This could come across a little awkward. (But at 53...you stop caring too much about awkward moments in life. In fact, I kinda celebrate them. They highlight life’s joys, contradictions, usually. )
I am thankful for Chris Brogan on Twitter. Now, before you leave thinking this is some kind of odd, man-crush, hear me out.
Chris is by my definition a Twitter A-lister. In Twitter nomenclature then that becomes Tw-alister. He has thousands, maybe tens of thousands of followers on twitter.
I’ve engaged a couple of times with him by email.
I’ve only met Chris in person, once, last year Vegas, BlogWorld Expo. I follow him on Twitter. And I subscribe to his newsletter; rarely read it. I rarely read his blog. In fact, honestly, I rarely click on the links he shares in his tweets.
I am thankful for Chris Brogan because...he amazes me how consistent he is with his thinking, his insights, his frequent updates... how he remains true to himself. He remains true to his in-the-trenches upbringing in technology. And he does this with his tens of thousands of followers in his many tweets, blog posts and speaking engagements and in addition to everything else he’s doing with his events and conferences and his other businesses. And I’m astounded (in a positive way) with how he maintains his humanity, his chrisness, with the onslaught of demands on his time and resources, from people and social media resources.
I try to learn from him how to manage the much fewer demands on my time, so that, there's a little less sarcasm and overbearing opinionatin' in my content. And there's more focus on ...their needs, how I can help them and use social media to do that.
I don't agree with him on lots of stuff he writes and blogs. For that matter, I could probably disagree with him on lots of stuff. And the stuff he thinks is funny...I tilt my head at and wonder. But, hey, I do agree with his honesty and integrity.
Twitter and social media tend to eat the weak. Kinda like Rugby players who eat those they vanquish on the field, social media seems to eat its users. It lures some into its bright lights of stardom and then it slowly consumes them, first rubbing the edges of their personalities with the never-ceasing demands of 24/7 online, all the time, media engagement....to the pressure to constantly have something interesting or controversial to say...to the demands of constantly learning new resources ..., until many become a parody of themselves, unwittingly, and the crowdsource that fueled their rise turns against them. We created you, we can take you down, too! And, they do.
But not with Chris. His replies and interactions on Twitter are personal, intimate, real, meaningful and...many times, most times, his personal replies aren’t to fellow A-listers or on topics that serve an A-listers’ PR needs. He’s helping and supporting common folk, like you or I, folks getting started on Twitter...folks with 10 followers, who’ve just started a blog...and he’s taking time to reply personally to them. They’ve been that way since I followed him in mid-2008.
Despite his schedule, you rarely see a snark or snipe or cranky moment. Chris...just chugs along. In ayurved, he’d be known as a kapha. Google it. It’s a good thing.
He stays humble. Steady. He remains a great father from all impressions. A great partner and colleague. Given his schedule, how he does that is...amazing. He must drink 18-hour energy bottles like I drink water.
I don’t want to be like or write like Brogan any more than I wanna be like beckham. A. I couldn't. B. I'm bald.
But, I learn from Chris a lot about how to use Twitter, not the other way around, how to balance life, how to use social media for my goals and not the other way around, how to connect with people with the power of a resource like twitter, how to use my time better to maybe help one person...
That’s the whole point, right? Social media, social, society, threads that connect, helping one another.
There are many more like Chris. They inspire us by what they do and how they do it, not what they say.
Some of these role models for us, may be less high-profile. Who are they in your life? How do they inspire you? Why?
Have you told them?
Could be kinda weird. This could be kinda weird.
But on the other hand, maybe it’s your dad. You should tell him. Or your mom, same. Definitely tell your siblings if they’re an inspiration for you. Or your neighbor, or your colleague.
Yes, that will be strange. But it's only because we're so estranged from each other, so afraid...it's but a first step. What's the worst that can happen?
Fact of the matter is a friend of mine always amazed me how steady he was. And present, clear. I’d known him for 30 years and we’d play bball a lot in years past. We’d always end up matched against each other. And throw in a summer afternoon, heat, humidity and yet another game against each other...and it was amazing that we could make a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, pronoun, and even first name using the same word that began with f.
And then end up after the game barely remembering it or laughing about it later or telling the story over and over. Over time I traded bball for running and I didn’t see him so much. But when I did, we’d connect, have a great conversation about sports, friends, our little town, life’s changes, women, wives...I never understood how that was possible with him until I attended a memorial service for his mom who recently passed. Everyone discussed what a patient, kind, selfless, enthusiastic, present person she was. And BAM! I understood.
I wanted to share that at the service. But I couldn’t get it organized in my head before the service moved on to other points.
I don’t want to be like this friend. But, I admire and enjoy this quality about him. I’ve always been inspired to understand it. But I will catch up with him soon and say “yo. hey. I wanted to say something at your mom’s service...ultimately, your mom lives on with what she gave you as your mom and in your DNA....Ok, pick up the pace, we gotta finish the run, now.” (Guys. We don't want to linger in this stuff.)
You gotta finish your run. But while you're running, tell that person or persons who inspired you. It’ll make their day. And Chris, John, you guys have inspired me. Thanks.
of small-business owners or managers said they expect their company to
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