Once upon a time, I had a client who was always working so hard he never really had time to focus on work priorities with me, so I was left to do it all on my own. That was fine, since I’m competent, but it was always helpful getting feedback from him. Indeed, almost all client projects go smoother when we work hand in hand with the client than alone, at least when the client is competent as well (and sadly that isn’t the case often enough.)
At one point, he made some offhand comments that, for the first time, made me question his work ethic. So, I did something that I had never felt the need to do before: I Googled him. I found his Twitter and Instagram. And guess what? He was posting non-stop, all day long every day, and he was posting the least useful, time-wasting, bullshit. (And no, he wasn’t a teenager but a 40-year-old man.) From there, everything changed in my mind, I became convinced his work ethic was a fake act, and within a few weeks, I had to quit because I lost my enthusiasm. Note it wasn’t because of the social media that I lost my enthusiasm, that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back or, to use the Spanish version of the saying, which has much better imagery: it was the drop that made the cup overflow.
There is a good lesson to apply here, and even though this anecdote was regarding the boss or client pleasing me or not, the same concepts apply in the opposite direction:
In today’s world, everyone is easy to find on social media. So, if you are trying to project a certain type of image—let’s say, being busy—then make sure that is consistent in everything you do publicly. If you tell your boss you’re working hard but then post on Twitter during work-hours, then that will raise a yellow flag in his mind.
The more advanced version of this is to craft an image you want to be seen as, and then carry that image through to all public work. You want to be the lazy genius, who works for one minute but that one minute is worth a golden gazillion dollars? Great, that’s just a very different Twitter style than that of the hard-focused worker. Who do you want to be when you grow up? Only you can answer that question, and if you can’t, then you can experiment and try on different styles to see what sticks.
