I was at a couple conferences recently and a familiar topic came to mind, that is the value of those you network with. The reason why this topic stuck with me because I had an interesting conversation with the CEO of an association that serves the IT industry. There was an exclusive party for technology vendors and sponsors at this conference. I was invited by one of the technology vendors. I was just a guy that had recently resigned and was looking for other opportunities. I guess to the lay person, I was an unemployed nobody. As with any party, I circled the room and talked with people about what they did and what companies they were from. I met some fascinating people.
During the party, I ran into the CEO of the association that was putting on the conference. I congratulated him on the event and engaged in small talk. He then asked who I was and who I was with. When I explained that I was not with anyone and that I had recently resigned and was looking for other opportunities, he kind of shook his head, chewed some food and non-chalently turned around and started talking with someone else. I stood there in in awe at this experience.
I don’t consider myself prideful, but later I thought to myself. Does he realize I run the largest IT operations oriented peer group with CEO’s from 3 continents? Does he realize I have almost 10,000 social media connections, of which at least two-thirds, work in the IT industry? Does he realize that I write guest articles for an IT Industry Channel blog that is read by thousands of IT executives? Does he realize I have been asked to speak at several IT industry events in the coming year that will be attended by thousands of IT executives? Does he realize I have a book that will be published soon by a major publisher? Does he realize I was invited by one of the vendors paying him money to be there?
No, my head is not getting big. I guess to the lay person, I am an unemployed nobody. But who knows where I will be in a few years and what kind of influence, good or bad, that I could have on his association. I have often heard people say that they only connect with fellow peers of equal or greater position. I always respond that I connect with just about everyone (I have a few moral exceptions). I tell them, that I will connect with people from other industries, because someday the IT industry could drastically change(i.e. Cloud Computing). I explain that I will connect with an entry-level technician, or customer service rep., because one day I may need to hire one, and one day that person might be CEO of their own company. I will connect with an artist, because I might need one (I have), or any just about any other person, because you never know who they know. Perhaps they are the son of a Board member that will make a decision about having me come into the company.
The point I am trying to make goes back to the golden rule. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Treat others with respect and interest, because you never know when you may need their help or when another might help you for no other reason than, they can.
Several years ago I was in Argentina on a mission for my church. On one particular day I walked down a dirt road in a small town called General Castex, located in the Las Pampas region of Argentina. I spotted an animal at the end of this street, but could not figure out what it was. It was walking on 2 legs, but did not appear to be a 2 legged animal. As I got closer to the animal, I stopped and gazed in disbelief. It was a dog, but no ordinary dog. This dog had lost the use of both its hind legs in some kind of accident, but strangely enough, it was not immobile. It actually had learned to walk on its front 2 legs. When it walked, it would bring the back-end of its body high in the air and walk on its front legs. It could go up and down steps and across the not so even terrain of a small Argentine street.
In the last post I covered how members of a team can effectively contribute and show leadership among a team or group. In this post I want to share my experience and recommendation for leading your equals, or leading your peers. I don’t recall ever seeing anything on this topic and have had to learn this through some hard lessons. I chose the cartoon on the left because peer leadership can be awkward, and sometimes both the leader and those being led, feel a bit out of place.
The group’s name is Operations Superstars with a motto of “Execute or Be Executed.” In the group everyone is expected to deliver and do their part. Organizing the group was a little different. I was not interested in getting 25 people on a phone call and hashing away at a process. So I divided the group into teams, with 4 to 6 members and called a team leader for each team.
