Communities of Practice

Communities of practices (CoP), are tribes of practitioners who share their learning wisdom through a shared platform. Most of such CoPs are based as online forums and chat-groups (including WhatsApp private groups). Hobbyists, geeks, sports-fans, amateur athletes, and professionals belong to such communities to network, extend their marketing reach, and establish their credibility.

Why would you want to belong to such a CoP?

Essentially, you can enjoy the stories of successes as well as disappointments. Much can be gleaned from another professional's experiences learning and applying. I have a major belief about credibility and expertise: The Room is the Expert. Questions can lead to answers, and answers to the right direction for solutions. There is more than one right answer!

The logical way of solving problems: Algorithms or decision-making trees.

Members of CoPs can meet face-to-face as well. They can organise small, unofficial, gatherings for verbal exchanges. This enhances their opportunity and ability to learn, develop and grow. They can seek out expertise and engage these, for profit or pleasure. I belong to newsgroups for magicians, leaders, triathletes and marathoners.

However, as with most new groups motivation to sustain becomes a challenge. Active leadership of the facilitators and moderators determines the direction and determination of the CoPs. Leaders within leaders can employ new initiatives to provide freshness into the discussions and engagements.

At the end of the day, it is about leadership. Without leadership and succession planning, most CoPs diminish in stature and relevance. Thus, new members inject the motivation for the group to sustain and continue.

If You Like It, Sneeze It!

The power of the Tribe to influence can be enormous. Consider 'word of mouth', that form of communication 'behind your back' that may make or break you.

Reputation is part of your brand. Who you are, is reflected in your character, persona, style and presence. How we communicate ourselves to others, describes our set of beliefs, values, attitudes, perceptions, and judgements. Certainly, our behaviors are a mirror to who we are for they reflect our inner 'self' to an outward audience. For instance, wearing your sponsors is an attempt to promote the 'duality' of relevance for both advocate/ambassador and brand/sponsor. The relationship is one of collaborative partnership and alliance. 

Promoting ultra-triathlons (IUTA) and my sponsor Jabra on a Channel News Asia featurette.

When I went to Kona for the Ironman World Championships, I wore my Jabra colors with pride. I extended my support for the brand and its Bluetooth-enabled devices by wearing their race-attire in several more Ironman races, and my first Boston Marathon (2014). Channel News Asia interviewed me for that landmark event there, and my sponsors picked up on that in my Singapore interview on 'Ironmen and Ultra-Triathlons). I roped in my friends, Triple-Deca Iron-Triathete (that is 226km triathlons X 30 days) Wayne Kurtz from USA, and Singaporean Deca-Iron Triathlete (10 X Ironman over 10 days), Kua Harn Wei, PhD to be part of this experience and interview. I was informed by my friends, neighbours and family of the first telecast and subsequent re-runs. The 'reach' was highly positive, and I earned a sponsorship for this year.

How thoroughly do you think when you post on Social Media? Have you considered the implications and ramifications of your rants and raves? When you 'tick' on a 'LIKE', or make a 'Comment', what are, in effect, wanting to say. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, when another disagrees with us.

How do you influence for your Tribe? How do you show support for each Friend, Follower, Member, and the like (no pun intended). When a Follower 'Retweets' or 'Favourite' your post, how do you 'return the favour'? Do you read one of their shared 'links'? Do you provide a response or recognition? Giving encouragement to a 'newbie' can be empowering. Sharing a personal tip, nugget of your wisdom, a quotation can translate into future mileage of extended influence. Being charitable, or not as asking for something in return can be a deeply satisfying feeling. 

Leadership Lessons: How do you build you reputation? How does your Tribe spread your influence? How do you live up to your reputation? What are you doing to add value to your Tribe of followers and supporters? How do you apply the Law of Reciprocity?

Sneezing for an author's new e-book

Does Peer Pressure Power Your Communication?

Peer pressure can be an overwhelming thing when you are a teenager. To belong to a group, and to carve out your identity you bow to the team’s ideals and rules. Socially, peer pressure or majority-ruled actions determine if you are in, or out. The Inclusion/Exclusion principle operates, whether we like it or not; either we are in, or we are out.

In adulthood, peer pressure can be a positive force of influence. Directed and led properly, this style of influence can engage others outside of the circle of influence. Also, he impact of peer pressure will be determined by choice. The more choices we have, the more flexible we are. Other people’s influence can be only so effective when we lack choices, and thus cannot decide on our outcomes.

