When I was in the eighth grade I had a group of fans. I was good at speech and drama and my fans recognized something special about me in that context. When my parents came to “parent night,” my dad said he felt like I was a movie star.

If you’re one of the lucky ones, while you were growing up, you had at least one member of your family who was your fan. They recognized what made you unique and special.

It’s funny how throughout my life I’ve had fans. You know the ones. People who just really like you. They like being around you. They get you. Usually they’re friends or colleagues. So why is it that I have spent so much time, energy and money on trying to get those who aren’t my fans, who never will be my fans, to become fans. Yes, the efforts have been futile.

Seth Godin calls it your tribe. I know what he means. I think I’ll redirect my attention to those adoring fans. You know who you are. When the skill and the fan status align, that’s when I know the working relationship will be mutually-rewarding. Plus, I get a new friend in the deal.

Who are you fans? How much of your energy is focused on them?

When I worked in a corporate setting, I made it a regular practice to gather the group working on my project into a conference room. Our meetings were always fun, loud and interesting. There was a lot of joking and freedom to bring in ideas. Everyone was free to share their ideas equally regardless of rank, level or experience. We would laugh so loud at some of the crazy ideas, sometimes we’d be asked to be more quiet by one of those “hall monitor” types who believed their job was to keep things in order. Most of the time though, people would pop their heads in to see if they could join in on whatever project or challenge we were working on. The energy was contagious. Those “hall monitors” types could never shut us down because we had success on our side.