Are you a Thought Leader? Or a Thought Re-Purposer?
For fans of 'The Office", you've no doubt watched Michael Scott, Regional Manager at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton PA office in action...and you know that he's the master at taking other people's thoughts, ideas, and best practices...embracing them as his own....and, then incorporating them into his own leadership practices with little-to-no sense of timing, context, or relevance.
What Michael Scott does with unbridled hubris is called, in today's vernacular, Re-Purposing.
While the concept of using other people's thoughts, ideas, or theories to further an agenda or make a point is not a new one.......it's the environment in which we can readily do that and the rules of engagement for noting credit for the original thought that are in flux.
It seems that we've entered into an era where plagiarism lacks the stigma of days gone by.
Information, from whatever source of origin, is now spread virally through channels that seem to go at warp speed. We have 140 character sound bites that are spread throughout the world in seconds like a 21st century game of 'whisper down the lane' on steroids.
Because re-purposing of content has become an acceptable way of presenting thought leadership, authority, and/or credentials....it's hard to recognize who's thoughts are truly original and who's are plucked from someone else's tweets, blogs, or newsletters.
So, in today's culture where re-purposing of content has become an accepted practice...
how can effective leaders stand apart from the pack of 'Re-'s'?
What follows is NOT re-purposed and simply represents my own observations of the ways in which content that is not original to the speaker will resonate with ME when utilized by anyone trying to engage me.
Here's what I want to see and feel from the speaker:
- Has an understanding of the CORE MESSAGE of the repurposed content
- Is knowledgable about the CONTEXTUAL ORIGIN of the repurposed content
- Has accurate insight into the CURRENT USAGE SITUATION in which it will be re-purposed
- Knows the SOURCE CREDENTIALS of the repurposed content
- Fully ACKNOWLEDGES THE ACT of re-purposing
With the above in check, I find myself much more open to allowing myself to be engaged, giving way for the speaker to then lead me in thought by :
- Making it PERSONAL to my life or job
- Making it MATTER to the situation-at-hand
- Making it SIMPLE to understand and apply
So, think about it for a second the next time you embrace a piece of re-purposed content by re-tweet something, forwarding an email thread, or incorporating a quote into a presentation.
Are you a thought leader? Or a thought re-purposer?
If the answer is 'both', take some time to do a gut check on the points above on the way in which you use re-purposed content in leading your life, family, team, or company.
Thanks for sharing your second cup with me!
Mike Malinchok, CPC
President
S2K Consulting, LLC
