Finding your voice is absolutely critical to becoming an authentic leader.  If you can't find your voice, you'll end up with a vocabulary that belongs to someone else, mouthing words that were written by some speechwriter, or mimicking the language of some other leader who's nothing like you at all.

 

To become a credible leader, first you have to comprehend fully the values, beliefs, and assumptions that drive you.  You have to freely and honestly choose the principles you will use to guide your actions.  Before you can clearly communicate your message, you must be clear about the message you want to deliver.  And before you do what you say, you must be sure that you mean what you say.

 

You can't believe in the messenger if you don't know what the messenger believes.

I have provided a link to my cover letter and resume on the home page.  Just to give my readers an idea of my overall work experience to date so you better understand my perspective on things.

 

This doesn't mean that I'm looking for another job.  (However, if the right offer came along...)

I have made it to a significant milestone.  On February 26, 2005, I started this blog as an experiment.  That experiment turned into a part of my life.  A part that is different from my personal life or my work life.  I joined a different community on that day.  Most of the people in this community I have not met in person, yet many of them I am closer than my co-workers.   They provide me constant support through their encouragement to keep at this.  They provide me SO much knowledge in my education of life.  They are sounding board on wild "random thoughts" that I have along the way.  They are mentors in helping me out with issues I have as a manager.   They come from all types of professions, all types of cultures, all types of experiences.

 

It has not been easy to make it a year.  I can understand how so many blogs disappear in a few weeks or months.  You have to be in it for the right reasons.  You can't be in it for fame or fortune, because it probably won't happen to most bloggers.  You can't be in it and expect instantly to get an audience, because it takes time to build loyal readers.  With millions of blogs out there already, and more being established than leaving, there is a LOT of competition.  You can't be in it without being honest with yourself and your readers, try to fake it and you'll be in trouble.  The more real you can be, the greater the response you will have.   You have to find your niche and stick with it, to distinguish yourself from the rest.   You have to post often (at least once or twice a week) but too much as you may suffer from burnout.   There were plenty of times that I thought about ending this blog, but glad that I didn't.

 

Thanks to my readers that have stuck with me and have commented on my posts.  Thanks also to the other bloggers that have supported me and sent people my way when you have enjoyed a post.  I hope that I have done the same for you, and enjoy each of your blogs.  It is great to be associated with each and every one of you.  I would have never imagined my life being impacted this way a year ago, I can't imagine what it will bring me a year from now.

Technorati, the search engine, published another State of the Blogosphere. 

 

The summary of their findings?

Lisa, my good blogging friend over at Management Craft, has come up with an award.  She promises to come up with some great prizes but plenty of recognition in the blogosphere.  Here is what she is looking for in her own words:

Oh, Lisa also asked me to be one of the judges.  I just hope I do it justice!  She will announce the other judges soon, unless they say something beforehand.

 

Let the contest begin!  Read more in her post about the rules and how to submit your entry.

My other site, Never Work Alone, got mentioned in the latest Fast Company (page 100 of the December issue)!  It was just a brief mention and buried within other information, but it's still great press!

 

If you haven't been over to Never Work Alone (or it's been awhile), we have picked up the pace somewhat.  The holidays slowed us down but we are back and better than ever.

 

I encourage you to visit and join the Google Group and join directly into the conversations.  Anybody signed up can respond to any topic.  Even better, you can start your own topic that you want the group to tackle!

 

Each week, we will also continue to summarize the best of the Google group by posting to the Never Work Alone blog. 

 

Come back and visit us!  Tell your friends!  If you have a management issue, or an issue with management, come talk with us!  Hope to see you there!

 

Skip, Bren, and Dwayne

Well, we are approaching the holidays and today is my last day of work for the year.  You will probably see little or no activity on this blog until the new year, but I may surprise you with a post now and then.

 

Spend time with those that you love, reflect on this year, and plan great things for the coming year.  I always think of the New Years Day as a new start -- a way to forget the problems of the past and a chance to make something better for the future.   You do the same, and together we will make 2006 the best year ever!

