“I do not see any reason to blog, no one reads them, and what could I possibly gain from doing it?” – Croft Edwards 14 December 2013
I really said something like that to my branding partner. Here I was, this expert on leadership and change and I was sure that I had no need to blog. I was wrong. I looked in the mirror and decided to follow one of the axioms I preach to my clients—be the change you desire. So in early 2014 I started blogging, and one year later I can say I was wrong about blogging and here are some things I have learned after 51 blogs.
1) Blogging, like any skill, requires practice. At the start of my journey as a leadership blogger, I had never written a blog. Like any endeavor, I started as everyone does, at number one, and once it was complete, I wrote another, and another, and low and behold I started practicing.
2) To be relevant in your space you must share your voice. Truth be told, part of why I did not blog was I was afraid to share my voice with the world. My self-talk revolved around the many low marks I received in high school English, and the challenge of appearing not good enough. But, I wanted to be relevant in the field of leadership and coaching, and the only way that would happen was for me to share my voice, and a blog was a great place to start.
3) Feedback is a gift from readers. It ranges from calling out simple typos and grammatical errors, to really powerful input that I may not have really wanted to hear, but needed to hear. Each response is a gift from the readers, and I thank you.
4) Much of the learning has been on my side – my understanding of the study of leadership. For me, the challenge of putting my thoughts on to paper has been such a huge opportunity to grow. Every time I wrestle with a thought or idea, the idea becomes clearer to me. Though my goal is to share my blog with the readers, I see how much it aids my growth and learning.
5) Blogs topics are everywhere; you just have to observe with the right eye. I see blog ideas everyday now. The reason? I am looking. It is the law of attraction. Now when I read an article, I am viewing it from the perspective of a blogger. When I see a team meeting in action, I see the lesson in a blog.
6) Sometimes the blogs write themselves. They really do. I saw the blog A Butt in the Seat Does not Mean a Mind in the Room literally unfold in front of me when I sat in on a less than productive meeting with a client. It only took 20 minutes or so to write it after that meeting.
7) I held many beliefs; most were ungrounded and weak, like these:
Blogging is hard.
(It is when you have not practiced it, now that I have practiced it, it is quite fun.)
It takes lots of time.
(I wrote the majority of this blog between flights at the Detroit airport and then wrapped it up on the flight. I could have spent the time playing Freecell on my phone, or sleeping.)
So what is stopping you from putting your voice on virtual paper? What blog are you not sharing with someone who could benefit from it? Please share it with us; you just might learn something about yourself!
@croftedwards
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