Posts from — June 2009

While I am a summer intern at Commonwealth North and may be reflecting on my work there, the views and opinions expressed are mine alone and do not represent the official views of Commonwealth North.

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated this blog. Every other year or so, I get recommitted to doing it, but I haven’t found a way to structure it into my existing daily tasks. Fortunately, I’ve become the self-proclaimed, in-house social media dude for Commonwealth North. Being volunteer labor has its advantages.

One of my recent deliverable commitments is leaving behind a how-to on how to maintain the social media accounts I’ve established for the organization. I want to use this blog to assemble the chapters live, and gain guidance from the existing group of social media mentors online.

As I work on each section, I’ll post bits of it, with questions, in the hopes to solicit advice and drive conversation on the relevance of social media beyond the “everyone’s on it” argument.

This isn’t so much daunting as it is provocative. Now, I have to not only explain how to use social media technology, but also provide guidelines and principles by which one uses the technology. There is a lot of excitement over the possibilities of reaching our members, and enriching the work we do together with things like Ustream.tv, blip.tv, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. But what else are we missing? How can we make these work together?

I recently picked up Seth Godin’s Small Is the New Big from the public library. I’ll be honest, had I not been stalling in the stacks that day, I probably would not have given this book a chance. Too often, deep, thoughtful, rich conversations about leadership, management, and strategy are lost in the wilderness of buzzwords. Don’t get me wrong, words are useful shorthand for complex systems of thought. The branding junkie in me, loves the power of words.

Turns out Seth Godin is more than just a purple cow. He actually gives nuanced issues the reflection they deserve. From accountability to change (that’s as far as I’ve gotten), and a few of his eBooks, Seth covers the gamut of issues affecting organizations in today’s changing digital landscape.

But what reeled me in? Two things:

• “Multiple channels of information mean that
  it’s almost impossible to live a lie.
  Authentic stories spread and last.” (pg ix)

• “Blogs work when they are based on:
  Candor
  Urgency
  Timeliness
  Pithiness
  Controversy
  (Utility, maybe, if you want six)
  [...]
  Save the fluff for the annual report.” (pg 23)

Gave me some hope and direction for my own blog. (And what to shoot for). As well as some legitimacy to my mentors’ and peers’ urges to “live your truth” or “don’t worry about what other people think, just do what’s true to you, and what you feel is right“.

This Sunday, Bishop Michael Keys, addressed stewardship to the church my family attends, and observed that people in my generation are quite possibly the best people to have on board. With one caveat: “if they’re engaged, they’re committed; but as soon as they become disengaged, they’re out the door.” This is nothing but a concrete statement in Eagle River, where at least a third of the families are stationed at a military base as part of their three-year rotation. If these families aren’t engaged from day one, they’ll move on to a different faith community; military families need to be able to establish roots in their home community, ASAP.

Religious implications aside, these realities and observations have merits for any community-based organization expecting to reach Gen Y/Me/Now/Whatever.

Given this, here are five questions that I think are useful in framing the discussion of emerging leadership in a webbed world. Especially if you plan on leading a community.

1. When do traits or events that have been traditionally viewed as problems or challenges, become assets and opportunities?
2. Who are you losing because you fail to engage?
3. How do you make nuanced relationships count in a polarized idea marketplace?
4. What can you do to enrich those relationships through participation in your organization?
5. Most importantly, given our geographical disparity, how can we make social media work to Alaska’s advantage?

What are your thoughts?