It was January 2009 when I entered the world of Twitter. I was not convinced of its value, unsure how it really worked and wondered who on earth would want to follow me?! I checked out all the Twitter resources on how to contribute, how to gain followers and basic Twitter etiquette. Everyday I learned something new, connected with amazing people and began to see the value of Twitter. Of course I became a bit obsessed with reaching 100 followers and then 500 and then 1,000 and now I don’t even keep track. In the beginning I had to force myself to tweet 3 times a day. Now I am a tweeting fool. I hate missing a day on Twitter. It’s a chance to exchange information, learn from others, make new contacts and friends, yes friends.
Early on in my tweeting I followed Mike Henry Sr. What struck me about Mike was his willingness to connect, share and encourage. So when Mike started tweeting about the Lead Change Group he started on LinkedIn, I jumped at the opportunity to become part of the community dedicated to leading change. The Lead Change Group is a community of amazing people applying character-based leadership to make a positive difference. The purpose of the group resonated with me. For me, it started on Twitter, crossed over to LinkedIn and has continued to grow. The Lead Change is the most active community I am a part of. The members of the group support each other, contribute to each others success and most importantly they lead by example for character-based leadership.
I have the honor of co-hosting monthly Lead Change webinars with Mike Henry Sr. The purpose of the monthly Lead Change webinars is to showcase our members talents and their work. They share research, key note speeches, training and experiences all based on leading change. Through these calls I have met some unbelievable folks, learned so much and have a renewed hope that true leaders do exist. The monthly webinars was just the start of bringing the Lead Change community together. In February, several members of the group met in Florida for LeaderPalooza. Mike has started hosting a weekly BlogTalkRadio book review show. He has also started the Lead Change Roundtables. Of course LinkedIn is always lively with discussions, questions and news posts. This week Mike is kicking off a new BlogTalkRadio show to showcase and highlight Lead Change group members. I am thrilled to announce that I will be the first guest interview!! I hope you will join us this Thursday, June 24 at 3 pm Eastern. Get the details here.
The moral of the story, is you never know the true value of something until you try, participate and add value. If I had let my lack of knowledge and understanding for Twitter stop me from using this awesome social media tool I would have never met Mike Henry Sr. or any of the other Lead Change Group members. I would not have been afforded the opportunity to learn, contribute and share. I continue to be inspired by the Lead Change community and the group has given me way more than I have given them. While you may not see the value at the time, my advice, give it a chance, you never know what you might find. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose!
