Helping a Community Get Connected

With such rapid growth, it's really quite surprising that it's taken so long for the community to catch up with the industry. What always perplexed me is why there was no professional organization, no community for professional services - a place where we could come together to network, to share ideas, job leads, and best practices. And then coincidentally in 2001 after the downturn in the market a number of PS leaders reached out to me in an effort to network with their peers. It became very evident that it was time to form a community. We all needed a channel to tap into the vast body of knowledge that exists within this community during good times and bad. Hence PSVillage was born. Its success was instantaneous. Through word of mouth alone, the community is now well over 1000 members strong.

So Much Talent and a Big Heart All in One Place

What I discovered through the years is that professional services consists of amazingly talented people, many with a unique combination of skills: sharp business acumen, polished interpersonal, customer service and leadership skills, and quite often deep technical knowledge. Where else can you find this breadth and depth of skills other than in Professional Services? These are folks who genuinely want to help others succeed. But how do you articulate to your spouse, to your friends, to the CEO and Board of Directors of your company what exactly it is that you do? It's time to raise the awareness level of services within and between organizations, and to the industry in general.

Giving Professional Services a Voice

That's where our new on-line magazine comes in. It's written by the PSVillage community - services leaders who've been through the school of hard knocks - PS executives who are willing to share their wisdom and insights with you. These are thought leaders who can articulate the nuances of the services world. And have taken the time to do so. In short, a virtual think-tank of industry gurus, thought leaders, and leading practitioners have joined together to give a collective voice to the services community.

Leave This Community Better Than You Found It

I believe in the collective consciousness --- that we are all in this together, and the sum of our parts is far greater than the whole. I would like to pose a challenge to every person coming to this site: help make this a better community by reaching out to your colleagues, offer insights where you can, and mentor those who are climbing the ladder behind you. By coming together as a community and sharing our vast collective knowledge with each other, we can more quickly address the pressing issues and challenges faced by professional services leaders around the world.

I look forward to seeing you in the village soon.