Extended Friday Follow

Sometimes a 140 character limit just won’t cut it, so today I’m trying something new with the Twitter’s Follow Friday. Here’s my #FF for this week, in alphabetical order and sans the 140 constraint.

Roy Atkinson, known for his witty Twitter “Groaner” puns, is as funny in real life as he is in the digital world.  A former musician, he is now an IT supervisor in Maine near Acadia National Park. He’s committed to exploring character-based leadership and does so with a buoyant energy that’s contagious.

The Lead Change Group connected me to Dave Brand. He’s a scientist by trade who now works in 3M’s leadership development department. Dave’s a talented researcher; I can always count on him to have an extensive list of best practices for any leadership-related topic.

For a truly go-give HR person, follow Steve Browne.  What I appreciate about Steve is that he’s constantly looking for ways to connect people for business purposes. Steve sends out a fantastic newsletter, the HR Net, which is also an online discussion board. Steve works as an HR director for a company that “gets” social media and fully endorses his online networking.

Franke James and I met via Twitter just a few short months ago. She’s the editor of the Office Politics website and author of Dear Office Politics: The Game Everyone Plays. She’s a wonderful collaborator and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her while we’ve worked on a few projects.

There are many reasons I follow Dan McCarthy. One is his excellent leadership blog Great Leadership. A second reason is that he’s in the trenches every day as a developer of leaders and I appreciate his “real world” take on our profession. Thirdly, even though he has a full time day job, he’s always willing to give advice and share ideas. Oh, another thing—he laughs at my jokes.

Anne Perschel is a business psychologist who recently wrote Fixing the Hole in the Corporate Soul which spurred her to start the Corporate Soul Movement on her blog.  Some people get a bit freaked out by folks with a PhD in psychology, but with Anne, you needn’t worry. She’s funny, smart and always willing to engage.

I follow Erin Schreyer because she’s enthusiastic and gets things done.  As a leadership consultant in the Cincinnati area, she’s worked to unite the leadership community by organizing some great networking events. She just finished up a certification in Marcus Buckingham’s Simply Strengths program, so if you’re in the market for that type of leadership development, give Erin a holler.