I have been writing this blog for less than a year but I have been a reader of blogs for much longer. My faithful Google Reader brings me much joy as I read the blogs of great HR folks throughout the country. It seems almost a daily occurrence that I find some useful piece of guidance or information that can apply to my own work. Being able to call upon people and refer to the knowledge others have makes my job easier.
This on-going connectedness has many benefits. We all have areas that we struggle to be as successful as we are in others and being able to look to others who have conquered an issue and are willing to share that knowledge is extremely valuable. I am pleased as more of my HR colleagues take on blogging and increase their visibility at state and local HR conferences as speakers and the experts that they are. The more exposure that the HR profession has to many of the great and active voices that are in the consciousness, the better we all can be in terms of pulling together our strengths to benefit the profession, our organizations, and those we work with on a daily basis.
One strategy I am using is to expose my HR staff to some of the blogs I read so that they can begin to explore and see the larger HR world that exists outside our organization and our local SHRM chapter. Good ideas come from everywhere and building on these is the best way to build a feeling of abundance and avoid the feelings of isolation and desperation that can sow the seeds of doubt.
My current MBA class is focusing on quality issues within organizations. A phrase from the first class seems appropriate for us who want to learn while in the blogosphere. Unconnected knowledge is not as useful or satisfying as learning applied for individual and group benefit. Reach out, share your knowledge, and be willing to suspend your own certainty to learn something from someone else each and every day.
