How To Solve A Personal Branding Paradox

I’m Derek, a project manager and technology geek who lives and breaths general project management, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, and technology.  You can follow me on Twitter @derekhuether or if you really liked this article, subscribe to the RSS Feed. Over the course of the last 15 years, I've really expanded my personal brand.  I started out as a full on Tech Geek.  I launched my first startup in October of 1996.  Yes, when the Pentium 133 was the latest thing.  It was a good ride.  Sure, the company died off after 10 years of business but I got my exit and I learned a lot.  Two things I learned.  One, I like to interact with people.  Two, I don't like to interact with people when they don't want to interact with me.  Let's not waste our time here, people.  Who would you rather have a conversation with?  [1] That guy or gal who walks around the room pushing his business card into everyone's face.  Or [2], that guy or gal who you know has similar interests or passions as you.

After leaving the hardware-and-software-geek world for the application development world, I found a niche with project management.  I loved the idea I could help solve a problem (deliver on time, on budget, within scope) when given the opportunity to do so.  I could identify a need and provide a solution.  The need to talk project management when dealing with Businesses, Government Agencies and Educational Institutions led me to get my PMP® Certification.  The need to empower my development teams led me to get my Certified Scrum Master Certification.  The need to optimize my work throughput led me to champion the use of a Personal Kanban.

All of these are all mere tools in my toolbox.  But, when you put them all together, they start to describe my personal brand.  I'm a guy who believes in transparency, technology, and information dissemination.  I deliver products with passion, commitment, and skill.

So, what's the paradox?  I've been writing The Critical Path for a while now.  Since it's launch, I've grown more and more passionate about things other then just project management.  I really have two options.  [1] Launch another blog with my personal perspective and focus The Critical Path on my professional perspective. [2] Expand The Critical Path to include more about my other passions.

I love going on Twitter and finding a thousand personal brand experts or social media experts. (That's kind of a joke)  But, what I believe in most is the wisdom of the crowd.  I would love to see what you have to say.  If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below.

Provide Value To Your Customer And Thank Them

Back in November (2009) I was watching Episode #24 of This Week in Startups featuring Jason Calacanis.  His guest that week was Gary Vaynerchuk, of Wine Library TV fame and countless appearances on TV.  Sometimes I arrive a little late to the game.  I Don't watch a lot of television so I hadn't seen Gary before.  While on the show, he promoted his new book Crush It! and I was absolutely intrigued by his level of passion and drive.  My motto is anything is possible through passion, commitment, and skill.  It doesn't matter if you're a project manager, developer, or entrepreneur.  You can and SHOULD have all three, regardless of your trade.

I've been itching to get this book.  Because I have a lengthy commute, I waited until it was available in audio version.  I downloaded it last night and started listening to it this morning.  After my commute today, I arrived to the office not wanting to turn it off.  The book is inspiring, motivating, and I identify with several things Gary has experienced and promotes.  I am a firm believer if something is bad, you can say something about it.  But, if something is good, you need to stand on the tallest hill and yell at the top of your lungs.

The hill, in this case, is Twitter.  I wrote just a single tweet:

Started listening to Crushit! by @garyvee on my drive in today. Get the audio version (extras), even if you have the actual book.

Within a few minutes, Gary tweeted back

thank u !

Now that, people, is commitment to customer service!  With almost 850,000 people following him on Twitter, he took the time to thank me.  Though it was something so simple, it's a level of customer service everyone should and WILL come to expect in the coming years.

When I deal with my customer(s), I get excited, optimistic, and passionate.  I work HARD.  Why?  I love it!  Sure, I get paid for providing value but I make sure I thank them from time to time.  There must be a commitment to customer service.  The interesting thing is, it can be contagious.

So, work hard and be passionate about what you do.  Be committed to deliver value to your customers.  And don't forget to be skilled at how your implement your solutions.

Disclaimer:  I will not financially benefit from the positive review of Gary's book (but I hope he does).

Daily RSS Feed Reads Over a Cup of Coffee

As one of the items on my personal "resolutions" kanban for 2010, I shortened my list of RSS feeds I've subscribed to.  I will now only keep the RSS feeds in Google Reader that I can actually zero out by Friday close of business. Too many times, we grow these unmanageable lists of feeds, only to see them grow and grow.  As a project manager, you don't accept more and more work, until tasks are completely unmanageable.  Why should reading be any different?  In order to handle tasks, both management and reading, I allocate time for planned "work" and unplanned "work". The more people I follow on Twitter, the more recommended blog posts I read (unplanned) on a daily basis.  I now find myself reading more of these posts than my (planned) RSS reading. My colleague Sridhar of Hyderabad, India, asked if I would provide a list of RSS feeds I subscribe to.  The topics I am interested in include:  Project Management (who would have thought), Agile, Kanban, and Entrepreneurial topics.  I'll admit this is not a complete list.  I also like to see pictures of epic kludges and jury rigs and pictures of the people of Walmart.