Social running groups are a recently emerging phenomenon. Neophytes join these clubs, which offer basic instruction on endurance running; they progress gradually until they complete their first 10K race. These groups are Tribes, and they propagate and promote their cause with alarming enthusiasm and fervour. Peer pressure can act through mass participation of a local or overseas race.

The same goes for those who seek extraordinarily longer distance, and across varied and challenging terrain. These foot races carry the subscribers through mountain trails, desert, man-made structures and water. Having stated the challenging conditions, those who complete relish in their sense of accomplishment and achievement.

Who says peer pressure can be all that bad?

Leadership Lessons: How often do you cave in to peer pressure? Where are your sources of peer pressure? How often do you rally these sources of peer pressure to assist you in building value, such as acts of charity and altruism?

The Tribe Has Spoken

Those infamous words uttered by host of Survivor, Jeff Probst in every episode decides, ultimately, who will be eliminated for the game. In effect, each member of your tribe gets to vote for the one who they think should be banished from their tribe. By a process of secret ballot - in quasi-democratic fashion – one person will be eliminated, much to their consternation.

Tribes was a phrase coined by marketing guru, Seth Godin in his book of the same name. Gather a group, share a cause and spread the word. You will see it in almost every social media tool – share with your friend, retweet, et al.

Tribes can make or break the strength of a cause. Both brickbats and bouquets are tools of mass distraction and destruction. Careless and callous remarks can influence others, as do partial and preferential opinions. Thinking through the issues and challenging our own thoughts are necessary to ensure that new ideas and innovative practices can emerge during doldrums. Tribes can build a new business, or denounce a well-established one. The connections that tribal members build on are forged through time, shared interests, shared values, commitment and involvement. Leverage on this positively and you can magnify you cause astronomically. Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong yellow wrist-bands are a testament of how tribes rally for a personal and shared cause.

Last weekend, I found out that my friends shaved their heads for Hair For Hope. One-Armed Runner, Adam showed me his bald plate before he ran a half-marathon. This amazing fellow runs in almost every race despite being physically challenged.

Leadership Lessons: How often do you promote somebody’s cause? How widely does your word spread? How much weight do your recommendations hold? How active are you in networking your way through a charitable cause?

Should you want to promote your cause via social media and online marketing, this is a piece on how you can promote your website.

Even David Copperfield, the Maestro in Magic has a cheeky sense of humour. Here, he challenges Harry Potter and J K Rowling. Believe it or not!

10 Ways To Get Attention & Action For Your Cause

Do you have a cause that you strongly believe in? What have you done to promote it to a wider audience? With a plethora of Social Media tools readily available, what have you done to harness the power of positive word of mouth marketing, also known as tribes and trending? Have you considered having your communities to sneeze for you?

1)    Ask for help, and you may get it. Seek and ye may find.

2)    Go face-to-face: Have a chat with your colleagues, clients and collaborators about your cause, and why it is important to you.

3)    Text a message: subtle but effective when you have down-time (free time). Turn down-time into up-time! Promote your cause while standing in the train or rain.

4)    Do something in return. As long as you implement your initiative, you have led in the process. Be reciprocal. Attempt to climb a mountain, run a marathon, complete a triathlon, or set a national record – do something in return for the support you receive.

5)    Tweet about it. Small and frequent messaging adds up and increases your odds for success. Tweet before the rooster crows.

6)    Send sensible messages about it on Facebook and LinkedIn. Attach a link, so your readers can actively click on it. Remember: call for action. Just do it.

7)    Create a call for action. What do want your readers to do? Arrive in person to volunteer? Send a check? Make a donation on PayPal? Spread the word via their personal or professional networks?

8)    Write your own letter of appeal. Make it personal. Provide comprehensive answers: what, why, when, which, where, who and how. Your letter is your voice, your personal message, and your meaning.

9)    Seek collaborators. Great minds think alike. Liking leads to persuasion. The more diverse the better. Differences can complement the creative output.

10) Enjoy the results. Every response is a victory. Think long term as the benefits return. Every good turn deserves another!

These principles also apply to a new business, product launch, or a seminar you are promoting. Results count!

If you have used but useable running shoes do me a massive favour – clean them up and drop by the race-kit collection site for the Marina21K Run. Help build a sustainable sports community! Thanks to Village Focus International, we can promote running and healthy feet as a global initiative.

Clanning or Tribes

Marketing guru, Seth Godin wrote a bestseller called 'Tribes'. Interestingly, in 1997 trendspotter and futurist, Faith Popcorn wrote about 'Clanning' as one of 17 future trends for clicking with consumers. In effect, the community spirit is what moves people to achieve a sense of identity, common cause, unity in numbers, and a sense of belonging.

