Leadership in Blogging
Randy Moss. Terrell Owens. Mike Tyson. What do these guys have in common? They are all the self-proclaimed best at what they do.
Of course, I use wll known sports figures because most everyone can relate to these folks. But undoubtedly, you can find these egos in your company, your church, your circle of associates, etc. They are the people who need to tell people they are the best at what they do, or that need to have the spotlight on them.
This is entirely the wrong way to promote and/or develop leadership. In a Newsweek article on how Google cultivates their workers (reprinted in its entirety at Manassy Watch), the point is made that:
At Google, the role of the manager is that of an aggregator of viewpoints, not the dictator of decisions.
Striking, eh? Most people are used to the big enchilada that makes life miserable. This perspective does not digress much from my own observations of human nature and the ebb and flow of leadership. Leadership is not a position that is given. It is a quality that is earned. In my experience, the best managers I’ve had are not the ones with the doctorates or MBAs (though they may have those). They are the ones who began their management careers unwillingly. They were given the responsibility of people or a project because they showed themselves faithful to the duties they had and were promoted.
If you talk to any enlisted sailor, soldier or Marine that has been serving for awhile, they will tell you that the officers that come out of Annapolis or West Point are generally given the respect that is due their rank, and not anything else. They don’t have the experience to be awarded the trust of their men. This is not always the rule, of course, but it is more times than those green backs care to admit.
What does this have to do with blogging, you might ask? It has everything to do with the ongoing self-congratulatory, self-propping egotistical maneuvering that is going on in the blogosphere. First it was the pajama orgy, then it was the crazy ongoing debate about “the ecosystem” which ranks blogs based on the number of folks who have linked to them and seemingly continues to be exploited for the benefit of the egos. Darren points out evidence that links don’t mean a thing if no one is reading (if I can make that logical conclusion). Now it’s the “Weblog Awards“, which seems to be another opportunity to pat the same old people on the back – the old boys club. Example, Rob (who is a self-proclaimed NON-A-lister) posts about the Weblog awards and how “it’s a new day…and you can vote again”. Granted, I believe Rob when he says it’s all for fun. But if you go to each of the blogs nominated for an award, they are all pushing and promoting themselves like they are running for a political office.
Paul Chaney makes an excellent point about why the Weblog Awards are bad.
1. Because readers do the voting, awards such as these are subjective, and subject to politicing by the nominees.
2. They remind me of the fanaticism that surrounded website awards back in the 90s. Remember all those sites touting how many awards they had won.
3. They don’t really mean anything except to the award site owner, who benefits from enhanced traffic, some Adsense sales and traffic to the sponsor site, which in the case of The Weblog Awards 2005, is apparently owned by the awards site owner. Hence, this is nothing more than a marketing tactic. A smart one, but a marketing tactic nonetheless.
4. I never seem to get nominated! Heh.
I agree.
We don’t need self-congratulatory awards in the blogosphere to make leaders. Already, I feel the influence of the so-called “A-list” is being marginalized as folks begin to realize that there are many quality blogs out there that will never even get a nod. They will never get noticed. And they will never make a difference, which is what blogging is all about at its core.
Inspired by Duncan Riley who is covering 100 Blogs in 100 Days, I’m going to review thirty great “unknown” blogs – one (approximatel) each day for a month. These blogs will be on a variety of topics that don’t just fit into what I’d put in my RSS Reader. The experiment is to demonstrate folks who really should get the recognition for a job well done but may never make the Weblogs Awards.
Added: It’s okay to nominate blogs if you email me at aaron [at] technosailor [dot] com. You CANNOT nominate yourself and the blog cannot acknowledge nomination prior to review or they will not be considered. Nominations posted in comments will not be considered either.
This is about EARNING a mention… no campaigning… no politicking. If a blog is good, the blog will speak for itself.
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Written by Aaron Brazell on December 6, 2005
Popularity: 1% [?]
Aaron Brazell
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Well, Rob, as you have undoubtedly notice, I’m bringing lesser known blogs into the forefront. In addition, excepting special circumstances, I dont’ quote, link to or otherwise contribute to the upper echelon. They have their followers. I respect that. I am not one of them.