Here is my list of RSS Feed Reads (in alphabetical order) that I enjoy over a cup of coffee:

1. Agile Development Blog
2. Alec Satin - People, Projects, and Process
3. CottagePM.com - Project Management for the rest of us
4. Deep Fried Brain - PMP Exam Prep
5. Geoff Crane - Solid Portfolio Management with a sharp wit
6. How to Manage a Camel - Project Management
7. Jason Calacanis - CEO of Mahalo.com and creator of This Week In StartUps
8. Jim Benson - Personal Kanban
9. Josh Nankivel - Founder of PM Student and creator of WBS Coach
10. Mike Cottmeyer - Agile Leadership and Project Management
11. Mixergy - Where the ambitious learn from experienced mentors

FollowFriday and Noteworthy Blogs

I'm going to steal an idea that I've seen used on The Project Centric - How to Manage a Camel blog. They have "Monday Morning Links" where they list blogs to read or people to follow on Twitter.  I found Lindsay Scott and the blog via Twitter on a Follow Friday.  I've been reading the blog ever since, enjoying the excellent Project Management related posts.  I've found other great blogs just by reading their Monday Morning Link posts.

I also look forward to #FollowFriday (FF) on Twitter.  It's a great way to find and begin a conversation with other Project Managers, Agile Enthusiasts, Kanban Practitioners, or anyone else having similar ideas or interests.  I feel bad when I sometimes forget to FF others who really should be reminded they write great stuff.

So, here are a few links to posts from blogs I read on a regular basis and a few people I follow on Twitter.  Twitter is so fast paced, a recommendation can come and go and perhaps be lost in the rapid stream of tweets.  By posting a few blog links here, I think there is a higher probability my praise of them will be heard by others.  In Latin I would say nanos gigantum humeris insidentes.  In layman terms, I would say I stand on the shoulders of giants.

Who's blog I read:

• Alec Satin This week Alec wrote 7 lessons from a heart attack. It was an excellent post that helped me put things into perspective.  I'm glad Alec will be ok and will continue to post about people, projects, and process.
• Deep Fried Brain This week Harwinder a.k.a Brian Washer wrote about the good, the bad, and the ugly of PMI component chapters.  This was great insight  PMPs (new and seasoned) will find valuable.  This blog provides a lot of excellent information about preparing for the PMP exam or maintaining your PMP credentials.
• Mike Cottmeyer This week Mike wrote on his Leading Agile blog asking Why is Agile so hard to sell? He went on to ask why wouldn't a management team embrace a set of methodologies so focused on giving them what they need the most?   He's an Agile thinker, writer, consultant, and coffee drinker.

Who I Follow:

@pmstudent - Josh Nankivel helps new and aspiring project managers reach their career goals including gaining experience, education, PMP certification, and more.  He's listed as the "unofficial" most influential Project Manager on Twitter.  His blog is a must read if you're active in the PM community.  He's a member of PMI's New Media Council.  Lastly, he recently released his own product, WBS Coach.  Yes, if you purchase WBS Coach some of the proceeds would go back to me by way of an affiliate fee.  I'm not afraid to say that because I'm honored to be affiliated with what Josh does.  I can't say enough good things about what he does.

That's all I can offer for now.  There are numerous people I would recommend but there is just so much people want to read in a blog post before their eyes start rolling to the back of their heads.

Real Time Reputation Scores On Twitter

When Twitter launched their list feature recently, I immediately wondered if #FollowFriday was going to go the way of the dinosaur. For those out there not using Twitter, you have the power to "follow" people of interest and see what they are saying.  By following people of similar personal or professional interests, you get an idea of what is happening in real time.

As you begin to follow people, you are exposed to more and more who can really offer interesting things to say.

Because I wanted to read about what's new in Tech, I followed Leo Laporte, founder of the TWiT® Netcast Network. Because I wanted to read about entrepreneurs and start-ups, I followed Jason Calacanis, founder of Mahalo.com.  Because I wanted to read about Project Management, I followed Dave Garrett, CEO of Gantthead.com.  Granted, I didn't just go out and follow them at random.  I followed others and patiently waited for Friday to arrive to see who they would recommend to Follow.  Though I enjoy this organic process of discovery, it is not particularly efficient.  Though the introduction of lists has allowed me to see similar people in large numbers, there is no guarantee it is nothing more then a popularity contest.