Triathletes belong to a tribe of everyday people, who lead extreme lives in their pastimes. Lard man from New Zealand writes about his adventures in triathlons. He is an interesting person with a wicked sense of humour. Read his blog if you dare!

Many tribes exists, and universally, tourists are a strong and predominant group. Camera-ready, ever eager, and abundantly curious and pedestrian, tourists will crowd around anything and anyone. You see them cordon off streets watching buskers perform. You also meet them at fast-food convenience outlets. Book-lovers will scour bookstores like a library. Coffee connoisseurs will make a beeline for the next caffeine-infused shot. Foodies will search websites by food bloggers to seek that next gastronomic or epicurean indulgence. Such is the magnetic appeal of like-minded individuals in endurance sports in exotic locations doing the unthinkable. Some groups hold annual runs while in underwear or even naked (Naked Pumpkin Dot Org).


Here are some snapshots that clicked with my sense of adventure (to be upload soon, as working with an iPad has it's challenges, when traveling).

John doing the famous plank at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona; my version is modified

Photo-credits by Mel Chan

Seriously Keeping In Touch With Your Team

I have been reviewing my use of Social Media 2.0 and have made some recent and salient observations. These are:

1)    Twitter is more immediate and forgettable, so unless you repost your tweets somebody has to access your tweets by accessing your homepage. The multiple and enthusiastic postings of friends in your community can be overwhelming, especially if they are Internet marketers. It is so easy to scroll over the many quotations and links.

2)    Facebook reminds us of friend’s birthdays and to connect with them – this is useful, unless you have 1,000 friends that you don’t really know well. It is useful to filter through your ‘fan club’; you may want consider de-listing inactive accounts. I never enjoyed the APPS. Now that Hotmail has integrated Facebook reminders, it has been useful to track your series of feed forward/fedback.

3)    Blogs are useful journal entries until they become a medium of self-indulgence, especially if you are upset by bad service or disappointments. I enjoy reading my friends’ activities and expert thoughts.

4)    Skype is useful as a business and social tool only if you activate it while you are online. It is great for private coaching and business discussions – more face-to-face communication.

5)    Chats and instant messaging functions are akin to ‘real-time’ text-messages; it would be more useful to call the local person if you have to text incessantly over a major discussion.

Regardless of your communication preferences, do make a committed effort to maintain the relationships you have initiated. There is an investment – intellectual and emotional – for each of our human connections. Ensure that your connectivity is current, contemporary and consistent despite the fact that things in life, invariably, crop up at times of inconvenience. Ignoring a request is like calling your own bluff. For a team leader, these tools are essential to staying in close touch with your members. You can acknowledge them, praise them, and reassure them in one fell swoop/technology. Your members are your most precious members of your tribe.

Yesterday, I put a deposit down for my new triathlon bicycle. I elected to have one customized made bike by Elite Bicycles. I interviewed David Greenfield a few months ago, and had my road-bike custom-fitted by him. That positive experience led to my strong recommendation to other cyclists and triathletes and I am glad to report my friends are pleased for it. They are riding comfortably and with strength and purpose after their visit to Elite Bicycles Asia at 3 Duxton Hill, Singapore.

I take my recommendations seriously; people can act on your advice, so I have refrained from giving it. Recommendations are different. Coincidentally, my neighbour who owns a single-gear bike asked me about bike fitting yesterday and I directed him to Elite Bicycles. This reminds us that tribes spread the word through positive word of mouth – one spoke on the marketing wheel that cannot be underestimated even if it takes time.

The process of getting my bike ordered and delivered involved conversations with David via Twitter and Skype. As he is serious about taking care of me, he posted a Twitter message to me to check my colour choice first. I chose the model, a full carbon Elite Razor (as in accompanying photograph)  – a smashing-looking iron horse that is a popular model with pros and elite age-groupers at Elite. My initial choice of colour is maroon, as it was my secondary school colour and that of my corporate logo. I am designing my graffiti on its body, although fellow-riders have suggested a magic wand and a rabbit-in-a-hat - I prefer a Playboy bunny (although that is a trademark/copyright).

I have been supporting charities related to Cystic Fibrosis, and they were my motivating project for Ironman New Zealand this year. Here is a story of a record-breaking 11 marathons over 11 days for fund-raising. Incidentally, Singaporean Marathon Mohan will be doing his 100^th marathon shortly. All the best to this popular Team Fatbird member.

Keep moving everyone!