Merry Christmas...A Time of Sharing

At a breakfast meeting the other day, I enjoyed a brief discussion with a colleague who, after running several successful businesses, is embarking on a new one. That is not at all unusual for anyone in this group, but what is different is that he is starting a company focused on helping companies understand and take advantage of EQ - Emotional Intelligence Quotient. EQ measures an individual's ability to recognize the emotions in themselves and others and the ability to cope in dynamic environments. Think about the people who could use his help; the genius with absolutely zero people skills, the pathetically dry boss or the ridiculously boring teacher. They all have low EQ, which some say is the single biggest predictor of an individual's success in life. He explained that he discovered the reason his last company was so successful was that leadership relied a lot on common sense, so he has decided to help others achieve the same success. I wish him well. It won't be easy, but it sure is a great thing to work on.

The discussion of EQ led us into another favorite topic of mine...one that seems fitting for this holiday season. Sharing. You know, it is that nice thing we do in abundance at this time of year. It is that thing our parents taught us very early and the lesson our teachers continued. Then somewhere as we entered the business world, sharing was forgotten. In the effort to be competitive, sharing had to go. One of the others in our circle of conversation about sharing, told us that early in her professional career, she was reprimanded for using the word. It made her sound silly. It made her seem soft. I shared my own story that had a similar ring, but it was because "sharing" was a word I used often when launching our collaborative software.

So here we are. We know that common sense, (EQ) and sharing are good things. And since this is supposed to be a weekly column having to do with process/workflow and technology, I'll get to the point. Here it is. Microsoft just decided to "share" the fact that SharePoint is not a good solution for small and medium sized businesses. Talk about common sense ruling. Most small and medium sized businesses I know could have told you that. They have really good common sense...if they did not, they would be out of business by now.

Frankly, I am a bit disappointed about the news. I remember being so excited when someone I hoped to help at least had heard of Microsoft's SharePoint. They knew what I meant when I talked about using collaboration software to "share" information, documents, contacts and calendars. Thinking now about my breakfast conversation, I realize that describing collaboration using the web as sharing was not a good thing. Actually, I realized it years ago, but never found another word that described the process as well. Luckily for me, there are a few companies led by folks with high EQ's, otherwise I would be out of business.

So share this holiday season. Share your gifts. Share your love. Share your time. Share with friends. Share with strangers. Share. Share. Share. And when the holiday season is over, you might want to continue the practice in your business. If you do, I hope my friend and I will run across you. With willingness to share and common sense, you are someone we could both enjoy!!

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