Who shall I follow and who shall I recommend to follow?  Alas, I am but one person.  Who am I to suggest who you should follow and who you should not? I will yield my recommendation to one I consider superior in the decision making process.  I yield to what James Surowiecki termed the Wisdom of the Crowd and a nice webapp created by The Plan Is.

It appears The Plan Is tracks all tweets tagged with #pmot and uses them to update a list of the most influential project managers on Twitter. Updates are calculated continuously and new results are displayed every 5 minutes. They won't tell you how the scores are calculated, as that would make it too easy to game the system.  It appears ranking is based on the number of followers, volume of tweets being retweeted, and the number of lists appeared on.  I may be wrong.  But, the list appears pretty accurate.  Go on Twitter and look at the hashtag #pmot.  If you say (tweet) something interesting, it gets retweeted.  If people like to read what you're tweeting, you'll get followed.  What I like about this dynamic reputation score is there are NOT people out there tweeting "vote for me, vote for me".  It just seems to work.

So, you're a new Project Manager, Scrum Master, Agile aficionado, or Kanban practitioner on Twitter.  Who do you follow?  Who has the best reputation, from the crowd point of view?  Follow the links below and find out.

Project Managers on Twitter

1. DaveG253: 2175 points
2. francisojsaez: 1800 points
3. projectmgmt: 1685 points
4. ProjectShrink: 1400 points
5. Qtask: 1400 points
6. JohnEstrella: 1135 points
7. pmstudent: 1100 points
8. franciscojsaez: 980 points
9. thesambarnes: 915 points
10. PM_StrayDogg: 835 points

If you would like to see a list from an Agile perspective, there's a list for that as well.

Note:  The 10 Project Managers in the list above were dynamically generating at the time of this post.

If You've Never Failed...You've Never Lived...

If you have ever been on the fence about doing something, out of fear of failing, this video will give you the push you need.

• Create that new service or product
• Go for that promotion
• Get that new job
• Launch that company

Life = Risk

Tool Of The Week: Tweet Effect

Because I feel it is important to help others, I figured I'd start doing something new.  It's not a new idea in the grand scheme of the Internet, but it is something new for me.  I'm going to attempt to promote tools, people, or businesses on a weekly basis.  I'm not being compensated accept for maybe some good karma.  I am exposed to some brilliant people and products on a daily basis.  I have to believe someone will benefit from this series.

This week will be about a product I went searching for.  I noticed I had a drop in Twitter followers and  I needed to know why.  Was it something I said?  Well, the short answer is YES.

I found a product that simply states "Find out which of your Twitter updates made people follow or leave you. " It didn't require that I provide my Twitter credentials, only my Twitter ID.  It then gave a well formatted timeline of my tweets, the number of my followers, and the changes that correspond with my tweets.

I think this tool is excellent.  It provides the feedback necessary for me to change my Twitter behavior.  I discovered two possible behaviors people following me (or used to follow me) don't like.

[1] My former followers didn't like it when I retweeted my own post.  I'll admit, I was trying Tweetmeme as a new feature and that one backfired on me.  The result was 3 unfollows. In the future, if you want to retweet my posts, I welcome it.  But, I won't be doing it myself.

[2] My former followers either didn't like the appearance that I alienated someone or the fact that I had four hash tags in my tweet.   The back-story is The Triple Constraint blog had a post titled Top Project Management Twitterers.  I was included on the list and was very flattered to have been mentioned.  It was retweeted and I posted a thank you.  Unfortunately, there are a LOT of people that could have been on that list that were not.  When one of the people I follow expressed that the roll call of PM Twitterers felt like being back at school waiting to be picked in P.E., I felt like a complete heel.  I posted a semi apology and asked if anyone knew of a directory of PMs.  The result was 4 unfollows.

So, I'm here to recommend Tweet Effect [www.tweeteffect.com]to all those Twitterers who are curious about what they tweet about and how it might impact those who follow them.  The feature is free of charge.

Let me know if you found this post helpful.

Regards,

Derek

The Lights are on at HueCubed

In anticipation of my upcoming iPhone application release, I figured it was time to stand up a new website with the purpose of distributing my own brand of tools, templates, and talk.  The Critical Path will remain as my blog.  But, selling products requires branding.  By following me on Twitter or reading this blog, I think people will enjoy the HueCubed brand.