Who do you know who knows…? Years ago one of the first shampoo commercials said it perfectly. Tell two friends, who tell two friends and so on and so on.
It's quite something how an idea or concept can be shared world-wide within a few degrees of separation. A month or so ago, there was a blog post about LinkedIn. I am a firm believer in business networking. One of the bonuses of being on LinkedIn is the ability to ask questions of those on the service. Many of the answers generate dialogue, collaboration and partnerships for projects or research. I can't tell you how much valuable information I've gotten through this service.
I joined LinkedIn a few years ago and was amazed at the connections that formed through this service. And then I was asked to join the Microsoft Vision Team (no I'm not a techie...it was to look at the context of technology in my life and my clients lives) and almost overnight I was inundated by emails from people who worked for Microsoft all over the world asking how they could support me in my work. Blew me away! So my three degrees of separation as of this morning is now 1,237,000. Could you imagine what that might mean to gathering information and ideas not to mention possibilities?
But it's not only about me in the context of my work. It's about connections and connecting others who would benefit from knowing each other. Who do I know that I could connect with someone else I know in order for them to succeed in their own realms?
We witnessed that last month at The Conversation Among Masters, inaugural conference of Master Coaches from all over the world. Within that conference we launched The Coach Initiative. The mission is "To be the central gathering point where professional Coaches can volunteer their experience and expertise in support of global projects that focus on the betterment of the human condition and uplifting the human spirit. The Coach Initiative holds the value that professional Coaching has the ability to increase both personal and professional effectiveness, contentment and success of committed clients ("coachees").
This is where the power of connections is so evident. I started contacting my colleagues all over the world, blogged about it in my own blog and was asked to guest blog on other's Blogs. And so it begins. The power of people connecting people has been invaluable in my profession, my creative work and for my clients, colleagues and friends and can help people attain a level of mastery in their fields beyond their wildest dreams.
If we all connected people who can support us in our passions and us in theirs, it gives a whole new meaning to open source. It can create strong, cohesive global working groups. Location doesn't matter any more because technology can connect us. Think bigger. Think beyond your geographical box. The saying "The world is our oyster" has never been as true as it is in this day and age.
Who can you support where you both grow, develop and attain mastery in each of your fields? My Research and Development team is made up of people from all professions, not just executive coaching. Break the box in any way you can and you'll be amazed at the world wide community you create.
And if you do, I'd love to hear about it as would other readers, I'm sure from all over the world.
Best!
Donna Karlin
*Note: Welcome subscriber from Aruba. 103 countries and territories and counting!
No comments:
Post a Comment