40-Day Series - Thanking Those Who Made Business Personal

The last month has been a whirlwind of activity...exciting times indeed! The new company is starting to flourish, quality time was spent with the family and quite a few fun events took place celebrating with friends. With so much going on I haven't had much time to write. I have definitely missed it. The last few weeks I have had various conversations that have triggered a 40-day series I plan to write starting with this post. To provide some context as to how I came up with the series title I thought I would share what led me to the 40-day series concept in the first place.

First, I had a conversation with my neighbor earlier this week regarding Lent. For most of those who honor lent they give something up... an effort to honor Jesus's sacrifice I believe. However, I wonder if Jesus wouldn't find it more meaningful for his followers to give during this time of year than give up. I often think about what Christianity means to me and "giving" definitely plays a major part. What would the world be like if every Christian (or even better every person) dedicated them self to some kind of giving every day for the next 40 days? This led me to my second thought....

So, as I began to think about the concept of giving vs. giving up for Lent I started to evaluate what I would give. Considering I am starting a new company I am not in a position to give a lot financially. Kids are keeping us pretty busy running them around preparing for spring sports so committing to volunteering doesn't really work either. I then think about this blog and the possibilities it provides me to "give." This led me to my third thought.....

I have been in quite a few discussions with colleagues and thought leaders in the social media industry as to why tools like Facebook and Twitter are so powerful. I speculate that for many social media is the intersection of business meeting personal or vice versa. I have always held the belief that many in business are successful because they make business personal....they invest all they have in to what they do, their business is their life's passion and they are willing to share to help others get better. This triggered me to think about the people who have inspired me throughout my career and how their impact was made possible by their personal investment and willingness to give. I then think about how so often in our lives we don't take the time to give thanks and let people know how they made a difference in our life. Think about how many times you have heard, "I should have told them what they meant to me" or the amazing feeling you felt when someone took the time to thank you.

These culmination of thoughts has led me to how I am going to "give" this Lent season. I am going to post daily about someone who made business personal by teaching me, helping me, inspiring me and/or leading me. I will end the post with the golden nugget I took away in hopes that you too will be impacted. At the end of Lent I will create a post that will incorporate all the golden nuggets I have shared throughout the series. Hopefully this will provide a one stop shop reference that maybe you will share with others someday.

My objective is to "give" thanks, "give" knowledge and "give" you the ability to "give" to others. I hope you enjoy the series as much as I have enjoyed others helping me learn to get better. :)

Be who you are and learn to be better,
Lisa