Yesterday I shared that I have built a #WOLweek presentation about my recent trip to Australia.

I am no Australia SME, but I am willing to speak my truth of what I find, and to enter into discourse. Marketing at its best is a direct conversation / connection with a stakeholder, not a sales job. In CorporateWorld, all the edges get bashed off the work – an emptiness prevails. I am trying to reinvigorate the process of sharing our work – as it is, by who we are, for what it is worth. Nothing more.

Let’s trust our stakeholder audience to make a good decision about it. Australia is a long way away from everywhere. Maybe I can create a little stim for them, in kind for the reception I received from my hosts. Maybe I can open up a couple of new conversations in HQ about what we do, why and how we do it, and how we can better support the business and personal outcomes. Maybe.

I will share some content about how I found the cities I visited – Perth smells of money btw – about who are the characters in the offices, about their attitudes and excitements, their worries and issues. I will share my limited insight into the future of the business, about the opportunities.

I will reflect on meeting colleagues in very different circumstances to me – a Chief Engineer working 6 weeks on, 6 weeks off on a vessel in Australia has almost nothing in common with a guy videoing their work environment and asking stupid questions about what that button does.

Yet, we have some similarities – one of the greatest joys of my job is meeting a random colleague only to discover that they commit just as much as I do – often more – to the organizational values that bind us together. I never get tired of telling people that I work where I do because I get to work with the smartest, most focused people I have ever met. It is a deep privilege and a tough thing to ever walk away from.

Now, working out loud on, ostensibly, other people’s stuff might seem a bit weird. Can’t they share that stuff? Sure they can, but the muscle is not there. I have it. I have built it for years, stressing it, breaking it down and rebuilding it. I am strong. Others, in their busy lives, can’t figure out the process (and don’t have the interest, either).

I can “teach” it. I prefer to practice it, and lead from the front. That is who I am. I poked the team in Australia. I showed them what to look out for, who amongst them was leading already, how to compete (and how simple it is to). I cannot demand they work out loud, that they share their work. I can showcase best in class and challenge their assumptions. I can – and do – make grand promises of how we can help them when they are ready to share – web, social, SEO etc. etc.

Meanwhile, I am betting on an interest in that conversation in Vancouver. How much interest, I have no idea, but an interest nonetheless. The beauty of working out loud, of #WOLweek, is…”we shall see.”

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