Iceberg
After being around for a few years (read: decades) you get to meet a few people.
Actually, after being around for a few days you meet a lot of people, but those doctors, nurses and distant relatives don’t put you on their Christmas card list. But I digress.
In business it is a common practise to advertise. In print, on the web, and in person. Business owners love to talk and advertise as they do so, and with that advertising (because advertising is still advertising) come the same rules of exaggeration, lies and non-truths.
It has become something of a rule of thumb to me that those that brag the least actually have the most, whether in experience, money or wisdom.
Allow me to share some examples. A number of years ago I was asked to play some guitar tracks on an album that some friends of mine were putting together. The original guitarist wasn’t around and they just needed some filler added. I was introduced to the engineer, a man called Eric. Over the next few months, I bumped into Eric a couple more times, we had the usual pleasant conversations, and each of us went about our day. It wasn’t until I mentioned meeting Eric to some other friends that I found out that he had graduated from the most esteemed music colleges in North America and toured with the biggest names in the business (by big, I mean Brittany Spears big, although as far as I know he didn’t tour with Spears). Eric never mentioned these feats, nor even the fact that he played an instrument. Knowing what I know now, that would have been like meeting Hugh Grant and him not mentioning that he is in movies! More meetings with Eric and I found out that he also went to school with and knew personally one of my all time favourite singers. I am amazed and in awe of his humility. He doesn’t wear his associations on his sleeve; he is who he is.
Then there are the business people I have met who love to talk about the deals they are making (the ones with lots of zeros on the end), the deals they are going to make and the corners of the world that their products are going to impact. You’ve probably heard of them. Well, actually you probably haven’t. You see, they haven’t made these deals yet. Nobody has even seen their products yet. It’s all hot air.
So who do you trust? Listen carefully to the ones who say little because you never know where the apparently small job might lead. Just like the little girl who asked a local embroiderer to add a design to her horse blanket. Many others had turned down the job because it was too small and not profitable. That young equestrian turned out to be the daughter of a very large oil company, who now use that embroiderer exclusively for all their promotional work.
Do the small jobs – you don’t know where they will lead. And carry a pouch of salt to add to the many words you hear from others.
Things are never as they seem.