This blog is the third in a series of blogs on people that have added something important to the world of communications.  Today, my gratitude is for Pam Slim.  The series is personal and partial, but I welcome nominations for those you think I’ve missed.  I’m grateful to these people because understanding how we communicate is desperately important to bettering our humanity in both business and life.  Miscommunications are sometimes merely irritating, but sometimes fatal.  Business communications are usually banal and boring and only occasionally riveting.  Leadership is tougher than ever – and more than ever about communicating well.  The great business communicators can turn little companies into dominant ones and truly change the world.

So why Pam?  Pam is an inspiring speaker, consultant, and author.  You can see her, below, talking at a TEDx event.  Her book is Escape from Cubicle Nation, and it’s all about how why and how you should leave your apparently safe corporate job and start your own apparently risky business.  The book is a must-read for anyone with entrepreneurial ambitions or dreams. Reading it, I learned a thing or two about running your own business even though I’ve been doing exactly that since 1997, so Pam can even teach an old dog new tricks. 

Pam spoke at our 2010 Public Words Speaker Forum and gave an unforgettable talk on social media – not the ‘how’, but the ‘why’:  why am I trying to reach people in the first place? Why do they need to hear what I have to say?

For Pam, the answer to all those questions was Jon the ballplayer:  a young guy trapped in a job he didn’t care about who’d had an offer to play pro baseball in Germany. His parents didn’t approve and he wasn’t sure if he should take the offer, but when Slim sent his story out to her audience through social media, the resounding “yes” that
 came back helped convinced Jon and his parents to take that leap.

And for me, that sums up the essence of Pam Slim – grounded, caring, and real.  The way in which she uses her platform to help other people realize their dreams is inspiring – and surely one of the best right ways to use social media – and I’m grateful.

Thanks, Pam.