We all know that it takes frequent and consistent effort to build our body’s muscles. It’s the same with habits. We need to practice new habits frequently and consistently in order to see different results.
So when I decided that I wanted to become better known as a leadership and coaching expert in the external marketplace, I knew that meant I needed to build new habits, new muscles.
I had some experience of this inside the company I work for. I started blogging in April 2007 (crikey, that’s nearly 6 years ago – how time flies when you are having fun!). My motivation for building that collaborative muscle was simply to reach supervisors and people developers in their workplace, where they could put the things we talked about into practice right there and then if they chose to.
To do that, I needed to build a habit of consistent and frequent blogging about things that interested people. Seems to have worked – the blog now has over 8500+ subscribers, and another 2500+ followers.
Some time into that 6 years, I also started micro-blogging internally, sharing interesting articles about people development, and plugging away at the message that people development shouldn’t be shoved to the bottom of the to-do list, where it would never be put into action.
I do feel proud of the collaboration habit that I have got into…blogging at least once a week, and micro-blogging whenever I read something interesting, with plenty of people joining in the dialogue through the comments.
So what learning could I take from that into the external collaborative world? Well, blogging seemed like the obvious answer, as I was getting good at that. I also (reluctantly at first) started tweeting. So really, I was replicating what I did internally, for an external audience. I hooked all of this up to my Linked In profile, and to Facebook, so that every time I blogged or tweeted, all of my contacts in these different places would see what I was publishing.
I know I could do more to get my name out there, but for now, these new habits have actually led to me being in the top 10% of most viewed Linked In profiles – that is amazing to me, and meets my need of being more visible out in the external marketplace. No, I am not looking for a job, but one day I might, and this will have been an investment, as organizations will be able to see who I am and what I represent.
So here’s the thing about building your collaboration muscles. What are you doing it for? What is your motivation? You can see that in both cases – internal and external – I had very clear motivations for collaborating and sharing. It’s a good thing to do for the benefit of the company, sure….but I needed to feel a sense of personal motivation before I would change my habits. I challenge you to think about your motivation too, and see if that makes a difference to the frequency and consistency of your collaboration with others.
Then put cues in place to remind you – I have an action in my to-do list to blog each Monday, which I stick to. Even now, 6 years in, I need that reminder.
And my reward? Long-term, seeing our culture change, little by little; and being in the Top 10% of most viewed Linked In profiles! Short-term, seeing the comments coming in, as people build on the conversation so that we can all learn together.
What’s your motivation to build a new collaboration habit? What’s the new habit? What’s your cue? And the immediate reward that will keep you collaborating?
Another great post Clare. Congratulations on becoming a top 10% viewed profile on LinkedIn. That is a great example of an unintended reward for putting your thought leadership out there. When you step out and try to make a difference in the world you can never know the positive consequences you have put into action. Having personally enjoyed your collaboration on a couple of projects now, I know you collaborate selflessly and from the heart. I know i can expect honesty from you and I can count on your best thinking in helping to create great leadership coaching programs. I strongly resonate with the motivation aspect. Collaboration calls us to a true multi-stakeholder viewpoint and shared values for the good of the whole. For me, collaboration is about creating a world that works for everyone, a task that may seem impossible but can only be approached with a collaborative mindset. keep putting your thought leadership out there- you never know who you will inspire!
Hi Tom, and thank you for your continued encouragement. You make collaborating with you so easy, because you are always open to feedback, ideas and debate. There is never an ounce of defensiveness, which makes working with you a joy.