What Impact Do You Have on Your Community?
How often do you think about the impact you have on your community--and let's not forget your family? Every interaction, no matter how small, leaves a mark on the people around you, and those moments influence others' lives far more than any of us usually realize.
Every interaction--including every comment or reply that you make--will either build others up or pull them down. It will either strengthen your relationships or weaken them. More importantly, it will either encourage those people or discourage them from meeting their potential.
It's time to be intentional. Which will you choose?
Do not confuse this choice with "walking on eggshells" to avoid offending people, and do not fall into the trap of people-pleasing. If you are confident or curious about a topic, combine that with meekness and humility. Honest, thoughtful engagement is often the most generous thing you can offer. It creates a profound opportunity for yourself and others to learn and grow together.
Everything that you write or say will either create value or create noise in an already distracted world.
Tim O'Reilly famously urged entrepreneurs to "create more value than you capture." His message was an inspiring frame for the principles of:
- working hard on problems that matter
- rethinking workflows and experiences to make them more human-centered and efficient
- closing the loop to ensure your products or services create benefits that extend beyond your own business
- using idealism as a competitive advantage that builds on trust, loyalty, and long-term resilience
I have since tried to internalize this maxim as "create more value than you consume." Do my posts come close to that idea? Given the incredible community around PowerShell, cybersecurity, Microsoft 365, and my other interests, this can be a real challenge--but it's even more important today when it's so easy to spin up an AI-generated project and even easier to fire off a snarky reply to the latest tech debate.
Again, it's time to be intentional. Which will you choose? Will you build the community up or pull it down?
I'm grateful for you all!
Sam