 

Wishing each of you a great holiday and a very happy new year!

Skip

Random Thoughts from a CTO (also known as "Random Thoughts of a CTO" or and I think this is best reference I have seen -- Ramblings of a CTO!) 

When I started blogging, I thought that it would be much more interactive.  I would create a post, people would make comments either publicly on the blog or privately to my email address, and discussions would happen.

 

Unfortunately, spammers have hit blog sites and have caused many blog sites (including my own) to remove trackbacks to other sites as well as limit who can comment (through some kind of login/membership).   Therefore, what comments come through have been minimal in my case. 

 

Even if comments were wide open, I'm still finding something interesting.  I am finding myself too busy to comment given the number of good blogs to review and my time blogging being somewhat limited.  I think that the same is happening with other people.   Also, I believe that many people would prefer to read blogs than participate in them, to truly read blogs as one would read a paper.  Purely as a source of information.

 

Where at one time I was frustrated with the lack of participation, I am now very comfortable that the majority of people that see my blog are just readers.   In most cases, they would prefer to remain anonymous.  Plus, if something really hits a nerve (good or bad) that they need to respond, I am sure they will either through my email or directly on the blog.

 

But there's another thing going on that I hadn't seen coming when I started blogging.   Bloggers communicating and many times collaborating with other bloggers.  Whereas the general public may be a quiet community, the bloggers aren't.  They share with each other, working and refining ideas, all to make the overall blogging community a better place.   I feel that I have a community of around 10-15 blogs that seem to share things around with each other.  We all have the same passion - to help others lead and manage people in a business environment.   And this makes all of us better as people as well as bloggers.  And the general reading public benefits as a result.

 

Where does this take us?  Who knows?   I think the world is continuing to get smaller with technology, and no doubt the same goes with blogging.   We will continue to refine and sometimes redefine what blogging communities will be out there in multiple communication formats.   And we haven't really seen the mainstream internet users yet in the blogging world, it's still in the "early adoptors" phase.   As tools that people use to access the Internet embrace blogs, we will see the numbers of readers (and other bloggers) continue to rise.  It's exciting to think of the possibilities, and I hope to be right in the middle of the journey!

This is just another reminder to visit "my other blog" -- Never Work Alone -- co-created with Slacker Manager and Genuine Curiosity.   The blog is updated on a weekly or so basis highlighting one of the threads from the Google Group.  Comments and trackbacks are always welcome.

 

If you want to participate more directly, please sign up with the Never Work Alone Google Group and feel free to either enter your own thread or contribute to one that is going.

 

Never Work Alone is there for you.   Together, we can work on problems that you are having in your particular organization, whether you want a management perspective or are a manager that needs help.

 

I have found the group to be highly effective, and have submitted a couple of my own issues to the group.  As you can tell from the blog, the results are quite comprehensive!

 

If you been before, take a look again.   If you haven't, go give it try.   When you are there, feel free to look around and participate where you can.   Remember, Never Work Alone is only as successful as your contribution!

My blog is worth $41,775.96.
How much is your blog worth?

Here are some other sites that I am involved in if you are interested:

 

Carnival of the Capitalists - comes out every Monday, the latest one is here.   This Carnival focuses on businesses - economics, management, trends, industry issues, etc. 

 

Carnival of the Agilists - comes out mid week every week, the latest one is here.  This Carnival focuses on agile software development processes.

 

Never Work Alone - A blog and a Google group talking about any management issues that YOU have.  You are welcome to join the Google group and bring up or respond to topics that you care about.   Currently, there are almost 150 people registered that can respond to your concerns.   Periodically, we will post selected topics that we believe will serve the greater public on the Never Work Alone blog.  Check it out!

 

Change This! Manifesto - I am currently in the running of submitting a manifesto called Strategy YOU!   Please vote for me if you haven't already so that I can write and publish this work.   Tell others that you think would benefit from it.   You can find out more about it here as well as vote.