Since you guys are so into this, let me say that I have assembled a small panel to ascertain the “best 100 posts of the year” to promote, not the most popular blogs (although who knows, some may come from them) but the best posts. If either of you wish to know more, email me.
mistersnitch [at] hotmail [dot] com
Since you guys are so into this, let me say that I have assembled a small panel to ascertain the “best 100 posts of the year” to promote, not the most popular blogs (although who knows, some may come from them) but the best posts. If either of you wish to know more, email me.
mistersnitch [at] hotmail [dot] com
Since you guys are so into this, let me say that I have assembled a small panel to ascertain the “best 100 posts of the year” to promote, not the most popular blogs (although who knows, some may come from them) but the best posts. If either of you wish to know more, email me.
mistersnitch [at] hotmail [dot] com
Sounds interesting, but I’m leary of another Weblogs Awards syndrome.
Sounds interesting, but I’m leary of another Weblogs Awards syndrome.
Sounds interesting, but I’m leary of another Weblogs Awards syndrome.
All any of us can do, really, is play the hand we’re dealt – and try to stay in the game!
That’s where I’m at too. I love blogging. I still remember the first year I did it and it was pretty much just me talking to the void. The commenters and readers are fun, but this has become like therapy for me. I’d do it even if I was just saving the posts on the hard drive. Blogging has opened some doors for me as well, and that’s cool. I just take things as they come.
Aaron:
That’s admirable. I think the whole “I don’t link to the big blogs” thing is sort of silly (I guess I subscribe to the “you should write what you have to say, regardless of who else is also writing about it” school of blogging), but to each their own. I look forward to your review of smaller blogs. That’s a cool idea.
All any of us can do, really, is play the hand we’re dealt – and try to stay in the game!
That’s where I’m at too. I love blogging. I still remember the first year I did it and it was pretty much just me talking to the void. The commenters and readers are fun, but this has become like therapy for me. I’d do it even if I was just saving the posts on the hard drive. Blogging has opened some doors for me as well, and that’s cool. I just take things as they come.
Aaron:
That’s admirable. I think the whole “I don’t link to the big blogs” thing is sort of silly (I guess I subscribe to the “you should write what you have to say, regardless of who else is also writing about it” school of blogging), but to each their own. I look forward to your review of smaller blogs. That’s a cool idea.
All any of us can do, really, is play the hand we’re dealt – and try to stay in the game!
That’s where I’m at too. I love blogging. I still remember the first year I did it and it was pretty much just me talking to the void. The commenters and readers are fun, but this has become like therapy for me. I’d do it even if I was just saving the posts on the hard drive. Blogging has opened some doors for me as well, and that’s cool. I just take things as they come.
Aaron:
That’s admirable. I think the whole “I don’t link to the big blogs” thing is sort of silly (I guess I subscribe to the “you should write what you have to say, regardless of who else is also writing about it” school of blogging), but to each their own. I look forward to your review of smaller blogs. That’s a cool idea.
Wow…so much to read here. I have blogged for almost 1 year (Thank Aaron) and I really don’t blog everyday or every week like some of my blogging peers.
I blog when there is an issue or subject (Personal or Public) that even I can’t help but to add my 2 cents worth. But I also put my own peronal being out here on the internet and that is a big step for anyone who does.
I could care less for talking about politics because it always ends up in some disagreement between people are not in position to change the problem anyway.
I don’t talk TECH shop because I do that stuff all day so if you are familiar with it you will know the struggle it takes just to cut the home PC on.
According to my stats I am lesser known. But I keep on doing what I do when my mind says to. To the lesser known bloggers keep on doing what you do. Without us the blogesphere would not have variety or flavor.
Wow…so much to read here. I have blogged for almost 1 year (Thank Aaron) and I really don’t blog everyday or every week like some of my blogging peers.
I blog when there is an issue or subject (Personal or Public) that even I can’t help but to add my 2 cents worth. But I also put my own peronal being out here on the internet and that is a big step for anyone who does.
