There are just some people who seem to know everybody. Maybe they’ve been in their industry a long time. Maybe they are “collectors”. Maybe even both. What are “collectors”? They are people who have mastered the art of connecting and they meet people and add them to their network in a meaningful way. They just seem to know that this person will fit in somehow.

Inspiring connector as well as co-host and founder of the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog, Valeria Maltoni led the way with this conversation. As usual, there are a lot of great contributions from everyone in the conversation and you may want to look that the transcript here Transcript for #kaizenblog – CommunityBldgConnection There was an interesting side conversation started by Yann Ropars (@yannr) about makes a good community leader. Definitely worth checking out!

Maltoni started the conversation on her site with the post, “Why Believing is the Most Important Thing You Can Do” By using her experiences with others, she illustrated how making true connections with another person leads to expanding one’s understanding of the world and thus, leads to opportunities for each of us. These opportunities could be for personal growth, philanthropy, or even business. But…it starts with the connection with another person.

What makes connecting important to you? Responses seem to center on how connecting with another human being is central.

• Stephen Denny (@Note_To_CMO) ” ‘Satisficing‘ -  we look for shortcuts because we’re busy. Connections are shortcuts.”
• AngelaDunn (@blogbrevity) “Q1 I find inspiration from connecting others, finding synergies between people & ideas”
• Amy Blake (@BlakeGroup) “IMO, one aspect of being human means wanting to connect , in biz + life”
• Bruno Coehlo (@bcoehlo2000) “In an Era of mass cold communication, warm human interaction has become even more important!”
• Patrick Prothe (@pprothe) “Forming meaningful, relationships/Rising above superficiality”
• Bernd Nurnberger (@CoCreatr) “learning, helping, exchange, trust, trade – make connection important to me”

Maltoni summed it up, “Shared interests, emotional investments are the fuel that makes connecting work!” Many of the comments followed this theme. It may be that we spend a lot of time in the online world but that hasn’t changed our need and desire to deepen the relationship with those we meet.

How do we help others succeed? The interesting piece is that truly connecting opens us up to want more for others. Sure, we start relationships wondering about what the person may offer us. This can be as simple as an enjoyable conversation to a benefit for our business. However, when (and hopefully not if) you move past that initial stage, you begin to want something for the other person. What do you have at your disposal that could be helpful?

• Caroline Di Diego (@CASUDI) “contributing/communicating U name it > OUTPUT = other 50%”
• Yann Ropars “Be present and create meaningful space for participants”
• Jerry Evans (@inspiredtrain) “Knowledge, sharing, empathy, sympathy, encouragement, leadership, clear strategies and policies”
• Rob Petersen (@robpetersen) “Add show willingness to help, make connection in return to your list; could be long list”
• Heidi Cohen (@heidicohen) “Consider what others need/want 1st”
• Rick Alcantara (@jerseycoach) “Q2-You help others succeed by providing them with the ideas and tools to achieve/become something greater”
• Amber Cleveland (@ambercleveland) “Connect others to success by listening to their goals and providing insight on how they can achieve them. Share yourself”

Helping others in an altruistic way seem to resonate very much with the #kaizenblog participants. There were several tweets that echoed deeply listening so you can hear what the person might need and/or want. Providing one’s insights and experience was another thing that people wanted to share to foster others’ success.

As she often does, Maltoni brought the conversation into an unexpected place with the third discusssion question. How to give power away? She clarified the question when she tweeted, “Q3 clarification = another way to let go of control.” Building community is less about the leader per se and more about how the group can gel and move as a unit. There were many ideas of how the leader could set the stage for enabling the community members to have power.

• Amy Blake “Q3 This is where mentoring kicks in…sharing away power while maintaining direction.”
• Lizzie Pauker (@lizziepauker) “Q3-power in numbers. motivation skyrockets when people feel greater purpose & satisfaction”
• Namrata Rana (@futurechat) “Community is built by enabling, enthusing and empowering. This builds trust and a self fulfilling cycle of relationships”
•  Cathy Larkin (@CathyWebSavvyPR) “Q3: Power is often tied to or tied up in Ego. Let that go. Earn trust, yes, but let ego go – & the energy & workflow grtr”
• Joe Sanchez (@sanchezjb) “Q3 Power is not “given away.” It’s authority that’s delegated & while authority can b delegated, responsibility cannot”
• Bruno Coehlo “Define clear & measurable goals. Praise good performance and redirect them when they go off track. Build leaders!”
• Torrey McGraw (@torreymcgraw) “Q3 Don’t be afraid to be wrong as “expert”. Ask, listen & throw preconceptions out the window to achieve goals”
• Lois Martin (@LoisMarketing) “Q3 Key is being open to new ideas, new voices, new perspectives”

So the conversation ended with an opportunity for everyone to turn the focus onto their own actions and how they build their own communities. What are 3 things you do regularly that help you build community? It was fascinating to see the myriad ways people engage with their communities.

