The blockbuster film Avatar showed us how easy it is to move from one reality into another environment where the rules are different.  Where a person can be reborn into a 10 foot tall, blue, non-English speaking, dragon-creature-flying, environment-protecting militiaman.  So is it all that hard to fathom that leadership inside the four walls of an organization morphs into something different in the virtual world?  I wondered about that and so experimented by creating a blog titled:  Peg Breen’s Blog:  In Search of Meaningful Work. (http://pegbreen.wordpress.com)

Like millions of other people, and  thousands of other executives, I was without employment and in search of not only a new job, but one that I could be passionate about and that allowed me to use my talents.  Since I was one of a close knit group who exited my organization at the same time,  I decided to use the opportunity to demonstrate my leadership through this blog.  I wrote about the stress of this kind of transition, the reactions that people have when you go through job loss, and what it was like to surface leads, network and stay positive despite the fact that, yes, you are “blue”.  Not because you are on the fictional planet Pandora, but because of the emotions this circumstance creates.  I set out to be a positive, inspiring, humorous motivator to my colleagues, and may have helped my own psyche as much or more than any of my readers.

I discovered that the intimacy and anonymity of blogs helps people let their hair down.  They can release their emotions much easier, there are no titles or power broker relationships, just virtual-equals sharing their perspective.  This is valuable inside organizations. Why?  Because perceiving that you have a voice and that you’ll be heard, not censored is very empowering. Real organizations should do this more often. I also found that when I met my colleagues for dinner or  breakfast, there was an even closer trust relationship.  It seems that the blog enhanced our ability to show compassion, and to trust and collaborate on strategies related to our individual job searches.  Finally, the blog gave me something that is a rare gift.  The time to reflect.  How many of us put in our 60 hour week, respond to 100 emails a day and barely get in our run at the fitness club?  Through this written, intimate venue, I momentarily turned into the psychologist from the sitcom “Frazier” and in doing so was able to be everything a leader should be for myself and for friends I’ll value for a lifetime.