Big Is The New Small

I previously shared a post entitled “7 Deadly Sins Of Twitter.”  This was a very popular post and one of the more prominent Deadly sins that I shared was Envy.  Many of the comments and Re-Tweets made reference to this particular Twitter Deadly Sin.

I thought I would un-pack Twitter Envy a little further with these 5 Signs Of Twitter Envy.  Remember: “Envy is the tribute that mediocrity pays to genius, hard-work, success and the appearance of success…”

5 SIGNS Of TWITTER ENVY

1. Making Fun- IF you find yourself making fun of or talking about certain Tweeps.  Making statements like “He/She tweets the stupidest things, no one wants to hear that stuff.”  When your Twitter attention and time is spent making fun of or talking about other Tweeps then you probably have Twitter Envy.
2. I Should Have More Marbles Then They Do- If you find yourself always comparing marbles, I mean if you find yourself comparing the number of followers that you have, to the number of followers that other Tweeps have and thinking that you should have more, you probably have Twitter Envy.
3. Comparing Influence- If you find yourself making statements like “They would never have this much influence in real life, I bet they couldn’t lead their way out of a paper bag in my world, They are just trying to build their brand…”  You probably have Twitter Envy.  Remember- No matter the arena, influence is something that must be earned over time.
4. LOL & IOI- If you find yourself Laughing Out Loud (LOL) at what certain Tweeps are Tweeting and at the same time Irritated On The Inside (IOI) Then you probably have Twitter Envy.  That little sign of (IOI) could be a symptom that a bitter/envious root is festering below the surface.
5. D All of The Above- If you do any of the above, in addition to complaining about, talking about, questioning why certain Tweeps (Both Celebrity & Non-Celebrity) have a particular influence and you continue follow them…  There is a very good chance that you could be the poster child for Twitter Envy.

The amazing thing about Twitter and any form of Social Media that it’s an Influence Earned Society; in other-words influence must be earned.  Seth Godin eloquently outlines this principle in his book Tribes.  Reminder (Free Of Charge)- You don’t have to follow someone if you don’t want to!   Here is a prison video that I shot dealing with the deadly sin of Envy. If you experience or notice signs of Twitter Envy, feel free to use the hashtag #TE.

Love looks through a telescope and envy looks through a microscope.

What do you think?  Share your thoughts on these 5 Signs and add some additional to the list.

Hostage – Envy from Nick Jones on Vimeo.

This is a video, that I shot a couple of years back dealing with the deadly sin of envy. Envy is real and it’s deadly. Here are some envy quotes to ponder:

• When men are full of envy, they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad.
• Envy is thin because it bites but never eats.  ~Spanish Proverb
• The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch.~Jim Rohn
• Love looks through a telescope; envy, through a microscope. ~Josh Billings
• Envy is the tribute that mediocrity pays to genius, hard-work, success and the appearance of success…

Share your thoughts on The Deadly Sin Of Envy, This Video or These Quotes.

Tomorrow I get the opportunity to travel to Memphis, Tennessee and hang out with Black Civil Rights Leaders, Community Leaders and Ministry Leaders.   We will be watching the screening of a new documentary film, Little Town Of Bethlehem. This will hosted by Emmy Award Winning Director Jim Hanon, who happens to be my friend and a member of my church.  The screening will be co-hosted by Grammy award winning Jazz Artist Kirk Whalum.

This film deals with the Arab and Western and Christian and Muslim conflict, as it relates to the burden of non-violence.  I’m looking forward to the screening and sharing insights, right here at BigIsTheNewSmall.com.

Watch the above video of the Director’s commentary and share your thoughts.

Leadership is definitely an art; however often times we make it more difficult than it really is.  Most of us have experienced great leadership, not so good leadership, in addition to being around those who commit the Fundamental Flaw of Leadership.

It doesn’t matter many books we read, blogs we read or conferences we attend; the bottom line is leadership at it’s core is as easy 1-2-3.

Leadership Is As Easy As 1-2-3

1. Truly care about and love those you lead. {More Than an Employee}
2. Truly believe in and help those that you lead become better. {Maximize Their Gifts}
3. Be Someone Worth Following. {Integrity, Vision, Authentic, Leader}

What do you think?  Is leadership as easy as 1-2-3.

