Techniques for Giving Your Glow: co-post with Leslie Morse

The original post is one I contributed to on Leslie J. Morse’s blog in reference to Borrowed Light and Women In Agile.

“I was inspired when I attended ScrumGathering out in Las Vegas (SGLAS) this May and now we are just weeks away from Agile2013 in Nashville and I am psyched that I will get to see lots of great friends and contacts again. It should be a really superb week.

The Women in Scrum OpenSpace session at SGLAS was one of the more powerful sessions I attended the other month, and when there I mentioned the phrase “Borrowed Light.” It immediately resonated with people, and I am fortunate enough to have a blog post in waiting for Lyssa Adkin’s newly re-branded blog series “Women in Agile” on www.coachingagileteams.com. In the post I explain the notion of “Borrowed Light” a concept I picked up from my Davisbase Consulting colleague Russ Fletcher. (He by the way, is awesome.)

While getting the post ready, my friend (and ScrumMaster Diva) Natalie Warnert suggested I add content about ways people could share their light, but I didn’t want the post to be too long…so…here we are!

Techniques for Giving Your Glow is a quick hit list of ways you can help share your light with others and lend a little bit of the credibility, trust, and subject matter authority you’ve earned yourself with someone else.

In order to build the list I asked @nataliewarnert what she thought…

–“Before you can begin Giving Your Glow you first have to be out there meeting new people. Otherwise, who would you be giving your glow to? Once you have that taken care of, there are a few really basic ways to Give Your Glow:

• Sharing or Re-posting people’s blog posts / co-authoring posts / allowing people to guest-post on your site
• Introducing people to others who may be able to help them
• Co-teaching and facilitating meetings (They key: Look to co-present with someone that you can share your light with. In addition to sharing your credibility with them, there is also an opportunity for reverse mentoring from their side. Someone who is newer and less experienced often has a lot to share both on a different demographic and a perspective you often don’t get from peers with similar experience levels as you.)

But perhaps one of the easiest ways to share light is exactly what is going on right here – be involved in social media. Reference people’s relevant posts with links in your own blogs, Tweet and Re-Tweet posts, articles, ideas, and have conversations on Twitter or through blog comments. Its benefits are two-fold because it gets their name and content to your wider range of followers and since you’re promoting them shares your light while simultaneously reaching their followers and promoting yourself as a mentor and supporter to their followers.

For example, Bob Hartman (aka Agile Bob) was sharing his light with me when he tweeted “Every so often you meet someone that is a bright, young, #agile and #scrum enthusiast who gets it! @nataliewarnert is one of them!” to his many followers. The more their name and your name appear online the more both social media presences and personal brands will develop. We’re seeing this from #WomenInAgile right now.

A final idea is to network, now everyone knows what networking is but networking within the frame of sharing light is a bit different. It’s not just about meeting people, it’s about making meaningful introductions with the person who you’re sharing your light with and helping them to establish connections being backed by your credibility. For example, I’ve been introduced to many people and have made some great UX and Agile connections because of the shared credibility and light from more experienced and well know professionals who introduced me.” —

I think that is a pretty great list. Just imagine yourself with an aura around yourself related to your career (or something you’re personally passionate about) and then imagine inviting someone in close to you, so that they are standing within your glow. When you do that, and you acknowledge that they are there whether publicly to the world (e.g. thru social media) or more privately (e.g. in a client meeting) — then when they walk away they get to take a little bit of your glow with them and that makes both of your auras brighter.

Who are you sharing your glow with today?” – From Lesliej.net