Blogs: Transforming Lone Nuts Into Leaders

Note to my readers:  this post is somewhat being written to the wonderful ladies & gents who are taking the Blogging 101 course I am in right now.  That being said, while I may be referencing them directly below, I would love to capture the attention of ANYONE who reads this.  I hope you find something of interest in it, regardless of how you came about to read it.

Here’s to inspired reading & leading!   Marianne

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Think you’re not a leader?  Wrong.  Everybody is a leader in some way.  Yes, even you shy and quiet type out there who only post in the middle of the night when you think nobody is watching.  Yeppers, that also means all of you bloggers who think your only leadership thoughts are “how should I lead into the next sentence?”.  And yeah, I’m talking to all you people who think that there should be a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® score that is I-I-I-I:  four scores of Introverted to the max.

Got about 3 minutes and 9 seconds to humour me so I can at least start you thinking that you’re a leader?  Please?  Pretty please with a cherry on top?  Thanks!  Now watch this:

 

 
 
I first saw this video when it was listed as “new” on TED Talks in 2010.  I was taking a leadership program at the time and one of our facilitators showed it to us.  I went home and bookmarked it before I forgot about it.  Little did I know then it would go viral.  It was one of those life-altering “ah-ha” moments for me.  Hearing something that took some of my preconceived notions on leadership for a 180° ride.  Bit of a bumpy ride, but I landed okay.

I shared this video the other day with someone in the Blogging 101 course I’m taking right now and it got me thinking.  Uh-oh, “she’s gone off doing that ‘thinking’ thing she does”, as my kids would say.  Well, I did thunk a few things and they have to with my blog.  I’ve always been passionate about leadership but it never occurred to me that it would be something I would write about here.  Odd.  So the topic of leadership and this video in particular has been on my mind a lot over the last few days and I’m just gonna dive in and start writing about it.

And the point I’d like to make today is quite simple:

YOU  –  ARE  –  A  –  LEADER!

1. You started a blog.  This week, 2 months ago, 5 years ago.  Doesn’t matter when.  You started it.  You had the guts to stand out and be ridiculed.
2. Chances are you either already have followers or you are following other blogs.  If not, then backtrack to the Blogging 101 Day 3 assignment and do your homework.  Following and being followed makes it about not one blogger but two.  One becomes them.  Plural.  The act of following a blog transforms a lone nut into a leader.  Well done.  You just changed someone’s life.
3. More than a couple of followers and/or following more than a few blogs?  Excellent.  Momentum is building.  The tipping point is nearing.  You are now part of a movement … or two or twenty-seven or a million.  Life is grand.

Still think you’re not a leader?  Go on Google, look for quotes about leadership and you will find one that fits.  Well, probably more than one but I’m just trying to introduce you to the idea that you are a leader right now, not transform your whole way of thinking in one post.  Can’t find a quote?  Probably just didn’t look long enough but that’s okay, comment below with your name and blog address, and one thing you are passionate about.  I’ll find one for you.

“If you really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow.  And when you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first one to stand up and join in.”

Derek Sivers:  How To Start A Movement on TED Talks