I could care less for talking about politics because it always ends up in some disagreement between people are not in position to change the problem anyway.
I don’t talk TECH shop because I do that stuff all day so if you are familiar with it you will know the struggle it takes just to cut the home PC on.
According to my stats I am lesser known. But I keep on doing what I do when my mind says to. To the lesser known bloggers keep on doing what you do. Without us the blogesphere would not have variety or flavor.
Wow…so much to read here. I have blogged for almost 1 year (Thank Aaron) and I really don’t blog everyday or every week like some of my blogging peers.
I blog when there is an issue or subject (Personal or Public) that even I can’t help but to add my 2 cents worth. But I also put my own peronal being out here on the internet and that is a big step for anyone who does.
I could care less for talking about politics because it always ends up in some disagreement between people are not in position to change the problem anyway.
I don’t talk TECH shop because I do that stuff all day so if you are familiar with it you will know the struggle it takes just to cut the home PC on.
According to my stats I am lesser known. But I keep on doing what I do when my mind says to. To the lesser known bloggers keep on doing what you do. Without us the blogesphere would not have variety or flavor.
Political blogging isn’t for everybody. It takes a special sort of fortitude to put up with the inevitable baloney (from both sides of the political spectrum) that will come when you posting something somebody doesn’t like. But I enjoy it. For one thing I’ve learned a lot from my commenters. I’m a better informed person because of my blog. Its also taught me a lot about politics and debating, about how to keep your cool and make your point without having every conversation devolve into a name-calling festival.
As for blogging only when you have something to say, I think that’s the best policy…though its not always one I follow myself. Sometimes I forget that my blog isn’t a newswire and that people get their breaking news from the media. They come to me for perspective and opinion, so if I can’t offer that there’s no sense in posting.
Political blogging isn’t for everybody. It takes a special sort of fortitude to put up with the inevitable baloney (from both sides of the political spectrum) that will come when you posting something somebody doesn’t like. But I enjoy it. For one thing I’ve learned a lot from my commenters. I’m a better informed person because of my blog. Its also taught me a lot about politics and debating, about how to keep your cool and make your point without having every conversation devolve into a name-calling festival.
As for blogging only when you have something to say, I think that’s the best policy…though its not always one I follow myself. Sometimes I forget that my blog isn’t a newswire and that people get their breaking news from the media. They come to me for perspective and opinion, so if I can’t offer that there’s no sense in posting.
Political blogging isn’t for everybody. It takes a special sort of fortitude to put up with the inevitable baloney (from both sides of the political spectrum) that will come when you posting something somebody doesn’t like. But I enjoy it. For one thing I’ve learned a lot from my commenters. I’m a better informed person because of my blog. Its also taught me a lot about politics and debating, about how to keep your cool and make your point without having every conversation devolve into a name-calling festival.
As for blogging only when you have something to say, I think that’s the best policy…though its not always one I follow myself. Sometimes I forget that my blog isn’t a newswire and that people get their breaking news from the media. They come to me for perspective and opinion, so if I can’t offer that there’s no sense in posting.
I think it’s important to note that this is not only “political” blogs which I am referring to, however the croneyism does seem to be most prevalent amongst the political blogs. My 30 days of blogs experiemnt will touch on many different kinds of blogs, both political and non-political.
I think it’s important to note that this is not only “political” blogs which I am referring to, however the croneyism does seem to be most prevalent amongst the political blogs. My 30 days of blogs experiemnt will touch on many different kinds of blogs, both political and non-political.
I think it’s important to note that this is not only “political” blogs which I am referring to, however the croneyism does seem to be most prevalent amongst the political blogs. My 30 days of blogs experiemnt will touch on many different kinds of blogs, both political and non-political.
Good points, Sean. Aaron, I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Good points, Sean. Aaron, I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Good points, Sean. Aaron, I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Can I subscribe to this blogs feed? Samuel in Tampa
Can I subscribe to this blogs feed? Samuel in Tampa
Can I subscribe to this blogs feed? Samuel in Tampa