Lean In – Ananda Leeke

Connecting with new friends Pauline Campos and Sherri Good at the BlogHer 13 Expo Hall on July 25 at the McCormick Place in Chicago, IL

Happy August! Happy Friday!

Last week, I attended the 9th Annual BlogHer Conference held at the McCormick Place and Sheraton Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. What a time I had! It was intense, inspiring, and informative. That’s why I decided to write several blog recaps.

Today’s blog recap is about my “Lean In Moment.” The theme is based on Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead and the impact of her BlogHer Conference interview with Lisa Stone, BlogHer Co-Founder and COO, on July 27. For more information, watch part one and part two of Tracy Baim’s video of the interview.

I read Sandberg’s book earlier this year. It took me a full weekend to inhale her words and wisdom. Her book was filled with many golden nuggets I have used in my life and shared with other women. It also inspired me to write and submit a case study entitled “Lean In and Listen to Yourself” for the Hot Mommas Project. As a result, I was recently named a 2012-2013 author for the Hot Mommas Project case study library.

When I learned Sandberg would be a BlogHer keynote, I was thrilled! Here are the key takeaways I received from her interview with Stone.

Believe in yourself.
I am unapologetically a feminist (inspired by Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments and one of my virtual mentors from the 1990s).
Reach for any ambition.
Ask yourself what would you do if you weren’t afraid, and then reach for those ambitions.

At the end of her interview, she challenged audience members to write what they would do if they weren’t afraid on paper signs her LeanIn.org provided, take photos with the signs, and tweet and post the photos on LeanIn.org Tumblr. I loved the challenge. Check out the statements I wrote below.

My "Lean In" Statement — My “Lean In” Statement

Writing these statements helped me get clearer on what I really want to do with my passion, gifts, energy, and time. My next step is to lean in and publish my Digital Sisterhood book (you know the one I have been writing since 2009 — what a journey!), create space in my life to write more books and create art, and plan when I will cut my locs and grow my Angela Davis afro (will probably happen during my 50th year on earth which is fast approaching in 2014 — maybe even 2015).

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

What are you leaning into?

UPDATE: BlogHer posted a full video of Sheryl Sandberg’s interview. Click here to watch it. Also, check out a video of BlogHer’s Lean In Circles session held at the 2013 conference. Enjoy!

Happy Internet Geek Tuesday!

I am getting ready for my social media leadership talk on July 26 and July 27 at the 9th Annual BlogHer Conference in Chicago. Here’s a sneak peek!

“What Kind of Social Media Leader Are You?” is the official title of my talk. It’s based on a section of my upcoming book, Digital Sisterhood: A Memoir of Fierce Living Online.

Photo Credit: http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-yes-yes-yes/

If you answer yes to one or more of the six questions listed below, my talk will be of interest to you.

Do you have a blog with more than one blog reader?
Do you use social media and have more than one follower or friend?
Do you use social media to build community and connect with others?
Do you use social media to share information and resources?
Do you use social media to advocate for causes or social good campaigns?
Do you use social media to promote your business, personal brand, products, or services?

A “yes” answer to these questions opens the door to what my talk is all about: showing BlogHer attendees that they are social media leaders because they possess Digital Power and a Digital Platform of Influence.

Digital Power consists of your digital footprint (blog, online business, web site, and social media), communities, and efforts.

A Digital Platform of Influence is derived from the impact you have on your blog readers and social media followers and friends when you:

Advocate causes.
Build communities.
Create mobile applications, art, books, businesses, products, publications, services, tools, and webisodes.
Curate content.
Educate and inform.
Give voice to your thoughts as subject matter experts, thought leaders, and brand ambassadors.
Share information and experiences.
Explore and experiment with new technologies as early adopters and trendsetters.
Participate in social good campaigns.
Inspire and motivate.
Mentor.
Network.
Tell your personal stories.
Promote and celebrate the expertise, gifts, and talents of others.

As you engage in these activities, your blog readers and social media followers and friends are watching what you say and do online. They are learning from your example. Whether you know it or not, you are leading them. That makes you a social media leader. Yes, I said it. You are a social media leader!

My BlogHer talk will help conference attendees define the type of leadership they want to bring to their readers and social media followers and friends. During the talk, I will introduce the 12 key leadership roles I have witnessed social media leaders play in my work with the Digital Sisterhood Leadership Project. They include the roles of advocate, community builder, creator, curator, educator, influencer, mentor, motivator, promoter, social do gooder, storyteller, and thought leader. I will also share how I have used these roles to create the profiles of seven Digital Sisterhood Leadership Archetypes that can be used to develop leadership styles in blogging and social media: Creativista, Empirista, Empowerista, Enchantista, Evangelista, Flowista, and Lifestylista. To learn more about these archetypes, click here to visit my #BlogHer13 Social Media Leadership Talk Pinterest Board. I have pinned photos and a short blog post for each archetype. Happy reading!

If you are seeking additional leadership resources, check out the links below.

Asian Women Leadership Network
ASPIRE (organization dedicated to developing career and leadership skills for Asian American girls and women)
Barnard College’s Athena Center for Leadership Studies
Digital Sisterhood Leadership Project Pinterest Board (contains photos and links to profiles of various social media women leaders)
ELLA Leadership Institute (mission-driven professional development center and web site that provides leadership coaching, information, and resources to Latina women)
ELLA Leadership Network (online leadership community for Latina women)
Harvard Business School’s Women’s Leadership Forum
InPowerCoaching.com (leadership and career coaching web site with tons of great articles and information)
Leadership Resources Pinterest Board
LeagueofBlackWomen.org
LeanIn.org (global community that promotes women’s leadership and career development)
National African-American Women’s Leadership Institute, Inc.
National Hispana Leadership Institute
Simmons College’s Leadership Conference
Spelman College’s Leadership and Women of Color Conference
TaketheLeadWomen.com (leadership organization, web site, and training service)
The Hot Mommas Project (the world’s largest women’s case study library, providing free online access to stories of diverse female leaders, role models and mentors)
UCLA Women’s Leadership Institute
WomenatLiberty.com’s Leadership Tuesdays (great leadership-related blog posts and articles)
Women Leaders Pinterest Board

Hope to see you at #BlogHer13 in Chicago!