Forward to C C Chapman

Okay, it should say "foreword by..." but I was being cute!

Check out his website & you'll discover "CC Chap - I do stuff. I go places."  Defines New England plain spoken!  Like his foreword to Engagement from Scratch.  Straight forward, great stuff!

He is spot-on about passion - it IS contagious.  Grounded passion.  Without a stable foundation, you come across as Tigger when you want to be experienced as more a Kanga. (apologies to everyone who isn't a Winnie the Pooh fan - and if you don't know the difference between a Tigger & a Kanga, I strongly recommend you read yourself in). Genuine passion acts as a magnet - people long for passion & even the most self-absorbed taker respects the real deal in others. 

"You have to be the perfect mix of cheerleader, scout master & army general in order to foster your community."  Amen - the general part is new to me, am getting more at ease in the essential role of strategy & well-executed implementation.

Small wonder that I knew by the end of the 1st page of the forward that THIS was my book, THESE were destined to be my people -- "Figure out how you can help others, tell them stories, and share openly everything you know so that people will recognize you as someone you can trust."  wow...  This person, fellow tribe members "get" me.  In my experience, those very behaviors bred distrust.  With my family, with my work cohorts, with romantic others.  My sibs & sister-in-laws were, possibly still are, convinced that I had a hidden agenda behind my "manipulative" niceness.  At work, people would say, "You're different" - they couldn't figure me out*.  A heart's desire (so not John) told me that his friends distrusted me because I was too open, sharing.  But here, right there on the first page & throughout the book are people who are just as free & easy with offering knowledge & help as moi.  Home at last!

In writing online, "The ones who share more about their lives are the ones who allow more to connect."  This sentence sums up my first experience with C.C. Chapman (does he go by CC?  Chap?  other?), on his website.  His article - One Last Summer All Together - goes straight to my heart.  His oldest son is heading out to college in the fall.  The dynamics will never be the same, so he is savoring this summer.  The photo is one of him with his kids - when they are little.  PING to the soul!  The man clearly practices what he preaches - am all his.

My life dances before my eyes reading, "Never stop nurturing your immediate network, but always try to reach out & bring in their extended network as well."  This is a quality & attitude I readily admire in others & feel is lacking in moi.  Am blessed to have friends with the special gift of fostering growing expanding their real-life community, a grace I hope to bring to my online community.

The best piece of advice CC Chapman received was "to find a mentor who will challenge you."   I look around my room at the scores of books taking pride of place on the shelves, each a treasured voice & beloved mentor.  Then I look forward in the book next to me, where so many members of my tribe await me.  CC/Chap/whatever sets a high bar - "In the following pages you'll meet a slew of great mentors who will open up, share their best advice, and challenge you to be better.  The best thing about most of them is that they understand the small town mentality, if you contact them after reading what they have to say, I bet they'll respond because they are building their own community & know that every single person matters. ~ Always remember that if you are good to others & never stop working hard, amazing things will happen."  wow.

Home at last.

*For years, I'd respond to "You're different" with a smile & immediate disclaimer - "Oh no I'm not, not at all different."  The fact of the matter is that I was.  By nature & nurture, I was brought up with a deep love of being useful.  In the business world, that trait set me apart from most people, although I hadn't a clue.  There was a reason for people to feel I was different.  It just was a difference they were unfamiliar with, so it made them sort of uneasy.  My disavowing it didn't help.  My career - which had been middling mediocre - shot off like a rocket when I finally started responding differently.  If someone said, "You're different" (and I am still amazed at how many times they did), instead of push-toshing them, I'd look them square in the eye, lean right into their space, drop my voice & say, "And you have NO idea just how different I am."  They loved it!  And started whole-heartedly trusting me.