“I wonder if my company would hire him…”
I was listening to a story being told about a keynote speaker at a conference. The speaker is huge in the innovation industry, has a number of books out, and is kind of up there on the awesome scale.
The woman telling me the story had no idea who he is.
She works at a firm that can seem a little “behind the times.” From a number of talks on Brazen and on Twitter, I know most of you feel you’re the one clued-in person at your fretfully behind companies. This scenario isn’t new to us.
Back to our story: I’m listening to this woman tell me how amazing this keynote speaker is. Since I’m well-acquainted with the speaker, his books, his articles, and again, his awesomeness, I’m thinking: Wow, what a great opportunity to hear him speak!
She then says, “I wonder if my company would hire him…”
All of a sudden, I realize she not only doesn’t know who he is, but she doesn’t have any concept of how these innovation thought leaders are treated. His speaking fee is probably the same as most people’s salaries at this woman’s firm. His expertise isn’t just in a couple journals, but on NYT Bestseller lists and constantly in the press.
She sees him as just a smart young fellow with Ph.D.
The sad part is that this story is just one version of others out in the world. For example, a Brazen webcast was talking about Dan Schawbel and his partnership with the community. He was online (we all said “Hi”), and then it started: “Who’s he?” “What’s the big deal?” “Is he famous or something?”
I don’t expect everyone to know Dan, but if you’re on a webcast, surely you have Google at your fingertips. It wasn’t shocking that people didn’t know, but that people weren’t taking a couple seconds to research and then show some kind of respect to the man. Instead, it was a lot of “Why should I care about you?” Talk about a WIIFM.
Same thing happened when Penelope interviewed Seth Godin. People thought Penelope was just some moderator instead of realizing she’s a thought leader in her own right.
Perhaps we’re such a self-centered world now that people only want to know the WIIFM instead of realizing that maybe you’re not the Sun. That maybe you need to Google a few things before making remarks. That people deserve you to hold up your end if they’re sharing expertise or bending over backwards for you.
It only takes a couple seconds to look like an idiot or look like a rock star. Which will it be?
P.S. The speaker was Dr. Chip Heath…of Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick and Switch. Shocking, right?
Photo credit.
My new motto is “Google is my best friend”. Google has helped me fix so many computer problems and research so many topics. And I use it to learn about some of the names I hear floating around. Maybe one day this lady will catch the Google wave (the metaphoric wave, not the application). It’s such a shame such a great service is available for free and not being used by more people.
.-= Jake LaCaze´s last blog ..Why Facebook Has Pissed Me Off =-.
Jake, as long as you have a phone, it’s a great way to check something out in the moment. Also, if you need, shoot an email to someone. I send sales teams to marketing events all over the country, and I always remind them they can shoot me an email if there’s a question. I want to help save both our skins…
I learnt this lesson the hard way when I was volunteering for an event and the guest speaker (whom I had never seen) arrived. I was in charge of seating people so I went up to him. After an awkward pause, he told me that he was actually there to deliver a speech. HUGE EMBARASSEMENT! 😮
Gauri, I know what you mean! You can still have that problem if the person doesn’t have pictures up. For example, I was supposed to meet someone at a busy restaurant. I looked them up online, and they only had logos for profile pictures. That’s not helpful! I thought I was going to meet a robot or dancing cartoon. I pumped my network and got a general description from someone, but it took some work. As much as I say people do research, it’d also be great if others can lend a hand. If you know you’re going to meet someone, but never have pics of yourself, send one or tell them what you’ll be wearing. Can save both people…
This post also brings up another point- thought leaders in certain areas and industries maybe rock stars, but they aren’t widely recognized celebrities.
Most people should know who Warren Buffett is but do you know who the premiere guru in comic books? How about Japanese animation? Innovation, like many other things is a niche area where the big players are probably unknown compared to music, sports, and entertainment.
.-= Dmbosstone´s last blog ..The Quarter Life Crisis Series: Remember to Breathe =-.
Patrick, the other thing it also shows is people don’t pay attention. In the case with the keynote speaker, the introduction probably had Fast Company, Switch, Made to Stick, and his other accomplishments included. You may not remember the books off-the-bat, but then again, always an opportunity to learn. If you aren’t paying attention to that part, then yes, you’re going to look really silly later…
So many people are important, I always want to be connected, and thus, always do my research. I am surprised how many people don’t know or don’t simply care though when I step out of my world. Even my best friend is so far on the other side that she would care less about the majority of people I worship. It’s all about perspective as Patrick notes. I think you’re right that we’re in a special group that’s especially motivated and ambitious.
.-= Rebecca´s last blog ..Re-Thinking Workaholism =-.
You hit the nail on the head Rebecca, some people just don’t care. It’s hard for someone like me to understand that because I like to make sure I don’t make an idiot of myself. It’s pretty much guaranteed that I’ll say the one stupid thing I’m not supposed to say. Perhaps it’s my desire to save face that started this, but now, I see how much people appreciate you knowing just a little goes a long way. Ha, that’s my Sales side talking now 🙂
I don’t know what makes people feel worse. Not knowing enough about someone you’re meeting, or the person you’re meeting not knowing enough about you. I’m happy to say I haven’t personally experienced the former, but I’ve been in way too many meetings to know that a surprising amount of people ignore the power of Google to prepare for a meeting or conference.
I think what shocked me the most was when I was at my first job straight out of an MBA. It was HR that interviewed and hired me. When I reported to work the first day and had an initial briefing meeting, my team had no idea what my professional background was. They had no clue about the kind of work I had done in the past. It took them a week to figure out what to assign to me given my broader experience in Advertising.
.-= Sabera´s last blog ..Has Social Media made us fake? =-.
Sabera, I know it’s hard when you come into a group and you assume someone did a debrief. I got moved into another department, and it was a few weeks before the head even looked at my file. I think it would have served her more to see it earlier though, before she got all my projects going. I tried to help where I could, but when you’re in assign-mode, you may not be looking at backgrounds (even if you should).
I think expecting someone to know who every web 2.0 and marketing/business “celebrity” is is probably unreasonable. I hadn’t heard of Chip Heath before reading your column. I would have been immediately impressed by hearing that he taught at Stanford, but if that wasn’t stressed and his book was the only thing touted, it’s hard to know what his status level is. Lots of people write books and blogs in this day and age – many of which aren’t very good (like mine!). Also, a lot of people whose names might be well known on Brazen Careerist or other online networks may not be considered interesting or important by the public at large. I’m not advocating that people not pay attention. I just don’t expect everyone to assign real world status to bloggers and online thought leaders, regardless of their ability to land speaking engagements. People, however, should still probably recognize that a Stanford Professor is not going to take an entry-level gig at their company, nor does a speaking/writing career mean that a person needs a job. And, I do agree that, if you’re going to see a speaker, you should probably assume that they were asked to speak for a reason, and maybe take a second to look them up and learn about their perspective.
I just feel myself reacting to the idea that everyone should know who a “thought leader” is. I don’t even agree with the status of some of the people you mentioned in your piece. The others, well, yes a lot of people follow/friend/listen to them online. That doesn’t mean that they will ever be a household name. Some people don’t even know who Hugh Jackman is (as I learned this weekend), so… go easy on anyone who doesn’t recognize or understand the level of status of a “thought leader.”