You’re not a guru. You’re not a god or goddess. You’re not a rainmaker. And no, you’re not a rockstar either. Not seeing many Steven Tyler-types traveling in the HR and career circles.
Be flattered and humbled if a colleague uses one of these words to describe you to others but when you use these descriptors in your LinkedIn, Twitter or other online profiles, ask yourself this: “How is my character being perceived by others? How am I being perceived by others?”
I wrote about the perception of recruiters and hiring managers on wearing diamond rings on a job interview to make the point of leaving only your skills, qualifications and character to be evaluated. In other words, don’t let yourself be vulnerable to someone else’s (potentially false) judgment about you. The same applies to your resume and online professional profiles.
Confidence vs. arrogance
There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Be confident and proudly share your expertise using real words that quantify the accomplishments and results from your skills and experience — words that people can relate to. You may not be arrogant but if you call yourself a guru or rainmaker, how do you expect to be perceived? These words scream “arrogance!” and that’s not an attractive character trait.
The successful mix
Whether you’re in a job search or just great at what you do, be real! People want to work with folks who are on top of their game professionally but people also want to work with folks who have upstanding character and integrity. Nothing beats authenticity and confidence with a splash of humility.
So please, I’m begging you! Lose the narcissistic jargon and let folks get to know you for who you are and what you bring to the table. Always remember that perception is reality. If your online persona is perceived to be brash and egotistical, then you are brash and egotistical.
What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts.
Photo credit Yuri Samoilov
Interesting. While I agree with the premise, I never thought of rainmaker as a moniker to be included with this group. I genuinely thought it was a real term (maybe because it was a John Grisham novel??) Anyway, you have a solid point, even sans rainmaker: I think even if someone is not using the words on the “no-post list” most discerning readers will see the spirit or lack thereof, behind the words. Spend enough time in an industry (or in a cubicle with coworkers) and you see very quickly who does the work and who just brags about it. #slowburn
Hi Maren, I agree that you can spend enough time in an industry to see who’s making it happen and who isn’t. I also think we still have to take first impressions into consideration. I’ve met you so I can put your personality behind your words (which is good!) but when we don’t know folks and they’re using these monikers, not everyone will have the same first impression — which isn’t always good.
Thanks for commenting!
So many in HR, dare I say, fear individuality that they predictably go to the standard “be authentic and confident with a splash of humility” mantra for jobseekers. On the one hand you want people to “let folks get to know you for who you are and what you bring to the table” but on the other hand you want the same jobseekers to be humble and kowtow to the morays of what HR represents.
Kim – I know YOU better than the above. I know how good you are and sure wish you’d be MORE egotistical to describe yourself. I want to interview people who really believe they’re great because it makes my job as an interviewer that much more exciting, challenging, and important.
I think it’s HR that has the problem
Adages have been around centuries, cause they are tried and true.. they exemplify reality.. So as the old adage goes – those who Can DO!!!! Those who cannot, well, they …
Too many in our industry are where they are because of WHO they know, not WHAT they know! Look at their history, especially their employment history.. and their Consultant history.. Most of them are One hit wonders! many clients don’t ask them to stay.. and they definitely don’t ask for them to come back… more than the once! Mostly because many came to where they are w/o spending time on the Road Most traveled and gaining that precious Word.. EXPERIENCE!!
We are also responsible in our industry for perpetuating these so called “rockstars” “goddesses” “gurus” “sunny gals” through continual Promotion of them..
As an Industry Advocate, even self proclaimed, it really concerns me when I hear individuals say over and over – I want to become famous.. I hate recruiting, don’t really like the job, have yet to build over 150k a Year, yet, I want to be a trainer.. I want to be a voice for the industry.. REALLY???
Excellent article..
It’s an interesting problem. On one hand, you’re absolutely right that there is no such thing as an HR Rockstar. HR is built about stability, not breaking the mold. On the other hand, we need HR Rockstars. And I’ll give you the perfect example. Michael Long of Rackspace. If you can’t say what he is doing, or Amanda Hite of Talent Revolution, or someone like a Jim Schnyder of Pepsico (come on – an executive winning the sourcecon grandmaster challenge?) isn’t rockstar HR, then no one could ever be.
Is it overused? Sure. It is unjustly applied to people? But how many serious people call themselves gurus, rockstars or even expert? Even the most self-promotional, if they’re around much, aren’t describing themselves that way. This is common in the social media world, where everyone decries someone calling themselves expert, but it’s a false humility. They still want rockstar fees for their work.
You’re talking about bad branding. But be honest – how many top notch consultants get very far calling themselves gurus? None that I know of (and I know more than most). Is this a problem that you keep running into, or is it an itch you wanted to scratch?
The problem is not enough people are trying to be rockstars. That’s the problem I want to solve.
“Always remember that perception is reality.”
Sad but true. You could be the nicest, most knowledgeable person in the world but if you do anything (or say anything) that makes you sound better than you are (or better than anyone else) – whether you meant it that way or not – you will be perceived as arrogant. It can be a tricky concept for some, unfortunately. Perception is everything.
Thanks for your comments. There are great points to be raised here and it’s all about how we present ourselves in addition to the personal biases of the others who we’re presenting to.
Can we ever know what the right way to handle this? Not sure but I think being able to assess and determine the chemistry of the folks we’re interacting with is a start, at least.