It’s Wednesday and I’m in St. Louis getting some work done in my hotel room before I speak this afternoon for my customer. When I opened my Blogging Dashboard I noticed something… this is my 100th weekly blog post. That’s two years, almost 100,000 words, and the equivalent of two published books. I paused for a minute as it sank in and I actually said “Wow.”

When I first started blogging two years ago I wasn’t sure exactly how it would all go. What would I write about each week? Would anyone really read it? Would anyone really care? Would it really be helpful to anyone? Without knowing the answers to any of them, I decided to just start at the encouragement of my dear friend Cynthia.

I’ve learned a lot in 25 years of communication and I’ve also learned a lot over the past 2 years of blogging. Here’s four lessons I’ve pulled from this experience.

4 Leadership Lessons for us all…

1. It’s a conversation not a research paper

Talk to people when you communicate, don’t just share research. This applies to Sales Professionals and Leaders too. When you’re speaking to your prospective customer or the team you lead, they want you to communicate with them conversationally.

Don’t do the “show up and throw up” method of dumping data on them. Sure there needs to be a logical reason for making a decision, but they want to be engaged in conversation, not “sold an idea.” Be genuine, be real, and focus on what they need from you… then give it to them!

2. Do it for love

The past two years of blogging has not always been easy. There were times I was filled with self-doubt and I questioned what I was doing. But then, with almost divine perfect timing, I’d get one comment from one person, totally unprompted… “I read your post this week and it helped me with a  conversation that day! Keep it up!”

You’ve all heard this tip before. We will find happiness when we find the work we love. But how do we find that? Here’s a hint… find your work by focusing on how it helps others. You’ll find more joy when you believe in the “why” behind your work. Let your love for others drive your love for the work. Focus on the “why” not the “what” of your work.

“ You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want. —ZIG ZIGLAR

3. Leadership is about relationships, not goals

True leaders know you can’t get everything done on your own. Even with my small blog site, I’ve had to leverage multiple relationships to gather research, obtain guidance, ask for feedback, and request input. (To all of those who have provided input to me over the past two years I am thankful!)

If you want to achieve a goal, whether you’re an individual contributor or a leader, always remember… Goals are achieved through people. So, focus on your relationships first and your goals second.

4. There’s always more to learn; never stop learning

With my first few blog posts I expected to write about what I already knew from my past experience. In the first 100 posts, I’ve probably written equally about past knowledge and something new I’d just learned! No matter what your title is or where you are in your career, there’s always something else you can learn.

The goal for learning more is so you can share more. If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backwards. There is no standing still. Don’t learn for personal gain, learn so you can share with others. Think of yourself as a pipeline, not a jar. The knowledge and learning should flow through you to connect and teach the next generation. Don’t let it fill up and stop with you!

Whether you know it or not, people are watching you and learning from you.

What Did You Like?

Based on your reader comments, online shares, and web-page visits, here are the top 8 posts from the first 100 articles.

1. The Authenticity Manifesto
2. Four Ways to Visually Engage Your Audience
3. How to Leverage the Power of “Different”
4. Four Ways to Truly Know the People You Lead
5. Five Reasons Why Stories Are Better than Data
6. Three Steps for a Leader to Create Change
7. One thing you can do this year to improve your influence
8. How the Best Leaders Make Change Stick

Thank you!

Thank you all for being a part of my life over the past two years and THANK YOU for reading and engaging. Please let me hear from you if I can ever help. If you’ve got a suggestion on what to write about or if you need to challenge my thinking, I hope you’ll reach out and connect.

My prayer for you all is better communication for stronger relationships leading you to true joy.

Best,
Russ

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Russ Peterson Jr. is the co-founder and Managing Director of iSpeak, Inc. – An award-winning professional development training company. Russ is a speaker, international trainer, and published author on Professional Sales Communication and Business Communication. He delivers workshops, keynotes, and personal communication coaching services to business professionals in the US and around the world. You can connect with Russ directly through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.