As I was thinking about a challenge today related to connections, I found myself staring at one of the bookshelves in my office. So I took a picture of one of the shelves just to share it with you (it’s above.)
In looking at them, I find they’re full of books related to both personal and professional interests and that range from really old to relatively new. I also see some clutter, memorabilia, and seemingly random, “stuff.” (Nope, I didn’t clean it for ya’ before taking the snapshot – sorry.)
If you took a close look, I wonder if anything on these two shelves (out of dozens that I manage) would surprise or interest you. Do you know me? Is my personal brand as transparent as I strive for it to be?
After all, we’re “connected” aren’t we? Heck, we might even call one another “friends” on Facebook as well as in person!
If you were to see the attached image all by itself, could you pick a handful of your network members that might have been responsible for stocking these books and items? Are our online personas and personal brands transparent enough to show who we really are? Are the people we’re sharing them with even listening?
When we forge these online connections as recruiters and tout that we’re building relationships, is it our goal to really make a connection with someone or rather just to connect with anyone?
Online communities are about more than just “talking channels” – or at least they should be in the crazy place I like to live.
As I’m re-evaluating communities and relationships in 2012, I’m forced to go back to some of the basics and ask myself:
- Do we observe our communities?
- Do we listen to what’s being said?
- Do we engage in the conversations?
I wonder what your ‘bookshelf’ looks like – and if the image would surprise me… Would my reaction to its content be more about your transparency, or would it be more about my ability and willingness to really connect with you?
