Voyeur vs. Participant


The reality of my "value-add" sunk in while I was writing this monthly review.  My reality is I have gravitated to a voyeur who listens to podcasts to increase my knowledge and synthesizes what I learn through my blogs and the consulting I provide independent wealth advisory firms.  Truth be told, most good managers are voyeurs who appreciate the accomplishments of participants who are in the arena.  Good managers have tried to score the basket or hit the curve but live below the Medoza Line.  I’m thankful that technology has allowed us to listen to achievers share their story in the first person.

Voyeurs

Management and teachers use podcasts as a medium to convey their message.  Our favorite this month is  WorkLife from professor Adam Grant.  Podcasts allow the professor to reach stidents with out requiring quizzes or attendance records.  We have found that questions or comments on podcast are more insightful than the in class questions that often times are made for recognition not content.  Good podcasters will respond to good questions and their responses are often times as helpful as the podcast content.  

Participants

A good podcaster asks good questions that their audience and the experienced practitioners are often not asked by interviews that have an agenda.  The best at this is Alex Blumberg of Gilmet Media and the podcast Without Fail.  Alex interviews business leaders and asks them about mistakes they have made building their firm.  The answers are helpful to all involved and Gimlet parlayed their success into a recent sale of their firm.  Who said that you can’t make money from podcasts?  

Compensation

The age old saying that those who can’t do teach seems to be validated and exacerbated by technology.  I have found that good managers and teachers have tried to perform in the arena, but through observation and self awareness they have gravitated to observing top performers and teaching others their world class skills.  We need these voyeurs because often times when asked, world class performers' answer of "I just do it"might work for Nike but doesn’t work for people below the Mendoza Line.


Winning will always pay better than teaching.  Our hope is that technology will help close that gap.  Optimizing seems to work for products and hopefully will work for services. 


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