Secrets of my Success: How to be a Great Leader
Posted: Tuesday, November 30, 2010
by Bruce Horst
WryteStuff
When I last left off, I was at the top of my game working as a Tech Manager at a Best Buy service center in Houston, Texas. It was May 2002 and I was probably on the verge of burning out. Corporate announced that they were going to consolidate our service center in Houston with the one in Dallas, but not to worry, we could all move to Dallas or other locations. I had built my Internet hobby of developing websites into a nice sideline. Jean was working part-time at our church and they were asking for her to increase her hours there. This would be the perfect time for me to try to be a stay at home dad with my youngest son Nick, who was two years old. It would be a major decrease in income, but with some hard work, I thought we could make ends meet.
A concept that I understood early on was that if I wanted people to complete an action on one of my websites, I needed to make it hard NOT for them to complete the action.
“I told her that as an administrative assistant, she didn't need to make those idiots look good when she had a perfectly fine idiot at home that she could be making look good. She agreed.”
To this day, people can comment on articles on SearchWarp without registering first. It's taken a lot of work to keep the comments on SearchWarp SPAM-free, but if a reader has a comment to make after reading an article on SearchWarp, I've tried to remove all the hindrances to leaving a comment. In other words, I've tried to make it hard NOT to leave a comment. I think this has served us well, though I admit over the years there have been a lot of things which have crept in, making SearchWarp more difficult to use than it should be.
At first I only had to check in on SearchWarp every few months. As it grew in popularity it became a daily chore. In early Summer of 2005 I realized that if I was going take a family vacation, we'd need some help. We hired a good friend, @Member14188, as an editor to help us out.
Somewhere in here, something odd happened. I started receiving fan mail! (Thank you, @Member81073.) I've always operated SearchWarp according to my own moral values, but I was surprised to find that some people were finding this helpful. As they were being helped, sometimes they'd send me fan mail. Here I was, trying to support my family with my Internet hobby, and people were telling me that our web business was helping them get through life. For years, when someone would ask, "how's business?" I would say, "Business is good. And I get fan mail!"
It took longer than it should've, but one day I realized that if I liked receiving fan mail, then the writers on SearchWarp certainly would too. It only took a few hours to create 'fan clubs' on SearchWarp, and it was an instant hit. As far as I know, this pre-dates the fan clubs of MySpace and facebook.
I think what I learned here was that everyone needs to be appreciated for something. There's nothing that replaces good ol' appreciation. When I was working as a manager at Best Buy, I realized that for many people, their lives were either made miserable or fulfilling, depending on words from their boss. A person's self-esteme can often be built or broken on words from their boss. This sure seems like an incredible mis-placement of power, one which is often either abused or overlooked. It was in 2005 that I started to realize that I had a little of this power as a website developer. Over the years we've received emails from people saying that SearchWarp helped them get through hard times. Some have written to say that they had been helped to get their alcoholism under control. We've even had people write and say that for a time, SearchWarp gave them a reason to live. Jean and I have felt so honored to be a part of this.
Let's back up here a minute. I said that I have always operated SearchWarp according to my own moral values. I was raised in a religious household which believed that the person who is the servant is the person who is the greatest. Here I was in a position where I could serve thousands of writers, and to a lesser extent, millions of readers. That makes me pretty great, right? This really has been my inspiration. The more writers I can serve, and the better I can serve them, the better off I am. You want to be great? Ask yourself if you're serving anyone but yourself. I think a lot of people who call themselves leaders are really only serving themselves.
It was easier in the beginning when writers were served well by giving them larger audiences. Since the recession started, it's obvious that there are many more writers who need to earn an income with their writing. Believe me, I'm obsessively aware of this. Someday I hope to help thousands of writers earn a decent income. I just haven't figured out how to do it, yet.
In 2006 we hired another good friend, @Member27001, as an editor, and after the Summer was over, Jean left her job to work with me. I told her that as an administrative assistant, she didn't need to make those idiots look good when she had a perfectly fine idiot at home that she could be making look good. She agreed.
This pretty much brings the story up to today. We've had our ups and down, but it's certainly been a fun ride, and we've made a lot of friends along the way. I had planned on including more of the nuts-and-bolts advice for writing on the Internet in these "secrets of my success." I'm still planning on getting to that, but I've been enjoying this story. Thanks for allowing me to tell it.
This Article has been viewed 2,004 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
More commentsI certainly know that I have enjoyed it. You keep on keeping on, big fella.
Bruce, what a great story. And what you have created here is an international oasis for writers and readers alike! It is more than just a place to meet and post articles, it is a confluence of ideas and creativity, offering a place for truly civil discourse and proof that people can share thoughts and ideas in a kind, humane manner. Thanks for creating SeachWarp and thanks for sharing this story.
Hi Bruce,
I love your servant's heart attitude towards leadership. I am also grateful for you, Jean and all that you have done with SearchWarp.
God bless you guys!
Mark
I finally scraped up some time, to return to SW again, and just in time to read your article. What can I say? Great Job, Bruce and Jean ! Good for you, as you not only show obvious success in your daily toil, but that you enjoy it too. Not every one can say that about their job. Take care,..and an early Merry Christmas to you and yours...from a fellow Central PA guy, dave potchak
Bruce,
Great story I sure enjoy it. I have learn so much since I join SW. I very thankful to you and Jean.
I have discover so many talent that I didn't think I had. Very much appreciate both of you.
Merry Christmas
Jose & Kim Condemarin
Bruce, it is always interesting in hearing your stories about searchwarps beginning. How did you guys pick out the domain name? Did it have any special meaning to you? I think your team has done an amazing job. Blessings to all.
The series was an enjoyable and different read...and great advice on serving something other than yourself in the leadership area. I'm always anxious to see what your next move will be. Glad to be a part of some of your work to a small degree. Keep success rolling ....
Bruce - very interesting! You write, "... 'throw a bunch of mud on the wall and see what sticks' approach...." and oh, how Gary and I can relate with that - in fact, presently we're experimenting with something where mid-stream I had to change that exact approach - I think you've done a marvelous job with searchwarp and over the years have sent countless authors to you - Ted Gragg being my favorite - to you and it in turn has helped their careers - you see how an idea can have wonderful domino effects? Thanks for sharing this!
"I was raised in a religious household which believed that the person who is the servant is the person who is the greatest. Here I was in a position where I could serve thousands of writers, and to a lesser extent, millions of readers. That makes me pretty great, right? This really has been my inspiration. The more writers I can serve, and the better I can serve them, the better off I am. You want to be great?"That's the secret right there, Bruce, and there is nothing easy about it, because human beings do not naturally think in terms of greatness through the smallness of serving others. Your "household" probably learned that philosophy of greatness from Jesus Christ, who said, "whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant."This series has been very helpful to me, and I am sure, to many other Searchwarpers. ~mogama~
Hi Bruce.
Thanks for taking the time to write all of this. It's great. We get to learn a little more about our fearless leader and a bit of the history of SW as well. What could be better? And it was entertaining too.
Hugs,
Dianne
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