• Caroline Di Diego “I mentor small biz to be sustainable =help local community”
• Diane Court (@dc2fla) “Q4 Ask questions, Listen, Recognize & appreciate contributions w/out judgement <= require my constant attention to improve”
• Rick Alcantara “Q4: Send articles about interesting topics, mentor young professionals, connect my biz contacts with one another.”
• Cathy Larkin “Q4 3 things 2 build commty: ID community needs, be the connector 2 help solve needs, be positive/upbeat”
• Joe Sanchez “Q4: Engage (two-way comms w/ feedback), assess (how r we doing towards achieving our goals), recognize (reward/incentivize).”

This week’s #kaizenblog conversation had a lot of energy! For many of our participants, asking questions is a favored strategy to discover what community members are thinking, feeling, and doing. It seems, from this conversation, that egotism is  community killer. There were many references to managing one’s ego and insecurities as being important to having effective communication as well as understanding what needs and wants are present in the community. Writing this recap is part of how I help build the #kaizenblog community and it’s a pleasure to highlight both our regulars and our newer members.

How do you rate the importance of serving others to build communities?

What could this mean for your business/work?

What 3 things do you do regularly that helps you build community?

After reading Steve Tobak’s take on the reality television show, Undercover Boss, I got to thinking about what I observed. Larry O’Donnell is the president and COO of Waste Management and is clearly committed to making the corporate policies that match his value system. This topic comes up with every client I coach no matter if the client is a sole proprietor or the leader of a larger organization. There is a strong desire to match personal value systems with the vision and mission statements in their executive summaries. There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years about people seeking meaning and purpose in their work whether or not they found a business.

Throughout the episode, O’Donnell met people who challenged his perspective on what policies were supposed to support both the people and productivity. He discovered that tardiness was dealt in an unfair manner and that how people were monitored in the field felt more like spying. He also discovered that cost-cutting measures took its toll on employees who did their jobs very well nonetheless.

When was the last time you examined the policies that are supposed to make your business more effective? Even if you are a sole proprietor, it may be time to check any rules you have set up for yourself. Sometimes trying to get systems in place in an organization can have unintended effects which can undermine a leader’s value message of what’s important about he business.

I worked for a small agency several years ago that grew quickly due,, in no small part, to the welcoming and trusting natures of the two founders. When they found highly competent clinicians, they would invite them to join the staff and then trusted them to remain highly competent and ethical in the delivery of services. (Not all human service organizations treat their employees as intelligent, caring, or dedicated.) Finally they grew so big, they had to create an employee handbook to communicate their expectations clearly. For the “old-timers,” this felt a bit like a slap in the face because there was a written code of conduct and you had to sign that you had read the handbook. At the same time, new policies were put in place to make the paperwork easier on both the clinicians and the administrative staff. There was a lot of grumbling!

To explain why things had changed from an intimate, collegial group to a less intimate but still collegial group, the founders held staff meetings and answered questions and concerns. People left the meeting with the message that the founders were 1) running a business, 2) had to comply with state and federal laws and regulations, and 3) it was still important to them to communicate that they still cared and trusted their employees to maintain the high standards that were set from the beginning.

Like the two founders of the small agency I worked for and O’Donnell, it is easy to set up policies and expectations that sound good on paper but have different effects in real life. This is where scheduled evaluations support the growth and effectiveness of your business. Underlying these evaluations is the value that you and your employees are desirable parts of the business.

Try a little exercise: Write down your top 3 values on a sticky note and post it somewhere visible.

How are they the same as when you started your business?

What role do they play as you evaluate and set policies for the forward growth of your organization?

Many of you know I have become involved with The 12 For 12K Challenge. I’ve written about this organization and its founder, Danny Brown, before in previous posts.

