Comments on: Leading a Community is Like Parenting

By: Why Community Management is NOT like Parenting | Impact Interactions

Why Community Management is NOT like Parenting | Impact Interactions — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:30:55 +0000

[...] Leading a Community is Like Parenting - Connie Bensen [...]

By: Raising Good Communities

Raising Good Communities — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:30:26 +0000

[...] not the first, nor will I be the last to equate community management to parenting. Connie Bensen made the analogy and recently Simon Phillips wrote a post You Teach What You Accept that got at a similar behavior [...]

By: trade

trade — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:34:18 +0000

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By: Alison Michalk

Alison Michalk — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:56:58 +0000

I think some will disagree arguing that a CM should be part of the community as an equal.

However as a community manager of a parenting website, and a mother, I feel I’m in a perfect position to wholeheartedly agree Connie.

And when things do go “wrong” and there are fights or disagreements in your community you need to assess the safe & happy environment you should be nurturing.

Ask questions – is there a trend happening here? Why did this happen in x forum? Do the rules address this? Were they reinforced? Are the rules too strict? Did I communicate with the people involved?

This ties in nicely with your post – do women make better community managers!

By: Rachel Happe

Rachel Happe — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:48:59 +0000

I love this analogy and I actually have similar abstracted thoughts about women in leadership – http://www.thesocialorganization.com/2009/04/what-women-know-and-how-it-drives-profitability.html – Good parenting skills are in very close alignment with nurturing any endeavor. And, it doesn’t just apply to women.

By: Jon Chan

Jon Chan — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:23:15 +0000

Hi Connie,

I can’t really say I have the experience of a parent, but I can see the similarities. I would like to point out there are many, many books written about parenting than there are about community management. Right? =)