I had coffee with the director of a local residency program. The topic of blogs came up and he couldn't see the value of a blog for their residency program. My most compelling case made his face quietly contort. Then I realized: There are those who look out and those who look in. There are the public and private, connected and disconnected. There are those who ... Continue Reading about Outward Thinking Medical Leaders
4 Reasons to Consider a Surrogate Blog
As online reputation and digital footprint become more important for professionals, blogging has to play into your strategy. Unlike purely social applications, a blog represents one of the best ways to define and park your ideas for others to see. A surrogate blog is on way that doctors without their own blog can strongly impact their digital ... Continue Reading about 4 Reasons to Consider a Surrogate Blog
Doctors and the Endemic Culture of Permission
Recently Richard Smith, editor of the BMJ, called out the NEJM for failing to publish critical letters. His post in the BMJ blog network calls out NEJM as elitist. If electronic space is unlimited, he asks, why limit letters? Good point. Buy why assume that conversation is controlled by the NEJM? This is a great illustration of what I have come to call ... Continue Reading about Doctors and the Endemic Culture of Permission
Can I Deliver Your Presentation?
Recently one of my colleagues called and asked if she could borrow and deliver one of my presentations. Apparently she had been called on to give a talk on new communication tools in medicine. ‘Delivering’ someone else's presentation makes no sense. It's like borrowing somebody's comfortable shoes. You can do it but you’ll likely feel funny. If the crowd is ... Continue Reading about Can I Deliver Your Presentation?
The First Mover Advantage
In social networks there's a phenomenon called the first mover advantage. The first person who shows up gets some advantage. This happens in business as well. The first person to create a commodity always has the upper hand over the next guy who replicates it. I showed up early to Twitter as a physician. I was a unicorn and people followed me to see what I’d ... Continue Reading about The First Mover Advantage
A Purpose Driven Public Presence
I had lunch with 3 pediatric surgeons recently. One was a Twitter user, the others were not. We got to talking about the ins and outs of Twitter and one of the non-users asked, ‘Why do you want more followers?’ There was an awkward silence. I had a related experience a few months back with a pathologist new to LinkedIn. He knew about my interest in public ... Continue Reading about A Purpose Driven Public Presence