Last week I attended Salesforce.com’s annual cloud computing conference with 40,000 others. The conference is unconventional in that Sales Professionals, Hackers, Admins and Marketers come together under a common cause. Salesforce.com has clarity of organizational purpose which makes sense to a lot of people. Marc Benioff’s vision seems to be to promote collaboration of ideas to advance the human race. His competitors who once denounced cloud computing are now advertising their presence in the space. But Benioff remains humble in his promotion of others (more than himself). In essence, he is willing to share his crown. To have ideas adopted by others not protected. To have information shared not hoarded. To allow his personal fortune to support a children’s hospital….This is Marc Benioff’s Mission~ and the true essence of leadership.
With any luck (or a well planned strategy) we will all have a legacy to pass along. It is not about a power play but our ability to create a ripple effect. To pass along that which has been handed to us a little bit better. So when a guy invites you to his town and shares the aforementioned message with you, you feel compelled to pay it forward. That’s why people of seemingly separate qualities find a way to collaborate….and it feels good!
Robin Sharma recently authored a book that spoke of leadership without title. The once know formal business structure is dead. Entrepreneurs compete with mutual victory in mind. Now, a kid in his dorm room can have as much influence as a CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Have you been passed over for a promotion? Have you had a series of jobs that just never fit your personal purpose? Do you have trouble navigating corporate politics? Then, welcome to the Social Revolution. The influence is yours and you are a leader. All you need is a computing devise, some great ideas, and a willingness to work really hard.
Start the Revolution…
Advice from Gary Vaynerchuk
The Energy of Self
The New Definition of Winning
The Lunatic is in the Hall
I stood in line to get a seat up front to see Gary V. speak at Dreamforce. He jumped on stage, pointed to a blank screen, and said, “Here are my slides”.Gary presented ideas with manic energy in an open dialogue and spent most of his time addressing audience questions.Gary did not worry about getting through his slides, he was not pushing a product….he was there to help! This is the definition of leadership.
A young lady in the session asked of Gary V, “my company does not support social media and I would like to pursue a career in the field”.Gary replied by asking her how bad she wanted it…? If you don’t have time at work to evolve your long term vision…go to bed at 3am instead of midnight. How bad do you want it?
All for One
On the last day of Dreamforce several Entrepreneurs presented their products. 10 people with 5 minutes of presentation time each. They all were able to share their vision in this concise amount of time because they are acutely aware of their personal intent which drives their professional mission. The session moved smoothly, the ideas were excellent, and the presenter’s passion overflowed.
The most impressive thing was the sense of community among the presenters. They were not competing, they were pushing each other to help discover new frontier. The win of one was a door open for all to run through. The vibe was good, the intention was genuine and there was no filter. People are willing to do things that are inspired by what they believe in….there is no need to force it.
Winning
What if you could walk into work any day, open the Chairman’s door, and sit at her desk? What if you could work around poisonous co-workers, avoid over indulgent customers, and drive every decision with your genuine purpose.
You don’t need a title to lead and you don’t need a major corporation behind you to win. You can bring the spirit of entrepreneurship to your job at a Fortune 100 company. If the young lady in Gary V’s presentation would have asked me I would have said, “Start now and your company will catch up”. Make no mistake about it the Social Revolution is here….if you choose to ignore it, your career could be drastically downgraded. Information sharing is the future, competition is giving way to collaboration, ideas are powering innovation and we can all share in them together. One thing that won’t change is that you will have to be willing to work harder than ever.
How Bad Do You Want It?
– Dave
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