Sometimes you’re a Indian, sometimes you’re a Chief
There's a saying that there are chiefs and then there are Indians, and any organization needs the right mix of both. Sometimes a chief will be an Indian and sometimes an Indian will be a chief. Now I don't want to beleaguer the Native American stereotypes too much, so here goes… It's pretty simple really, any group, company, or organization needs leaders and those leaders need to have followers. In most organizations the leaders burn out or just simply lose control, and someone else steps up and takes the lead, and the former leader, while still holding a role falls into a bit of a follower role.
Communities are the same. These are ALL Voluntary organizations. People participate; people come and go as they can. Unfortunately sometimes those people don't ever step up, so therefore they are trolls. Sure they show up to meetings, they bellyache about stuff in forums, but they never actually step up and take a lead or really contribute. For some that is o.k., for others not-so-much.
I was recently at a Microsoft Across America event in San Antonio. We put up a table and talked to a variety of people, techies, business people, Microsoft People, etc. We had planned to give away a copy of Office 07 Professional NFR as a door prize, but during a rush of people at the table someone just grabbed it and walked off. All I can say is shame on you! I later found out who had done it. The guy was a techie, someone who should already have access to it through his participation in the Microsoft Partner Program. What a Troll!?!?!? Sure I probably should have taken better steps to safe guard the product, but seriously, that is borderline thievery. Is this someone you want setting up your LOB or your network? I digress…
Some people are followers, whether they know it or not, they simply just don't know how to lead. Some people don't know how to give-back; they only know how to take. Some people only 'participate' to make money, and that's a real shame. The SBS community is losing one of its better leaders because he has become disillusioned with the leaders, but probably more acurately with the participants, who have not stepped up and changed the leadership. He does not impress me as being someone who will stop participating and leading, because he A) makes money from it, but B) more importantly is addicted to it because he simply cares too much about his partners. Is this the start of something new? Is this a shot across the bow of those other leaders in the community? Time will tell. What this community of IT providers that base their business primarily on servicing Microsoft Small Business Server and customers in the 1-5 server and 10-250 client space, really needs is fresh leadership. Community builders and participants who regularly give back, though PARTICIPATION, not ranting; through CONTRIBUTING, not sponging.
So look back at your experiences, be they in business, or in technology, and look at what you have to offer. We are in this together, and if you have EVER gotten advise on the side, gotten a free tax tip, or a free tip on Throttling session concurrency with SBS / Exchange 2003, then you should be contributing. All information is valuable, and while it could be sold at $245/incident, but should it be. Or… could that knowledge be traded in a loosely, in a non quid-pro-quo manner through the sharing of knowledge and leveraging of the communities collective body of work and experience. Before we go mortgaging the farm on this idea, think about the Intellectual Property you have. For many of us in this field all we have is IP, gained through years of experiences and trials and tribulations. Some sell goods like hardware and software to augment their IP practice, but at the core they are selling their experience. So if you sell your IP, have you ever gotten advice or a solution from a friend, cohort, or even GOOGLE??? If so you are socially obligated to give back. So step up and post a blog, write an article, or answer a post in a forum, constructively!!!