All work and no play is never good for anyone’s small business! Here is what I’ve been up to with my12 for 12k partners, David Holliday and Matt Caruso…and hope to see you there!

Live In Lowell! For the December “Homeless” theme, the New England 12for12k team invite you to Live in Lowell! – a special 12for12k event. Live in Lowell! takes place on Thursday, December 10th and will be an evening of music, networking and fun in support of MA Coalition for the Homeless.

There will be live music all night with some of the coolest local musicians as well as raffles and auctions. Come listen to John Haydon, Flood, or the Bella Byrds and who knows who else might have a surprise set! All in all, a great opportunity to meet with other social media enthusiasts, support a great cause at a time of year they need the help and have a good time as well.

Our venue, The Mambo Grill, is right in Downtown Lowell, Mass – where the American Industrial Revolution was born. Lowell is easy to get to from all the main highways and there is parking on the street or in the garage just around the corner. Live in Lowell! At the Mambo Grill 129 Merrimack Street Lowell, MA 01852 December 10th, 2009 Starting at 7.00PM $10.00 donation (more if you like) at the door.

If you can’t make it to Lowell, we plan to stream the event live right here on the 12for12k site.

Please donate and any amount is deeply appreciated! Thank you!

What are you grateful for in your small business?

Gratitude: def. The state of being grateful; thankfulness (Merriam-Webster.com)

 You may have noticed the huge amount of references to being thankful, giving thanks, or having an attitude of gratitude seeing how Thanksgiving is 2 days away. There are celebrations throughout the world that focus on giving thanks for the good things or blessings we have in our lives. (To learn more about the history of this holiday in America, read this)

Given the deep global recession and the slow recovery, it can seem like there is not very much to feel thankful for but there is always something.

So, here is my list of what we can give thanks for our small businesses:

1. We are still in business. There have been a lot of businesses who have closed this year. Our talent and luck have brought us this far! Nicely done!

2. We get to do something we love. We all know someone who hates their job. Everyday we are full engaged in work that we feel passionate about and it is something we have created.

3. We meet interesting people on a regular basis. Maybe some of them are interesting for the wrong reasons but there are others who inspire us, challenge us, and believe we bring great value to the table.

4. Our small businesses are a manifestation of the quality and worth of our Big Ideas. Entrepreneurs find it deeply gratifying to make ideas into everyday realities. We are shaping tomorrow’s world with the products and services we offer.

5. We get to control our destinies. A conversation with a small business owner brought this home to me today. She described how deeply satisfying it is to make your own decisions, your own mistakes, and set a course for how you want to be in the world.

What other reasons do you give thanks for your small business?

In the spirit of sharing your bounty, I invite you to check out Tweetsgiving and add what you are grateful for and/or help support the good work of Epic Change November 24-26, 2009. 

In a previous post, Is Community Involvement Good For Your Business, I asked you to think strategically about how community involvement could be a part of your small business. I work with a lot of entrepreneurial business owners who believe deeply that their businesses should reflect their value system. I was just coaching one today who is about to launch a cool business that combines non-profit fundraising with music events.

Most of the time, I don’t write about my business or myself.  I like to keep this blog a place where we can talk about ideas, best practices, and not have it be an “All Elli, All the Time” kind of platform. This time, I’m making an exception. Community service has been an integral part of me since childhood. It seemed natural that this would be part of my business model because who you are is reflected in how you run your business.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners, I’d like to invite you to join me in supporting The 12 For 12k Challenge on Tuesday, September 29, 2009. We’re going global! I’ve been following the folks at The 12 For 12k Challenge for a few months before I decided to join them. As someone who likes to check things out before I endorse, I tweeted with Danny Brown (@DannyBrown) who is the founder and got to know him and the organization. I jumped in when 12 For 12k partnered with Unicef. (This is not to say that the other organizations were not worthy. They are!) In a nutshell, the goal is to partner with one charity each month and raise $12,000 for each charity through social media.

So why now? The 12 For 12k Challenge is partnering with Doctors Without Borders (Some of you may know them as Medicins San Frontieres) for September. Doctors Without Borders provides healthcare to people injured or ill due to civil unrest/war, exclusion from healthcare based on their ethnicity, status, or religion, and natural disasters. They go everywhere and anywhere! Not only that, the work is done by volunteers.

