It’s a game…it’s all a game. You need to understand the rules and need to get better at playing it. When I was younger I thought myself to be quite clever. I had good ideas and I could explain them well. I was better than my “competitors”. However, some of my competitors (who were less clever/able/talented than me) were more successful than me. How could this be? Surely, my brilliance should have shone through and my performance would be apparent to everyone? Clearly not. The problem is that not everyone values the same things. Not everyone has the same view of the world and not everyone is knowledgeable enough to know what “good” looks like. I’m sure that you have had many instances in business where you have lost a deal to a more expensive and inferior product or service because the prospect simply didn’t understand enough about what they were buying to know how good you were. This is a great metaphor for life. Love him or hate him, Donald Trump was a master and telling people simple things they can understand often enough that they “become facts” and this is a learning we can all take from his external brand. I think the lesson is even more poignant if you were a hater of Trump because much of what he said appeared to be wrong and in some cases distasteful…but even so, people still kept buying. So take a leaf from Trump’s book, simplify the message that you are sharing so that everyone can consume it. For those who “know” it reenforces what they know to be true, for those who don’t know it “teaches.” This is a crucial lesson if you wish to be successful on social media (and that means successful in the modern world) because, whether we like it or not, soundbites are every bit as powerful as white papers in 2023. #socialselling #digitalselling #digitaltransformation #socialorg #prospecting
This is so well-stated. What a great lesson in what matters. I struggle with this at times. I’ve had those moments where I’ve suggested, “here, put your mouth on the end of the buffet table, and I’ll go lift up the other end because I’ve got a lot of delicious food here and you need to eat to all right NOW!” That’s not easy to do when I’m catching many people who haven’t even recognized their hunger.
Adam Gray unfortunately you could put Dominic Cummings into that clever simple messages but marmite. I don’t like marmite. Chris Evans is similar - great on radio; reluctant and not successful on Top Gear. Mixture of clickbait, Twitter short messaging and press building up then knocking down. Agree on the simple messaging but has to be a better way to get more thoughtful debate rather than polarised binary. Brexit was like the C word and hope our latest PM is at least signaling a reconciliation post divorce!
So true Adam, leadership time is so stretched we all need to compress the narrative and simplify the message. It is really hard to do when you see devil in the detail Good Luck everyone. 👍
At my core, I am a teacher. I'm great at the middle of conversations. I'm not as athletic as I remember being.
1yThinking I was clever got me in a lot of similar situations, Adam. Now I try to surround myself with people smarter than me.