When I think about the next leaders in the marketing area, I think about Chris Brogan.He is well known speaker and author of a few books. The beauty of his blog and books that he talks with you and about you, not at you.
Chris has been my virtual leadership and marketing mentor for the last 2 years. I had the privilege to meet him in person few days ago. It was the end of a long-term goal to meet Chris some day.

From thinking forward, to going on your success path, to building an online business, to winning with the crowd, Chris covers a bunch of leadership skills that you can use in any business.

Here are 5 life insights from Chris:

1. Work by heart - Money is important, but Chris businesses are powered by heart.
2. Capture your ideas - Spend the time every day capture your insights and ideas by writing or drawing them on paper. It helps to make some deep thinking about your ideas.
3. Listening is a daily thing - Chris spends a lot of his time to listen. He speaks a lot in events, but still find the time to listen. We all have a lot to say, we don’t really need to do that in a one time.
4. Use framework to guide you - Chris use mind-maps as a powerful tool to capture his ideas and model his framework. When you have framework, you have a path. When you have a path, you have vision.
5. Don’t forget your family - When it comes to business and passion, you can find yourself really quick in 30 year career path while your children are growing up while their dad is flying around the world. Chris puts his family in the top of the list as it should be.

I hope you enjoy these lessons as much as I’ve enjoyed putting them together.

Year 2009 was a fascinating year. If you didn’t read the lessons learned during 2009, take a look now.

A year is 365 days of actions, ideas and dreams. At the end of every year, I always look back and choose the top 5 outcomes of the year. In addition, I also choose  the top 5 fails. Remember, always look to the future, but learn from the past. There is no logic in going 2 steps forward and 2 steps backward. Try always to go 2 steps forward and at worst 1 step back.

It’s funny to see that on the top of my 2009 list, I wrote the word “listen.” Listening has become a key aspect in both our offline and online worlds.

3 words for 2010

After reading Chris Brogan’s post about the 3 words, I always take the time to think deeply about those words. I find that it’s not so easy to come up with only 3 words to describe your efforts for the next year. Nonetheless, I find Chris’s method can be very helpful in setting your mindset about the upcoming year. However, make sure that these words are only the “big dreams,” as you have to make a really stable plan for the whole year.

My Words for 2010

After thinking about it for a while, my words for 2010 are: Venture, Team, Networked.

Networked

Networking for me is a fundamental aspect of every move of my day. I strive to learn from the experts. In 2010 I’m going to spend most of my time with the best networkers from all over the world. I have learned that a good networker is a combination of specific attributes. The art of networking is something I’m going to put my effort into during 2010.

Team

A leader is someone who can lead a team in the best way ever.  Your team is your key factor for the success of the company. As a purely team-oriented person, I’m going to spend the upcoming year learning more about working and building the best teams ever.

Venture

I have so many ideas in my head in every moment. This year I’m going to transform some of my ideas into new ventures. I’m reading a lot about new venture creation and doing the right research before turning my ideas into actions.

I will explain in the next few weeks how I make my one- and three-year plans from these three simple words.

Remember : Networked, Team, Venture.

Photo credit jimpatterson

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