This is "kinda, sorta" like my original entry in this blog. This time, though, I wanted to be a little more specific. It's about how I approach the issue of personal opinion. Absolutely, everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to have one. But in 2014, we have personal access to social media which allow us to give voice to our views on a broad public scale. Why do we accept some opinions as worthy and dismiss others? That's what I want to talk about today.
Recently, I read a post from an old friend who was (professionally) discussing leadership. She was pointing out that leadership equates with being trustworthy and being seen to be trustworthy. She talks about building one's brand around the trust one has earned. We often forget about the trust factor, but my friend's recommended approach is appropriate because it applies to whether you can 'lead' opinion. Trends change but trust endures.
So, how does that connect with whether you read and see credibility in this blog or anything else? Let's call this the second chapter about why I'm blogging. People generally tend to believe me. Is it because I'm so much more direct than others...or am I just that much smarter than most people? Ya think? Yeah, well I wish!! Fact is people DO believe me (no, they don't always agree!). People perceive me as someone who speaks with conviction because I speak from the heart...that's right, I am speaking my truth with no BS. Most of us smell that stuff a mile away.
Recently, I created a minor public incident because I used a nasty term to describe a local political candidate during a conversation on radio. My critics said I was being 'sexist' but I argued (successfully, I think) that the language I used, while imperfect, pretty much described the candidate's presentation style in colloquial terms, notwithstanding another connotation attached to the descriptive word I'd used.
Going back another eight weeks, just as the Ontario election was beginning, and also on radio, I predicted a win for the Liberal Party because, as I stated publicly, its leader, Kathleen Wynne, was the better sales person.
Those are two examples of what results from a clearly expressed opinion spoken according to personal perception of the subjects at hand...in the first instance, people complained because they wanted to advance an agenda aimed at leveraging it to the advantage of their candidate...their complaints did get people talking about her! So, I became an intermediary or medium. In the other situation, people suggested (dare I say whined?) that I must have been using my electronic bully pulpit to attempt to damage the former leader of the PC Party because I was 'out to get him' - all I had done was to speak the truth in line with my own perception. The prediction proved accurate.
In both cases, the criticism leveled at me was without merit because it had other objectives. Interestingly, a majority of radio listeners, newspaper readers, and online followers discerned it as noise. They understood that I was simply calling things as I saw them. That was interpreted by me as trust in my opinion actually being my own and, therefore, acceptable as a 'credible truth'.
What were my critics upset about? They were worried about a perceived threat to their own beliefs. Why? Perhaps because my brand is strong and has been through many years of public life. I have an audience only because people who already know me are aware that I speak an unvarnished truth with no hype. Both of the little 2-minute examples I used happened on morning talk radio and each made headlines for two days straight. Why? Because 'credible truth' always trumps 'spin cycle'!
I value truth and I underscore it with personal credibility earned over time. Moreover, I enjoy leveraging my own credibility to evoke discussion. I was raised to speak the truth, always understanding that credibility was being derived from my own belief in what I was saying. So, as a grown man, I require both truth and credibility to be clear and unequivocal in my personal presentation. And I demand the same from others. My own brand is built on these precepts. I like the idea of 'credible truth' because those listening or reading something from me can take what I say as a given. I sleep well at night and I enjoy having an opinion to share. I am only successful if you accept my opinion as being honest and truly from me. You may, and often do, disagree. But you should never think that what I'm saying is contrived...because it never is. The world already has too many people speaking the truth of others rather than developing their own views.
Being an opinion leader is about telling it like it is and about being a credible source. It is also about leveraging the two elements to build a consensus of trust. People are intuitive...so they inherently clue in! Last week, for example, a "speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu" circulated across the Internet. I used quotes because it was contrived...it was not a speech Netanyahu ever gave. I read it and viewed it as over the top, even for the outspoken Prime Minister. I did a bit of research and found no record of such a speech ever having been given...because it hadn't been. I went out of my way to correct friends and acquaintances, telling them either not to continue spreading this bogus material or, at least, to caption it "speech I'd like Netanyahu to make". Point is, your intuition has a way of telling you if you're reading or hearing credible truth. Mine reacted the way it should have. Yours will too if you allow it to.
So, this blog is a relatively new experience for me...I hope you keep reading it and stick with me. If you know me, you already know I'm a straight shooter. If you get to know me, you'll learn that. It took me many years to decide to write in this new type of public forum but I have always written. I just never do so unless I have something worthwhile to say, but also something that presents my opinion as credible truth.
Peter
No comments:
Post a Comment