What a week this has been! I’ve never felt more blessed than right now. Even with all the times I’ve been greatly blessed in the past life events with my marriage, the birth of our daughter, and the purchase of our first home, since I’ve lost my job I’ve never felt more free and unencumbered to pursue opportunities that are most meaningful to me. I love writing. I love public speaking. And I love helping others. Linkedin has been a big part of the blessing by giving me the opportunity to do all three.

People from all over the world have been noticing my activity on Linkedin. I’ve received more emails and comments from my blog posts, especially the ones on Authentic Leadership, than I could have ever imagined. I’ve even had the distinct pleasure to mentor someone remotely to hel[ him draft his own Leadership Framework. He is a friend for life and we’ve never met.

This all started because of the book proposal, which is still moving forward by the way. Yesterday I completed a 1 ½ page concise proposal for the editor which she uses internally within the publishing company for the global sales and marketing groups. She asked me to complete it and leave the rest to her. If she’s half as determined as I sense she is, I’m hoping I’ll be able to tell you soon that we’ve gone to contract.

I’ve landed a public speaking engagement because of Linkedin. I’ll be giving a 45-minute presentation on Authentic Leadership for the Association of Information Technology Professionals on March 18th at 5:15pm. I’m not a member of the AITP…yet that is, but the January meeting is being held at the NC State University Club on Hillsborough St. I plan to attend to get a feel of things. I won’t have the specifics about the March event until later. Depending on how things go in March, I may have a second opportunity to speak on the power of social networking later in the year.

Yesterday I had a face to face meeting with a senior level recruiter. He told me he had been watching my activity on Linkedin and has never seen anyone “work it” as I have been doing. I’ve been having a lot of fun with this and never considered that I would be perceived as “working it.” He said that every time he turns around and sees another Linkedin update, it has my name mentioned. He wishes he could teach all of his clients how to network as effectively. Then we discussed some opportunities he has coming up. He asked my permission to present me for a Chief Information Officer position that has just opened up in Durham. Of course, permission granted.

There are other opportunities being presented as well, but it’s way too much to write in a single blog post. For now, I want to thank you all for being such a great encouragement to me. Even though we are still recovering from the greatest recession since the Great Depression, you are living proof that cream rises to the top. Your thoughtfulness and consideration makes it easy for me to get up in the morning. Please keep the emails and comments coming. Let’s make sure to shake hands at an upcoming network group meeting. I’m looking forward to meeting you. Who knows? You might just become the topic in my next “Person of Interest” blog.