One of the things that is so great about this blog is that it draws so many great comments, interesting dialogues, invites all sorts of opinions and perspectives, and even features great blog fights now and again. I love that this is an open forum. I love that I don’t censor my blog commenters. I love that people who post their questions and problems not only get my comments, but tons of other advice from all of you.

While there are certainly people who like to speak up more than others, or people who really have trouble staying on topic, in general it all seems to work in the end. Every once in a while, though, we have people who seem to forget that this is a blog community and not their personal blog.

Although I would never mention any names of course, anyone who read the comments on yesterday’s blog no doubt saw that we had someone who chose to try to make a point in their anger by posting their comments one word at a time. This became pretty disruptive and caused people to complain not only right in the comments, but in barrage of emails into my inbox.

We all need to be mindful of others’ opinions and that this is a community blog. When there is an amazing discussion going on, contribute . . . and don’t always feel like you need to change the conversation to be about you. When you do that, you are making others uncomfortable and throwing off the chemistry of the blog.

So to our ‘one word at a time” poster – you know who you are – please do not feel like you are being 86’d like a meatball sandwich at an Italian restaurant. You’re not being voted off the island . . . but please start being more mindful of others and try to keep your personal battles from monopolizing the blog.

If you really feel the need to work out personal issues not pertaining to the blog, and you need personal attention, then might I suggest you give coaching a try. In the meantime, keep the all the great comments coming and let’s continue to have great dialogue!

Have a great Saturday!