Bonus: 5 Quick-Link Leadership Posts:

• Leadership Colloquialism Leading Up
• Are You A Thought Leader
• This Is Why Leaders Fail
• The Secure Leader vs. The Insecure Leader
• People Over Policy

1. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. ~John Quincy Adams
2. A leader must have the courage to act against an expert’s advice. ~James Callaghan
3. Inventories can be managed, but people must be led. ~Ross Perot
4. Leadership can be thought of as a capacity to define oneself to others in a way that clarifies and expands a vision of the future. ~Edwin Friedman
5. A leader without true followers, is simply going on a walk. ~Unknown
6. Leadership is intentional influence. ~Michael McKinney
7. Leaders develop more leaders. ~Scott Williams
8. If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants. ~Isaac Newton
9. A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go but ought to be. ~Rosalynn Carter
10. When the effective leader is finished with his work, the people say it happened naturally.
    - Lao Tse
11. A great leader doesn’t care about being the leader, but instead cares about the mission, the vision and the people they are leading. ~Scott Williams
12. If you love what you do, you will never work another day in your life. ~Confucius
13. The only true freedom each of us has in life is the freedom to choose.  The most important choice is who we will become.  ~John C. Maxwell
14. Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.  ~Abraham Lincoln
15. Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.  ~George Patton
16. I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.  ~Bill Cosby
17. A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.  ~Maya Angelou
18. The way to get started is to stop talking and begin doing.  ~Walt Disney
19. Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.  ~Martin Luther King Jr.
20. Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point.  ~C.S. Lewis
21. Don’t try to be someone else, that’s stupid.  ~Scott Williams

Which of the above leadership quotes are your favorite?  Share some of your personal favorites that may not be listed.

I remember several months back I was in Nashville hanging with my buddy @andykirk  and his wife.  While in Nashville, I had the opportunity to have lunch with the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing Michael Hyatt.  Not only is he the CEO of Thomas Nelson, he is a Social Media enthusiast.  In my opinion he’s one of the best in the business as it relates to high-level leaders understanding the “how to” and the “importance of” leveraging social media for their organization.

During the course of our conversation we talked publishing, leadership and all things social media.  As we were talking we both agreed on the implications of Twitter and how it’s changed the view of people.  By changing the view of people, I’m referring to the fact that Twitter let’s you view people in 3D.  Grab your 3D Glasses and let me explain.

Twitter allows us to see people in the following 3 Dimensions:

1. Personal Dimension- The Personal Dimension is the dimension of Twitter where individuals share things about, life, family and is filled with many twitpics, yfrogs and LOL’s.  This is the dimension of Twitter where personality really pops out to the world of Twitter.  This dimension is most important and sets the tone for how the other two dimensions come into focus.

2. Professional Dimension- The Professional Dimension is the dimension that allows you to share expertise, experiences, thoughts, visions, trends, happenings… in your area of professionalism.  This is the dimension where the social media professional shares all things social media, the doctor shares all things medicine, the stay-at-home mom shares all things mommy, the pastor shares all things ministry and so on.  The personal and professional dimension will definitely have some overlap.

The professional dimension is the dimension where business twitter accounts should always remain.  It’s not pragmatic for business twitter accounts to share information from the personal dimension.  I other-words @starbucks  should not be tweeting about mowing the lawn, unless they are mowing the lawn and drinking a cup of Starbucks.  Starbucks should be tweeting about all things Starbucks Coffee and all things Starbucks Coffee Customers.  Unfortunately, some business twitter accounts get this one wrong all the time.

It’s important to understand that your followers may view your professional dimension a little broader than your professional role.  For instance Michael Hyatt is not just viewed as the CEO of Thomas Nelson, but also as a Social Media Expert, Blogger and Leadership Guru.  In this dimension I am viewed as a Pastor, Blogger, Social Media Guy, Leadership Guy etc.  If you want to know how the Twitter World views you, simply take a look at the categories of Twitter Lists that people have placed you in.

3. Thought Dimension- The Thought Dimension is the dimension deals with cognition.  Cognition–being the mental process of knowing, including aspects such as awareness, perception, thinking, reasoning, and judgment.  This is the dimension that releases what’s going on inside of your head.  This dimension is filled with random quotes, random thoughts, the sharing of information that you have read or opinions that you may have.

