Mavens, Connectors and Salespeople: Really do exist.

After reading Charlie Gilkey’s article, “Maven, Connector, or Salesperson: What’s Your Archetype?”, I began to think about the individuals that make up our learning design department.  I also started to look and think about the other individuals in our supervisory union and those individuals that make up part of my personal learning network.  I never really thought about the three different archetypes of people.  I can see we have a representation of each type in our department with the connections each of us makes with each other, teachers, students and the community. There are those of us that are the mavens that help collect the information, who are always working on the next initiative.  We have connectors within the department that have strong relationships with so many individuals throughout the district and beyond and bring these resources back to the table for everyone to make use of the many connections.  And finally, we have the leader who is a salesperson, without selling anything. They are strong with the power of persuasion. They are able to explain a plan or an idea and have others buy into it and enjoy the process by just communicating the process and getting them hooked on the idea. I can see all three archetypes in many of the individuals I work with or reach out to for support myself.

Currently, I am finding my place on Twitter.  I have started to use this social media tool to help look more closely at someone I may be thinking of following.  I need to build connections to help me with understanding my new role of the learning design technology coordinator. It is an interesting role. I find myself playing the role of the maven most of the time.  So many projects and ideas that I need to spend time on and plan out on how I can share the information with others.  I find myself being the connector between the thirteen schools at times.  We have teachers doing amazing things in all the buildings.  Sometimes it is not easy for them to share ideas with being spread over such a large area of the Northeast Kingdom.  There are times where I am able to be the connector and share the information with others.  And finally, I do find myself falling into the salesperson type.  Where there is a new program we are rolling out, I find myself often trying to convince teachers why the change will be ok.

So, back to myself, I hope to continue to use social media to find the three different archetypes of people that I can connect with to help build my personal learning network.  Finding mavens that can share information with me about my role or about the latest tech in education.  I need to make connections with individuals that will help move me past just what is happening NEK so I can bring the info back to NCSU and support the community here. And finally, I need to learn who is the salesperson who may be trying to get you to buy into something but making sure it fits into our needs.  I am excited to now have an understanding of these roles and can see how they will impact my participation in social media and in my current work environment. I will be interested in observing how roles change with individuals over time.