What’s going on? On Tuesday, September 29, 2009, Go Global 24 is going to be a 24 hour tweet-a-thon led by Henie Reisinger (@HenieArtOnline) and there are fabulous opportunties for businesses to donate prizes, sponsorships, and participate in great conversations spanning a variety of topics. There are 7 ways you can add your support so please visit the site to see what fits you and your business best. Embedded in all of this is a sense of fun and a desire to play. If you’ve considered 12 For 12k before, this event is different. Instead of asking individuals for their money, the focus is on sponsorships by large and small businesses. Imagine being able to reach more than 159 countries and banding together as global citizens!  No borders, no limits!  

Come on! Join us in global community involvement that is fun, meaningful, and remarkable! You’ll meet wonderful people who share your passion for making this world a better place!  

Photo by WillSelarep, iStockphoto

Conventional wisdom says, “definitely, yes” because it will help build your business. But with any kind of conventional wisdom, it is important to stop and think about what community involvement means to you. Like any other activity your business engages in, some strategic thinking will help in the long run.

Just for a start, do you want to get involved? When running a small business, there are so many demands on our time, money, even on ourselves. It is easy to feel drained and overwhelmed. Getting involved as a business person is different than getting involved as an ordinary citizen. Your actions and opinions are under a different lens so there are times when you have to be conscious of your behavior.

So how do you want to get involved? With so many of us engaging in both social networking and in-person networking, our communities can be local, national, international, or virtual.  Most of the entrepreneurs I coach have a sense of mission and want to create a values-based business. They often speak of what they will do someday when they are “big enough.” The thing is what if you keep changing the definition of what “big enough” looks like? Participation can be small as in a one-off donation or it can be that you take on a integral role in the organization.

You could get involved at the group level.  At a recent chapter event for the National Association of Women Business Owners, the Big Sister Organization received a donation. Every year, the chapter president chooses a charity to benefit and the chapter raises money through raffle prizes at each event. Just by buying one raffle ticket, business owners were able to assist an organization that makes a difference in the community.

You could get involved at your individual level. Volunteer for an organization, become a board member, or even start an organization. For example, Danny Brown (@dannybrown) started 12 for 12k with the goal to raise $12,000 each month for 12 charities. Ellie Anbinder started  Art beCAUSE to fund research dedicated to eradicating the environmental causes of breast cancer. Each year, her organization is able to “Seed the Scientist” with money that furthers our understanding of how substances in our environment can affect women’s (and men’s) breast health. While you do not have to start your own foundation, getting involved in something you believe in is crucial. What changes do you want to make in your community? As a volunteer board member of NAWBO Boston, I want women business owners to build successful, powerful businesses. You define your community. Do you want to reduce hunger? Unemployment? Improve literacy? Keep kids out of trouble?

So, now we come to What’s In It For My Business? Determining the kind of impact your community involvement you desire for your business is a key piece. Many of us have seen signs at Little League games for local retailers and business owners. For them, their name becomes easy to remember and you are more likely to go to that local pizza shop, that lawyer, or that hardware store. Others are looking to demonstrate how socially responsible they are so you make a value-based decision to buy their product or service. Another benefit to community involvement is accessibility to other business owners and customers/clients who are more likely to naturally do business with you.

I asked Danny Brown to explain what impact 12 for 12k has had on his business.  He explained that, ”It’s had a wonderful two-fold effect. It’s put me in touch with other business owners of the same mindset that wish to collaborate on projects; and it’s made companies aware that social equity can also equal profits. I’ve had seven new clients take me onboard to help them with both cause marketing and general community building work. So I think social equity is definitely a great business tool, as long as it’s genuine in its use.”

What are your motivations? This last question completes your strategic thinking about why you would engage in community involvement. If the value of service is an important one to you, donating your time, talent, or treasure in some form becomes just part of who you are. But as you cannot give to everyone and there are problems in the world that you want to stop, it is necessary to consider why you want to get involved as a business owner/entrepreneur versus a private person. Expectations, desire for power, desire for a legacy, or even your spiritual practice play into your decisions. In the end, know why you want to get involved and know how deeply you want to get involved.

Some other sites that focus entirely on this topic are:

www.selfishgiving.com

www.businessgivingstrategies.com

There are some excellent discussions on philosophies of community involvement as well as information on what different roles are available.

So, what do you have to say about community involvement?

Do you know why it would be good/bad for your business What are your expectations?