The Power of Online Networks

Hat tip to Michael Gilbert for this great article on how to support and engage online networks
5 tips for Creating Non-Proft Online Communities

The first two tips
The cause is the purpose....so don't set up an online space around our organization or our program...but rather the work of tobacco control and public health advocacy.

and

Listen...don't think of this as primarily a space to push information out. This is a space to listen and to help people connect to each other.

Journal of New Organizing

For those of us working with coalitions here is a resource I just found out about:
The New Organizing Institute and they publish a free newsletter

This first issue is heavy on lessons learned from the Obama campaign..but there are a lot of lessons that we can learn. I especially like the article on
Lessons Organizers can Learn from the Military The content may not be any better or worse than the other articles the "three key systems' and 8 steps chunk the information into bite size pieces I can use.

What Information do Communities Need

The Knight Commission published a report Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. The three objectives are:

-Maximizing availability of relevant, credible information
-Strengthening the capacity of individuals to engage with information
-Promoting individual engagement with information that leads to positive public change

This sounds like what we are working on in public health. Two things of note:
People are desperate for "trusted intermediaries"...credible people who can help them make sense of the information that is most important, relevant and useful.

Being social media savvy is an important strategy..because it can help people leverage available resources. Public Media 2.0, a report by the American University Center for Social Media identifies five ways social media is changing people's "media habits"
Choice, conversation, curation, creation, and collaboration.

My Three Words

I've been inspired by Chris Brogan to pick three words to guide my in 2010.

My three words

Clear
This started out as prioritize. The question I want to ask myself is what is most important? What 1-2 things do I want to focus on? My time and energy are limited ( as it is for everyone I work with) I want to be clear about what is most important.

Meaningful: Is what I am doing meaningful? Does it support what I value most: relationships, the environment, health? How can I make policy work meaningful?
Build and support connections and relationship, connect with emotions, share successes and accomplishments, listen...

Easy: How can I make my work easier? How can I make work easier for colleagues? We live busy often hectic lives. We multi- task. We are most likely to do those things that are easiet.

Here are Beth Kantor's 3 words

My Signiture Strengths

I've been thinking about a quiz I took over a year ago.  Martin Seligman's Signiture Strengths Survey   identifies your top strengths. The idea is that you should focus on what you are good at....instead of finding the things you are worst at and pushing yourself to get better.  Pick those things you are best at and do them more..make the most of what you do well.

My strengths are  (the idea of using these more is very attractive to me!)
Curiosity and Interest in the World
Love of Learning
Zest, Enthusiasm, Energy
Leadership
Perspective (Wisdom)

I'd like to ask other Resource Center staff to take the quiz and see how knowing each other's signiture strengths helps us do our best work and form a strong team.

How we can tranform public health

In the Rise of the Teaching Organization, Bill Taylor ( Practically Radical) makes a compelling case for teaching others , even your competitors.  

If you want to be a leader in your field, you need to learn. But learning isn't enough...you need to share what you know and teach others... because it is the best way to learn...and I'd argue that you need to bring others along so you can keep moving forward.

Here is my favorite quote  "our vision is to be the quality leader in our field and to transform the field as a whole" (Dr Gary Kaplan).   Isn't that what we want to do in public health?

Read the whole blog post

Top six traits in confident leaders

In order to lead, people have to be confident of you and your abilities. What does it take for people to be confident in your leadership?  According to the Harvard Kennedy School of Public Leadership, there are six top traits.

• Trust in what you say ( no surprises)
  
• Competence to do the job (I'm good at what I do)
  
• Working for the greater good (they don't doubt your motives)
• Shared values ( we value the same things)
• Get good results ( I get things done)
• In touch with people's needs and concerns ( I listen)

These are good things to think about as we go through strategic planning...since we want our organization to be seen as a leader.

Want to learn more: check out Next Level Blog
Or read the study.