The Thought Dimension will have overlap with both the Personal Dimension and the Professional Dimension.  I gather the most useful information from the Though Dimension.  @RevRunWisdom  has mastered the thought dimension, he is one of the most retweeted individuals on Twitter and 100% of his posts originate from this dimension.  Again, I love to share and receive from this dimension.  My life philosophy is this: dream BIG. think BIGGER.

In order for an individual to have well-rounded and effective Twitter experience, they must be able to see Twitter In 3D.  All three dimensions must be present.  Personally I think a Twitter Profile should outline these three areas in order, for instance here is how my twitter profile reads: Husband, Father, Thought Leader, LifeChurch.tv Campus Pastor, Speaker, Diversity… Al Gore invented the internet and I invented the #FistBump on Twitter!

Now You Can See, Twitter In 3D.

What Do You Think?  Share your thoughts on Twitter In 3D.

More times than not, our world of political correctness doesn’t allow much opportunity for “Real Talk”  I have decided to every once in awhile share a post or ask some questions to generate some “Real Talk.”  Real talk is an opportunity to leave political correctness at the door and say what you really feel and often times what others are thinking, but are unwilling to say.

Today, I’m posing two questions.  One will be a current event type of question and the other one will be a ministry type of question.  You can choose to answer one both or simply reply to the comments.

1. What do you think about the Ben Roethlisberger Situation?  Should he have received a longer suspension than the six games, is what he allegedly/did worse than the Tiger Woods situation, is he getting a pass (no pun intended) or since he has not been convicted so why are we talking about it?  Share any thoughts you have about his recent behavior or the situation in general.
2. What do you think about pastors who make a habit of using cuss words?

2 Rules: Don’t get mad and don’t use cuss words.

Share your thoughts and join the conversation, remember this is “Real Talk.”

I was recently re-reading an old Business Week article entitled The Great Communicators; which outlined some secrets of the worlds greatest business communicators.  Effective communication is skill that we can all learn and polish; it’s about the ability to be persuasive, believable, inspirational, charismatic, authentic and overall magnetic.

We are all drawn to different styles of communicators; however the end result to effective communication is the same, the communicators were able to take us on a journey and make us like it.  It doesn’t matter if you are a: SAHM, Pastor, CEO, Teacher, Politician, Worship Leader, Customer Service Rep., Leader, Coach… we can all learn from effective communicators.  Here are 12 Tips from some of the world’s best business communicators and a bonus one from me:

1. Jack Welch (Former CEO of General Electric)-  Best communication asset: Simplicity   Tip: Eliminate jargon.
2. Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple)- Best communication asset: Charisma  Tip: Create and articulate a bold vision.
3. Meg Whitman (CEO of Ebay)- Best communication asset: Penchant for listening  Tip: Seek feedback.
4. John Chambers (CEO of Cisco Systems)- Best communication asset: Preparedness  Tip: Review and rehearse your presentation.
5. David Neeleman (CEO of JetBlue Airways)- Best communication asset: Talent for storytelling  Tip: Tell tales that inspire.
6. Howard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks)- Best communication asset: Passion  Tip: Identify and share what you’re passionate about.
7. Suze Orman (Author, TV Host)- Best communication asset: Clarity of expression  Tip: Break down complex information into easy parts.
8. Rudy Giuliani (Former NYC Mayor)- Best communication asset: Ability to make eye contact  Tip: Spend 90% of the time looking at your audience.
9. John Thompson(CEO of Symantec)- Best communication asset: Facileness with optimistic language  Tip: Employ powerful and positive words.
10. Klaus Kleinfeld (CEO of Siemens)- Best communication asset: Ability to reinvent  Tip: Stay fresh, remain current.
11. Larry Ellison (CEO of Oracle)- Best communication asset: Looking like a leader  Tip: Pay attention to what your wardrobe says about you.
12. Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin Group)- Best communication asset: Generosity with praise  Tip: Lavish appropriate praise on employees, customers, and colleagues.
13. Scott Williams (CEO of This Blog)- Best communication asset: Being yourself   Tip: Don’t try to emulate or be someone else, people recognize a phony from a mile away.  Do You!  It’s a Statement… Not a Question!  Second Tip: Authenticity is Key!

Who are some of your favorite communicators and why?  Do you have any additional tips to add?

These are thoughts from my moleskin…  Share your thoughts.

Do you have a problem keeping your blinders on?