Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Why Chris Brogan's advice on being yourself only applies to some.
Today in my New Media class we watched two videos about finding your voice in business that Chris Brogan posted on his blog a few days ago. I had seen them in my Blogreader but watching again in class made me realize that I do not completely agree with him.
It seems that Chris' only solution to finding your voice in business is to be yourself. I'm all for "being yourself" and I agree with his saying that he is just going to be himself because then it's easier to remember which "me" he's being.
He says that swearing is part of his personality and therefore he will swear when he feels it necessary. I can understand this. I've been known to get creative with expletives on occasion. But there's a time and a place for everything.
I do not think that tactically censoring myself is being a different me.
Chris' advice only applies to a certain kind of person. It applies to a person who has established themselves and has the power and ability to say what they want and rationalize their behavior after the fact. Chris Brogan has established himself. He has positioned himself as a guru, whether people agree with that title or not. He is a go-to guy. He can say what he wants and people can decide to listen or ignore.
I am an intern. I am working to position myself as a reliable and ideal hire in a few months when I graduate. Not only is it unprofessional to swear in front of my coworkers and superiors and then justify it by claiming to be acting as my true self but I would feel extremely uncomfortable swearing or behaving in certain ways at work.
Similarly, I would feel extremely uncomfortable swearing in the middle of a classroom, in the middle of dinner at a friend's house and while giving directions to an innocent old lady on the side of Comm Ave. You need to consider the implications of your behavior before acting out sporadically.
It is irresponsible and disrespectful to disregard your audience.
There's a time and a place for everything. Chris missed out on this point. Yes you need to be able to show your personality. Yes you must always stand up for yourself. No you should not feel entitled to behave however you want for the sake of being yourself. Chris forgot to mention that it is essential to identify your audience and act accordingly.
Tactically censoring yourself and basing behavior on audience doesn't mean you're not being you. There is not one you.
Sometimes it's a good idea to take advice like this with a grain of salt. Sure it would be nice to have free reign to say and do what you want but that's not realistic in most cases.
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4 comments:
What a grown-up sounding post!
You should move to Australia - based on my experience working there, it is pretty much expected to curse a blue streak in the office. Even the rarely-used "C" word was frequently heard.
Well said
i agree that there definitely comes a time when you have to change your "voice" based on the situation or setting.
You're watching me in new media class? Good lord! Don't do that. Make some media instead, and then point it out to me. Then I can watch your class instead of you watching me.
It's funny how the curse words part was pretty much the biggest hook anyone took from that conversation. It's not like I walk around cursing like a sailor and spitting all day. I was just stating that I try to be as close to my authentic self as I can be.
I've been in professional business settings for -gasp- decades (god, when you realize that you can say that, it makes you feel like a fossil), and there's this weird thing that people do when they talk absolutely unlike normal human conversation.
That was really the main thrust of my points.
But sh!t, folks sure got stuck on the swearing. : )
Now, where's YOUR video? Drop me a line.
Chris: Yes we're watching you! We watch a lot of different clips to stimulate discussion and start the class. We will be making some of our own media as the semester progresses.
I know what you mean about the non-normal human conversations and I agree that they are annoying and unnecessary. Reading your comment here takes the focus off the cursing and adds more perspective to your original videos.
The cursing may have been the biggest takeaway because imagining myself swearing and eliminating inhibitions in a conference room or other professional setting evoked some strong opinions and made me think about the idea of self, which I tried to hash out in the post.
Thanks for stopping by!
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