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!

New Quips on the Blog

New blogs by amateur triathletes surface everyday without restraint or record. I am happy for my predictable and persevering company. The richness of these writers’ stories, plus the insights and wisdom integrated into them, make them highly readable even for the merely curious or digitally-pedestrian.

I am not such a stickler for structure or style, as I am for heart. The heart of the matter is, it takes guts to write and courage to share it with the world. Most blogs have their shade and hues of narcissism, idiosyncracy, self-aggrandizement, criticism and critiques. My favourite blogs are conversational, non-judgemental, and often insightful. I learn more from my frequent interactions with the writer. I feel connected to their experiences, observations and interpretations. I don’t necessarily agree with them all the time, yet they make me ponder over my opinion. I feel that my time is well spent reading their thoughtful content.

‘First, write with your heart. Then, with your head!’ ~ Finding Forrester.

I am pleased that there are, indeed, blogs that serve the abject purposes of educating, teaching and sharing. Sure, some blogs and websites are designed for commerce – bloggers want to promote products and sell them (since they may be actively pursuing passive income or own Work-At-Home businesses). Yet, there are many ways to create such impacting influence. Robert B. Cialdini, PhD proposed six such principles in his landmark book, Influence: Psychology of Persuasion.

As my confident friends, bloggers and writers will say: ‘The more, the merrier!’ Keep writing. Keep influencing.

Here are a few blogs worth your time: TRI 4 LIFE YOU, ME & TESKY TRIATHLON TRAINING DIARY

They posted today their cause and tribute to people - we matter because others matter, too.

[Title adapted from a famous boy band in the 1990’s with one original member, now a serious A-list actor.]