Heading to ISTE 2010 / Denver

Just about there, typing this in-flight.  Hope to see some of you there!

People Connections

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of hearing John Maxwell at the ARC All Access Conference hosted by Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, LA.  Dr. Maxwell has just released a new book titled, Everyone Communicates - Few Connect and his premise is that our natural inclination is to make conversations and meetings with people all about ourselves and then we wonder why we don't have influence with people!  We blah, blah, blah our way through relationships often not taking the time to really connect with people.  One of the things he said that stuck with me was, "If you're at the top, but you're all by yourself, you're not a leader, you're a hiker." Ouch!

So, I've been trying to be way more intentional in connecting with people lately.  Closing my mouth more, listening better, maintaining eye contact.  Today while working production at NewSpring, I learned more about one of the guys recent trip to the FL Keys, update on the progress of their renovation.  Another guy just returned from a Cruise with his wife and daughter - funny stories of their time in a pool with dolphins, and his daughter and her friend's adventures on the boat!  Also found out one of the guys is interested in a software job opening at my company, so I emailed our HR lady to give her a heads up on watching for his resume.  Tonight, I drove to Raleigh and met some great folks at a local High School to assist with tomorrow's meeting and again, really enjoyed connecting with the principal's husband who works in a similar field (technology) as me and has travelled around the world.  Tomorrow afternoon, I also get the privilege of going to see Michael Harrison and what's happening at the The Community!

Life really is better shared with others.  There's an old saying, "To get what you want, help others get what they want".  Jesus (who connected with people better than anyone) said it like this, "If you want to keep your life, lose it, and give it away; don't hold on to it!"

Let's be intentional in our connections!