Enable people to see that we’re all connected… all one… – what’s yours?
“The best leaders… almost without exception and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols.”
Tom Peters
Like any newbie I’ve been busy for the past month acting like a sponge, taking it all in, finding out who’s who, where are the opportunities, the needs, the toilets, and stuff like that. Now it’s time to earn my wage.
This morning I presented the above to the exec team along with other initial ideas of social media adoption, exploration and management. One of the things they agreed was allowing me to share on this blog the whole development and implementation phases of what I’m doing here, the likes of which will include :
Over the coming months this is what will appear here and would love to hear from you, especially if you’re a new or established social media manager, head of digital content, director of educational technologies, online communication leads, chief bloggers etc. on your approach, pitfalls, mistakes and successes. Does the above sound like a good ‘start’?
I presented for 90mins on the shift of the media landscape (with particular attention to young people) and explored how social creates many opportunities to engage with a wider audience. After that I lead a 90mins roundtable with the senior exec team to talk strategy adoption, and finally a half days training to about thirty of the staff (at their newly opened campus).
The feedback was positive:
It was a good day.
There was lots of discussion with individuals / groups about how they could use some of the ideas / platforms directly in their work—here’s a few of the ‘big’ ideas shared :
Obviously, all of the above could apply to many sectors / organisations / brands.
Personally, the biggest takeaway was that size doesn’t matter when it comes to exploring the social landscape. Sure, the context is slightly different between clients but the aims and mechanics are the same. It comes down to one thing, your appreciation and insight to anything is greater increased if you become an active user rather than a passive observer.
My function is to either move people closer to that outcome and / or lower the barrier to entry (based on their attitudes and ideas to embracing it).
It was an stupendously humbling experience to work with a collective with brains / pedigrees the size of planets and here’s hoping I get a return invite…
“It’s time to to be the humble-peaceful-hungry-for-life-warrior you deserve to be; this is the place to become that bonfire and dare the world to put you out!
To be open to new experiences, to give people all the goodness you have, to treat smiles as the currency needed and to challenge yourself to always reach further than your grasp.
Be mindful of your actions (and others) and their intents. Be graceful and aim to make others shine (even if it dulls your own talents).
Above all, make people think / smile.”
“Let your plans be dark and as impenetrable as night. And when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
Sun Tzu
Here’s the experience summed up in a glorious Twitter technicolour :
#tedxol over – brain melted – soul ignited – heart overflowing… thanks to all involved!
I was invited to attend as a back-up speaker (never got on stage as everyone turned up), but the ones who left a permanent mark in my head / heart from the great lineup were :
Many thanks again to Greg, Ryan and Megham for hosting / organising the fantastic event (plus the other wonderful backstage peeps).
“The future is a race between education and catastrophe.”
H.G. Wells
UPDATE: All videos are now live