Doom Loop
When I was speaking regularly—two or three keynotes a month—I found a slew of human resources and learning and development people who were fanatic about using questionnaires (“smile sheets”) to assess whether the audiences liked the speaker. I remember I was introduced at Toyota once as “the highest ranked speaker in our history.” Companies such as IBM, Nissan, and Mercedes used these with great punctiliousness. Company such as Merck, HP, and JPMorgan/Chase did not.
These low level people (who were never going anywhere of any consequence in the organization) said they were “tasked” (as if it were the past perfect of some imaginary verb) with determining how well speakers were received, and this determined future hiring. Popularity was the key. The HR folks were petrified about bringing someone in who wasn’t well liked, because that could mean trouble for them. (How much lower could they go than HR?)
The actual quality and content of the speaker was irrelevant to them.
It was around this time that I decided only to talk to the buyer (the person who actually invested in the speaker and the program). I said that I wouldn’t use smile sheets, wouldn’t read them if they were used, and wouldn’t discuss them if their content was raised. I focused on the buyer’s objectives and pointed out that my job was to provoke and stimulate, not coddle and entertain.
I became (and still am) among the highest paid non-celebrity speakers in the business. Very little in life is about being “liked” (Facebook notwithstanding). Life is about being effective and helping others to be successful. Otherwise you’ll cater to mediocrity and create nothing of permanence. Sort of like HR.
