Newsletter #16: Welcome to Stop, Think, Share: Today’s topic is confidence and humility
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This s the first edition of Stop, Think, Share: A Monthly Newsletter for Benefits Executives about Thought Leadership.
Here’s what this new and improved (10% more feistiness guaranteed!) looks like:
The letter – This is where I write something meaningful and helpful about thought leadership. Generally, humour is included; side effects range from weak smiles to snorts.
Comic relief – It’s something funny from someone else. I care so much about you enjoying this newsletter that I’m providing a humour back-up system every single time.
Epic tunes – In this section, I embed a song so epic it makes my heart swell with enough joy that somehow it reaches out and touches your heart too.
Notes from the Rebel Alliance – This is a snippet about folks going against the grain to accomplish something and/or make people think.
The sales footer – It’s a short and sweet reminder that you or your fellow executives can procure my professional ghostwriting services (if we’re a good fit).
Let’s get started with the letter!
Hi again,
It’s July 2020 and there’s a lot of stuff going on in the world, on the news and on social media. Whatever stuff just popped into your mind, it’s safe to say a couple things about it. There’s a mainstream narrative that reaches the majority in soundbites in all-day, all-night programming. The right and the left each put their ideological spin on this mainstream narrative and their supporters propagate the soundbites across social media and dinnertime conversations.
There’s a lot of certainty that comes with this system. I suppose this certainty comes from trust. We think, “The Globe and Mail/The Toronto Sun/The New York Times wouldn’t lie to me so it’s safe to believe this is true.”
This certainty can also come out of a superficial glance at the headlines which have become more “click-baity” than ever. The headline says one thing and it’s not unusual for the contents of the article to not exactly line up with the headline.
Outside of the mainstream media, you’ve got “The Others.” These mainstream dropouts are everything from critics to crazies. [But mainstream rule #1 is to lump them all into the same crazy category.]
The Others do not take the mainstream as gospel, though they don’t necessarily think it’s all lies. They ask questions about what’s presented. They expose leaps of logic. They find other points of view. When they’re onto something either completely crazy or completely true, they’re labelled conspiracy theorists.
When you hear The Others talk about stuff, there’s nowhere near the certainty that comes with the mainstream narrative.
I know this because I’ve been watching videos and reading about stuff recently and I was struck by the humbleness of these world-class experts.
In one video about questioning conventional wisdom, the interviewer introduces his guests and asks his first question. Within the first two minutes of the video, his guest talks about what isn’t known.
He says, “The key thing to know about the [stuff] and how much we know about it is that we actually don't know [more about the stuff here] ... it's a very strange thing to say given how much data is floating around and it sounds like it's a remarkable thing but it's actually just a plain scientific fact ...” [Emphasis mine.]
Holy Captain Humble, Batman!
The other thing I’ve noticed about The Others is how quickly they jump in to let the audience know the limits of their expertise. When they’re asked a question they have no business answering, they clearly state they’re talking out of turn, going beyond what their expertise should allow.
It’s not that The Others lack confidence; instead they reserve it for what they do know. You don’t necessarily get this with the mainstream media. For example, in his Ted Talk, Battling Bad Science, Ben Goldacre shows that according to reports in The Daily Mail, “Coffee both causes and prevents cancer.” [So versatile, this bean!]
For thought leaders, which is better? Confidence and certainty? Or confidence, questioning and humility?
I’m an introvert so I’m naturally biased towards humility though I certainly appreciate confidence outside of gasbag territory.
As a thought leader, you don’t have to choose between confidence and humility.
You can be like Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, who says, “There's very bright people, friends of mine who I respect very highly, that disagree very strongly with me about [stuff]. They don't know it and I don't know it. We should be honest about that."
Though that’s a breath of fresh air, it’s not the easiest path. Jumping on the bandwagon and really digging into the mainstream narrative is much less taxing.
Though the comeuppance can be humiliating.
Just like when the New York Times published a lengthy apology about their coverage of the Iraq war.
Here’s one snippet ...
“We have found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been. In some cases, information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged -- or failed to emerge.
The problematic articles varied in authorship and subject matter, but many shared a common feature. They depended at least in part on information from a circle of Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on ''regime change'' in Iraq, people whose credibility has come under increasing public debate in recent weeks…Complicating matters for journalists, the accounts of these exiles were often eagerly confirmed by United States officials convinced of the need to intervene in Iraq.”
Oops.
Your thought leadership pieces probably don’t have life and death implications. But how will your certainty and confidence affect your audience? How will they know you’ve done your due diligence? How can they trust you if you speak beyond your expertise and experience? What happens when you speak and act with humility?
I’m not suggesting that thought leaders in the benefits industry must be outside the mainstream benefits narrative to be legit or correct. But if you’re willing to be on the outside if it goes off the rails, you might be happier with the results.
Until next time, keep on truckin’,
Andrea
Comic relief
Here’s a four-minute video on how spiritual people fight by comedian, JP Sears. If you’ve ever been around meditators or Yogis, I’m sure you’ll get at least one laugh.
Epic tunes
Here’s two minutes of confidence that I find quite charming (audio only).
Notes from the Rebel Alliance
In this 2011 Ted Talk, Battling Bad Science, Dr. Ben Goldacre “unpicks dodgy scientific claims made by scaremongering journalists, dubious government reports, pharmaceutical corporations, PR companies and quacks.”
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I'm an executive ghostwriter, specializing in benefits, leadership coaching, corporate wellness and employee assistance programs (EAPs).
I work with executives and executive coaches who have big hearts, are driven to help others and never open a conversation they're not willing to close.
My clients are straightforward, ambitious, humble, hilarious and I never have to wonder what they're thinking because they say what they mean and mean what they say.
If you're a tough-love executive or executive coach who would benefit from the kind of work I do, please get in touch:
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Let's talk about these thought leadership projects in 2021:
Newsletters | White papers + e-books | Ghostwritten articles
Workbooks to supplement corporate training
Business book ghostwriting (fall 2021, early 2022)