I have decided to take a first shot at writing my own white paper, well actually a manifesto.   If you haven't visited ChangeThis!, you are truly missing out.   Each year, several authors (or in my case, hopeful authors) submit proposals.  People visiting the site vote on proposals that they would like to see produced as a manifesto.  Several times a year, the ones that produce the highest votes get their manifesto published!

 

My proposal is called Strategy YOU!  In this manifesto, I will provide you and others the tools to produce your Personal Strategic Plan that can be used as a roadmap in planning your future.  You can read more at this link.   If you like what you read, you can vote on it by clicking the "Yes, Write this Manifesto".   Please pass this along to others that might be interested in this.

 

Also, while you are at this site, check out the existing manifestos. There is a lot of great material out there, and I would be honored to have my place among these authors.

 

I am excited about the possibility of writing and publishing this, so I hope I get your votes!

OK, I'm a little late to the party.  I was attending the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference all day yesterday here in Portland. 

 

Bren over at Slacker Manager approached Dwayne at Genuine Curiosity and I about a possible collaboration project.  What is we provided people an email address for them to send business issues that they are having?  Then out of those issues, we would select from the best and promote it to a group of managers from around the world to tackle the issue and provide advice from their perspectives.  Then, we would post the results for all to see and respond to.   Of course, we thought the idea was excellent.

 

We decided to call this effort Never Work Alone.  People would have access to this management braintrust FREE OF CHARGE and could reference past decisions through tools that they are familiar with - search engines, email and news readers.

 

Given that I am coming from a technical perspective, I am fascinated with the merging of technology for this project.  Is it a discussion forum?  Well yes, using Google Groups.  Is it a email subscription service? Well yes, the Google group provides the ability to receive feedback through email.  You can also send the group requests through email.  Is it a weblog?  Well yes, the results of each discussion will be posted on a blog and can be subscribed to through your favorite news reader.   You will also be able to comment on the blog posts, providing yet another level of collaboration between the management team and the world!

 

I'm proud to be able to be a part of this effort.   If you want to send an issue to the group, send email to this address: neverworkalone@gmail.com.  You can also check out the Never Work Alone Google Group and the Never Work Alone Blog.   Hey, maybe we should have t-shirts made!  Oh, Bren and Dwayne??

If you are a blogger or a regular reader of blogs, you will see a reference in several blogs to a particular Carnival.  What are those you might say?  They are consider the "best of" by bloggers for a given period of time, usually weekly divided into particular categories.   A couple of the oldest ones out there are the Carnival of the Vanities and the Carnival of the Capitalists (the latter one that I read and post regularly to).   However, in my blogging travels looking for things to read or talk about, I have discovered that there are many more Carnivals out there. 

 

In this post, I was planning on listing all of them with their links, but in my searching came across Blog Carnival.  If you are looking for the various carnivals, this is the place to start.  They have a nice search/filter and will tell you when the next post will be.  If you are hosting a carnival but don't see yours on the list, you have a link to add yours.  According to them, there are 106 Carnivals that they track and the number of Carnivals are always increasing.

 

If you are interesting in posting to any of these carnivals, a good place is submit is here.  This universal form will send appropriate information to the carnival of your choosing.

 

Enjoy!

In my original post, I had been blogging for 110 days.  My blog at that time had 82 posts and around 12,000 total hits with an average of 200 hits a day.

I have now been blogging for 270 days (started Feb 26).  I have 136 posts and have averaged 350 hits a day with a total number of hits over 38,000.

Following are the list of benefits that I had achieved at that time.  I have updated the list and comments to reflect where those benefits are currently:

• Expands my network - If you want to maximize the success of any career, you must have a solid network of people to tap into for resources.  Though over time I have worked on my network in the areas that I have worked in, in today's global economy that isn't enough.  I have already made many connections through this that couldn't have been done otherwise and they live throughout the US and the world.  UPDATE: My network has grown significantly, the world is much smaller and I have confirmed that how my organization operates isn't much difference than any other organization.  I have also developed real friendships with other bloggers.  It's hard to imagine working without this network now.
• Provides mentors - As I moved into management, there were less peers to talk with in my organization so I have to look to the outside.  Most of my mentoring prior to blogging (and reading others' blogs) was in the form of books or articles.  Now I get a lot of good advice from reading blogs as well as people responding to my posts.  Also through the connections I have talked with others that have had similar issues that I have and they have given me some great advice.   UPDATE: I continue to learn from other blogs, and my list of blogs that I read on a regular basis continues to grow.  The content from these blogs match any knowledge that I have gained from books and formal education.  What separates these blogs from those sources of education is the learning is from application and not just theory.   I also continue to get help from others on fine tuning my ideas and providing new things to talk about on my blog.
• Making a difference - Though I feel I have done much for the company I am currently working at, I'm always looking for more ways to use my skills and knowledge to help people.  This has given me another outlet and it is very fulfilling to see how positive the responses have been to my postings and how helpful they have been.  I want to make people think about a better way so that they can also make a difference.  It is exciting to think about how some of my posts have probably been passed on time and time again and it is having an impact.  UPDATE: I have had feedback via email from individuals that I know I have made a difference.  My posts have also ended up on other blogs to continue the discussion.
• Forcing self-discipline - Managing a blog isn't easy work.  Especially in our busy lives with our real jobs, family and other activities wanting part of our time.  When I started this, I made a commitment that I would post at least five times a week (usually one a day during the week with weekends off).  I knew that if I didn't make this commitment that I would give up.  Some weeks I have lots of ideas, other times I really struggle to figure out what to post.  But, I have kept up for 110 days and counting.  This has helped me work on self discipline in other areas of my life - my health, spending time with family, keeping organized, etc.   UPDATE: It has been good for me to prove to myself and others that I can find time to blog (and read blogs) while still fulfilling my job and home duties.  It's all about priorities and managing your time.  You would be surprised of how much time I found wasted while making time for these activities.
• Creative outlet - This has been a great place to throw out some ideas and see if they stick before I try them out in my real job.  If I get a good response, I know I am on to something.  If I get a negative response, I know I have some work on refining my ideas.  Either way, by "testing" them first using my blog I know that when I am ready to use them they will be much more effective.  UPDATE:  Most of my posts have confirmed that my thoughts are accurate and I am moving in the right direction.  The other posts have helped me better shape my thoughts and determine that my thinking is wrong and needs correction. 
• Improving communication skills - I have never been much of a writer, though I do spend much of my job communicating through writing either by email or reports.   As a look back at my first posts compared to recent ones, I can see how my writing has improved.  I still feel I have a long ways to go compared to some other blogs I read, but it's getting there.  I can also see how it has helped in my other forms of communication -- get to the point, highlight key points, make it memorable, use stories to visualize, etc.   UPDATE: I think that my overall writing and communication skills have been greatly improved as a result of blogging.   Not only do I need to be transparent, but I only have one shot at getting it right.   I have to make sure that the message is clear and that people will under the context and the importance.
• Archiving my brain - I am over 40.  I have a lot in my brain over the years.  As I get older, I am afraid that some things will leak out and be gone forever.  Not only has blogging been a good pressure release to get things out of my head, but it's now a permanent archive for me to reference things. UPDATE: Interesting enough, after blogging for some time I don't have as much in my brain anymore.  Not that I won't in the future, but the blog has been a great place to store my ideas.  When I first started my blog, I could have written several posts a day but decided to pace myself at 4-5 posts a week.  Now, I'm glad I did that because I am finding that it is a struggle to keep at that pace and coming up with new ideas.
• More Validation - I think each of us wants to be validated.  Are we saying the right words?  Are we doing the right actions?  Are we really making an impact? a contribution? a difference?   Validation for most of us comes through work in the form of praise, recognition, more responsibilities, more pay, titles, certificates, awards.  But what if that isn't enough or you aren't getting the feedback you need frequent enough?   As mentioned above, I believe that I have received much validation through this blog.  As I read comments as well as others blogs (and especially other blog postings that expand of mine), I get confirmation that I am saying the right words and doing the right actions.  UPDATE: As you can tell from my other updates....I have received MUCH validation through blogging.  So much so, that it has opened other possibilities for me in the future such as writing books, teaching or consulting.  I have also been asked to write and/or contribute to other blogs in various topics.

