you that they read your column that morning. It always surprises me that anyone reads it. I am grateful and on this anniversary, I am honored by your kind thoughts.

Quick Takes: Christine Kane on blogging and creativity

Christine Kane is a singer/songwriter who is one of the most insightful people I know. I have heard her say two things over the past couple years that have penetrated so deeply into my self-perception that I will never be the same.

The first thing she told had to do with her changing how she handled her concert schedule. She quit doing performances that were not helping her progress in her career. I hear people say this, but rarely see it in action. She did it, and it paid off. For the past year, I've been trying to understand how this works into what I do, and am beginning to set the stage to quit a number of the areas of responsibility that occupy my time.

The second thing I heard her say was this morning in the video interview with blogger Paul O’Flaherty.

Christine Kane - Broadcast your self LIVE

Did you catch what she said about Neil Young? There are so many people today who are as good as Neil Young, that he would not even be him today. He's still brilliant, but it isn't as rare today. I find that to be true in my world.

Think that through for a second.

Christine is saying, and it is backed by Chris Anderson's The Long Tail, that the really big stars will be fewer and fewer, and the really great niches will be more plentiful. Instead of one Neil Young, there will be a thousand, each with a little different twist on the form.

The lesson for us is to be watchful for the opportunities that come our way. Don't rule them out just because your title doesn't fit the opportunity. If you've read Dan Pink's The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, then you'll know the first lesson had to do with there being no plan. Follow your passion, and the opportunities will emerge.

This is one take on what Christine said in the interview. I see another lesson to be considered that I'll take up in another posting.

Never underestimate what a person can do. Never.

Never underestimate what a person can do. Never.

When you look at a person across a room or on the other side of a service desk, or listening to them on the other end of a phone, do you ever think that just possibly my interaction with this person has life changing possibilities?  Probably not. Probably not because no one has ever treated you in this way. No one sees you as a person with endless potential that only needs the right suggestion or right approach to create a transformational difference.

Over the past ten days, I've had this experience with an eight year old kid from the vast, beautiful plains of the American Mid-west. I met Little Wolf - that's his blogging name - and discovered a kid who has more love and imagination than I could ever hope to see in another individual in my life time. Check out his blog - Musings of An Eight Year Old. The goodness of this young kid jumps off the screen. And I am pleased to say that he is my friend.

It is my gift and curse to see potential in each person I meet.  I see that what stands in the way of that person fulfilling their potential are just a few things. It is their own self-confidence connected to whatever their passion may be. It is finding an appropriate context or approach for their talent to be expressed in a tangible way. It is having someone believe that they can be better than anyone else believes. It is the experience of creating an impact through their own actions.

For me, I see this both on the individual and the institutional level.  When you help individuals learn to lead through their own initiative for impact, then it leads to the same happening for the whole of their organization. What stops it is disbelief.

Back to my little eight year old friend. 

Little Wolf is this caring, imaginative kid who has ASD. It is at a level that limits what he can physically do. However, after hearing him tell me about his invisible gargoyle friend Demona, and to do so over the course of two full days, I knew that he had a gift for telling stories.  I knew that if he began to tell his stories on a blog that others would be able to share in the richness of this kid's imagination. I knew it would be an outlet for his passion and creativity that could make a difference.

I mentioned this to his mother in passing that he should tell his stories on a blog.  Later that week, his blog was born.  In a short few days, and with just a baker's dozen of postings, Little Wolf has become the greatest eight year old blogger on this planet or any other.

I hope you'll visit his blog. Leave an encouraging comment. Subscribe to his feed. Let him join in this great wide community that exist in virtual space.  Never underestimate the impact you can have by simply doing this. You just never know what will happen.