As a new monthly feature for 12 Most, I will be interviewing leaders within their fields and gaining some personal insights into them beyond what we see everyday in their posts, tweets and blogs. First up is Guy Kawasaki,  a supporter of 12 Most from the earliest days, the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web. Previously, he was a chief evangelist at Apple.  He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.  “He focuses on the tactical and practical to help people kick butt and change the world.”

Guy is the author of ten books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. His latest book is Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Action. He is currently writing a book on one of his passions: Google+. Interact with Guy on Google+ @ http://gplus.to/kawasaki.

Here is a link with great information on Guy (his official bio and Guy’s “real story” in his own words).

What 12 questions can you ask a man like Guy Kawasaki? He was kind enough to answer my questions with only one parameter: that I ask only 1 part questions and not 12 5 part questions. Fair enough! I tried to ask things that I thought you, the 12 Most reader could use to help you gain insight into your own social media and goals as well as to learn more about Guy.

1. How did you get started in social media?

Dave Winer and Laura Fitton dragged me into Twitter kicking and screaming at Gnomedex in September 2007. For the first week, I thought that Twitter was the dumbest thing I’d ever seen.

2. Did you change your strategies as you learned more about social media?

I’m not a big believer in strategy. Usually I just “do” and find someway to explain my practices after the fact in order to give people the impression that I know what I’m doing. Creating a strategy is over-rated.

3. We know that being successful in social media takes a lot of time. At what point did you feel social media was a viable enterprise for you?

October 2007.

4. What is your motivation behind your social media engagement?

“Experts” hate when I say this, but my motivation is to earn the privilege of promoting my websites and books to my audience. I call this the NPR Model. NPR provides such great content that it earns the right to run telethons. I try to provide such great content that I earn the right to promote Alltop, my books, and the companies that I advise every once in a while.

5. Did you have any memorable mentors?

I’ve had two mentors in my life: Marty Gruber and Al Eisenstat. Marty was the president of the jewelry company that I worked at from 1979 to 1983. He taught me how to sell. Al was the general counsel of Apple. He protected me during the Jobs-Sculley-Gassé-Campbel wars at Apple. Read this article »

On June 13^th, the first #MyBookClub launched and it was an enormous success! I contemplated the idea of an online book club for some time; could a group of people have a meaningful interchange based on the shared experience of reading a book together? Leading up to the book club, there was no expectation as it would be a live Twitter chat which is like herding kittens. My wish was that it be enlightening as well as entertaining for all the people who took the time to read the book and attend the chat.

The first book was Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki and in preparation, a full hour of questions was created to lead the discussion. (hat tip Tobey Deys) Several interactions with Mr. Kawasaki from the time the book club was conceived in #Leadershipchat to the day after #MyBookClub, led to me to the conclusion that not only is Mr. Kawasaki an intelligent, astute professional but he is also puts into practice each thing that he discussed in Enchantment. He respects each and every individual and shares his experiences with others in a way that can make their lives better. He set a shining example by being gracious and kind to everyone.

Guy was traveling on the day of the book club but participated by tweeting from his car: let me tell you, true enchantment occurred. Not just by the fact that a man as busy him took the time to remember the date and time of the chat, but that he went beyond saying “hi” and answered my prepared questions too!

For me, the biggest gift was being able to share this experience with all the friends that attended the book club. It was a wonderful bonding time and people laughed while sharing themselves and their insights  about  Enchantment as we delved into the topic at hand. Each attendee arrived wondering what this would be like and left with a warm feeling of connectivity. To me, that is a huge achievement for a Twitter endeavor.

Keeping in mind that this was a live Twitter chat and all the information was sent in 140 characters or less, here is a condensed version of the Enchantment chat for your perusal:

Q1 Who, in your life right now, is enchanting you?

NickKellet Agreed @kmartone: #MyBookClub A1: @DanielPink and @Malcgladwell = authors currently (and always) enchanting me. Also agree re: TedTalks

thehealthmaven A1 – enchanting people attract other enchanting ppl, magnetic pull, can’t help it, in their DNA – so love artsy briliant types Read this article »