Thanks to everybody that continue to read this blog and interact with me on a regular basis.  Continue to challenge my thinking through your feedback.   I hope to continue to provide you with many more of my "random thoughts"!

Today,  I am providing the guest post over at Talking Story with Say Leadership.  I was asked a couple of weeks ago by the blogger of that site, Rosa Say, to join their Ho'ohana Online Community.  What is that you ask?  Here is Rosa's definition, read more at this post:

"I invite people to be part of the Ho‘ohana Online Community after I have developed my own relationship with them, and I have been witness to their willingness to engage in positive conversations with their own readership (and positive doesn’t mean you necessarily agree about everything). They celebrate the spirit of aloha in their interactions with their guests and customers — the people who read their blogs. They strive to be Mea Ho‘okipa, the epitome of the gracious host: Their blog is a home they invite others into, and once guests arrive, they do all they can to make them feel comfortable and welcomed.

The readers of Talking Story, those whom I call the Ho‘ohana Community, are very important to me, and I believe they trust me to make good recommendations. I am not willing to compromise their trust and disappoint them. I can only recommend another blogger when I am very confident he or she is very responsive, and willing to engage in conversation with them."

Each month, Rosa provides a topic for Ho'ohana to talk about.  This month is about Lifelong Learning.  My post is called "Learning Trigger Points" where I share with you how I got on the road of lifelong learning.  Unfortunately, I see too many people that stop learning for one reason or another.  It is my hope that this post will inspire them to keep going.

Please go take a look at my post and let me know what you think!  While you are there, take a look around Rosa's site and I am sure that you will find a lot of good learning material.  Also, on the right column of her site are links to each of the members of the Ho'ohana Online Community.  I am proud to be associated with this group, as each of them contain thoughtful and high quality content geared towards business management and leadership. If you don't already know and read some of these blogs, give them a try!

For me, there is a distinguishing factor that separates the blogs that I get real value for on a regular basis verses the rest of them.  The blogs that I get the most value from are those that have original content and I can get to understand the blogger as a person.  

 

As a blogger, it would be easy for me to go search over the web and provide links to everybody else.  I would probably get a lot of people because it would appear that I am a great blogger.  In that sense, I would be more of a news reporter.  Yet, nobody would really get to know me, what I stand for, what my likes and dislikes are.  Plus, I would be providing the same information that at least a half dozen other people have already talked about.  I would say that at least HALF of the blogs that I subscribe to in my newsreader "recycle" information from other sites - for some, just part of the time..for others, it's the norm. 

 

I will admit that at times I refer to other sites as well, but will try to point to things that I don't think others have noticed.  I also try to focus on those things that mean value to me, and translate it to others using my own voice.  It's MUCH harder to write about things from a personal perspective, from your experiences based on your opinions.   You have to dig down deep to come up with something of value.  It takes several revisions to get it right.  You end up throwing some things away because you can't put your thoughts into writing. In that sense, I would be more of a book writer.

 

News reporter or book writer, both have their places in the blogosphere I guess.   However, it seems we have many more news reporters and not enough book writers.   Believe me, by the time I have read your post pointing to something you think is very newsworthy, I have probably seen the same posting several times over.  

 

Regardless of which type of blog you promote, one thing is for sure -- "You need to find your voice"  and stay true to it.  Find your niche and stick with it.  In the book The Leadership Challenge, one of the chapters is called Find Your Voice.  Following are some exerpts from that chapter.  Though they are directed towards the topic of Leadership, they seem to work well in this scenario as a blogger.  After all, aren't you as a blogger LEADING your readers?

If you are a blogger, go back and review your old posts.  Can people learn about you along the way?  Have you been consistent in your message?   Have you fond your brand or your niche?  Can you distinguish your blog well enough from other blogs that you know your readers are reading?  Try to find your voice if you haven't already.  Your readers will thank you for it!