Lesson 772: Getting attention is not the same as making an impact.
Show of hands. Who has the person at work who always has one more thing to add? Or, the executive who talks a little too long about themselves on stage? Or, increasingly, the LinkedIn post that spends a few paragraphs explaining everything the author has accomplished? There are more letters than the letter "I" in the alphabet you know.
No judgment. We live in an attention economy.
My grandmother was the opposite. At family gatherings, we were lucky to get “I’m good” out of her. She had absolutely no interest in being the center of attention.
We compete with algorithms, AI, videos, notifications, and thousands of other people trying to break through the noise.
So of course we have learned to talk about ourselves.
There are benefits. * People can articulate their role and impact. * They can show how they think. * They can demonstrate expertise outside of a job title. * They can help people understand who they are as a person, worker and leader.
All good things. But I wonder if there is another side to it.
* Are the people who are best at getting attention becoming confused with the people creating the most value? * What happens to the employee who doesn't want to build a personal brand? * The person who doesn't speak five times in every meeting? * The person who isn't interested in posting about every accomplishment?
Sometimes I feel work is starting to feel a little like performance art.
That creates an interesting challenge for HR leaders.
We should encourage people to communicate their accomplishments. Visibility matters. But recognition shouldn't simply follow visibility.
Look at the results. Look at the contribution. And put in the effort to understand who actually made the outcome possible.
Sorry, salesperson. Yes, you crushed the quarter. You brought in the revenue. You deserve the applause.
* But somebody also built the widget you sold. * Somebody fixed the customer problem. * Somebody processed the order. * Somebody trained the new employee. * Somebody did important work without telling 10,000 people about it.
Make sure they get noticed too.
Attention goes to whoever captures it. Recognition should go to whoever earned it.
