Nominating MVPs; growing the tech community via the MVP Program

Over the weekend, I nominated another two people for the MVP Award. It’s possible that they will not be awarded, of course; I have no influence on the process. I like to nominate people; if they aren’t put forward for an Award, then they will never get it, but I always hope that they do. Why not put someone forward? It only takes a few moments and you could change someone’s life!

What does it really mean to be an MVP?  I’ve had this privilege for the last seven years, and this is just a list of my opinions. I don’t represent the Microsoft MVP Program or anyone else here; this is just a list of my opinions.

You will not get business out of it. Again, my personal opinion: I don’t believe that the MVP Award is given out for paid activities. I could be wrong but I believed it was only due to community unpaid contributions. If you are trying to build a business on being an MVP,  or you think it will help you to build a business, then you haven’t understood the Award. It’s hard to understand where the line is drawn, however. I think of it as the ‘Father Ted’ rule, referring to the series’ running joke about Father Ted’s continued defense of himself over money, and the other characters simply do not believe him. If an activity is open to interpretation and you have to keep justifying it to other people, or to yourself, perhaps it isn’t falling on the MVP side of the fence and you’d have to speak with the MVP lead in order to get clarification and advice as well as some direction in areas where you could contribute in order to get or keep the MVP Award. The MVP Lead can keep you right.

The MVP Award is a gift that can be taken away at any time. So why not share it with other people? I believe that the true mark of a leader is that they give power away, and take care of what they leave behind. You can nominate other people at the MVP Site.

Be technically outstanding. The MVP Award can be a label that people will try to use against you. I do see this in the workplace from time to time, where people can see you as being put on a pedestal, and before they have even met you in person, they are intent on knocking you off and knocking you down. My response to this is simply that I need to be ten times as good in order to get to the same place. So, I work incredibly hard in order to make sure that happens. It can feel like you’re the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, running a race to keep up. The end result is that, once you’re an MVP, you can’t rest on your laurels. You have to keep running. Also, note that the MVP Award doesn’t always mean as much to other people as it does to you. I visited an organization this week, actually, who had never heard of it and couldn’t care less; they were only interested in what I could offer them. Fortunately I stood up to the test!

Forget about number one, and have a higher vision in mind. You take a risk by being ‘seen’. You have to prepare yourself for greatness, if you want to be great at anything. This involves risk, which is the risk of being seen. You have to work at balancing a need for acceptance, which can make you invisible, versus the risks of making yourself seen. Being seen can make you vulnerable, and my way through it is by being authentic. People aren’t always going to like you. This is a tough one; it’s important to rise above it when people criticize you, and it’s important not to join in criticism of other people, too. I think you have to strive to be the person and the leader that you’d like to be. Don’t get pulled down. I’ve had some really terrible things said about me, and I just ignore it. It’s not weakness or stupidity if you don’t fight back: it’s about letting people show themselves, and having faith that others will see it.  Hard as it might be to swallow, you have to strive to show people a better way. This attitude can feel very out-of-place in the world of social media where everyone’s opinions are regarded as equivalent, and it comes down to ‘who shouts the loudest’. You have to strive to be better than that. It’s one of the risks and vulnerabilities of being seen.

Share your passions for technology. So, pass the Microsoft exams, blog, produce videos, or whatever content is your passion. You’ll learn more by sharing, trust me.

I don’t know if I will make it to 8 years as an MVP. I will find out in July. I have had a blast and I am grateful to be part of it. I show it by nominating others; so why don’t you do the same thing?