11/2 2011
Posted in: Books and articles, Questions from InterWeave Blog Fans
In the past week, I have had several people ask me how long I spend on my blog. In the spirit of sharing some of my own time management tips, I’ll tell you that I am spending more and more time on my blog as time progresses. My blog writing is the first thing that I do in the morning when I am starting my day and enjoying my hot tea. I start by reading my comments and personally responding to any specific questions that come through. If I see a common theme in the questions or comments (like this one) or if I feel that it is a topic that others would be interested in, I will develop a post about that topic. My personal responses are what is taking more of my time as my readership grows. I am also spending more time deep in thought (and prayer) about my responses. I am now spending an average of about an hour a day on my blog.
Once I read through my comments, I think through what I would like to say by focusing on the end result of helping YOU, my readers, to get information that will be of sincere assistance to you. I am interested in what I think is purposeful for you to know as a leader, so I try and look at my topics from your standpoint.
One of my new favorite authors is Parker Palmer. I like so much of what he has written, but the book that I continuously go back to is “The Courage to Teach“. One of the things that I am reminded from Palmer is that “good teaching can not be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher” (Palmer, 2007, p.10). Good teaching is all about the relationships that I cultivate with the people I am teaching. Do I strive to reach my audience with my subject matter or am I just concerned with going through an agenda? My primary focus is to connect with others and inspire new thoughts and ideas. I don’t have any other agenda. I re-launched this blog because I had several people tell me that they wanted more daily reminders and tips about coaching and since I like to write and I like to share information, re-launching my blog writing just seemed like the thing to do.
And even in a blog entry such as this that began with answering the question of how much time I spend on my blog, I hope I have shared a little information that you may one day find useful. That’s the thing about information- you may get information today that you think is useless- until you actually need it. Don’t judge information that you receive today against a lifetime that you have not finished living yet.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
When you provide information, are you thinking about what you want to say or are you considering what others need to hear?
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