When you combine things you’re not supposed to combine, you become interesting and easily stand out from the pool of sameness.
What makes Bruce Lee interesting is his rare combination of philosophy, martial arts, and striking thoughts. There wouldn’t be much thrill to the Bruce Lee personality if he niched down and lesser focused on just martial arts.
The average person is either good at one thing or made to believe they should be good at, and talk about only one thing. That’s the norm. So when the few among us single themselves out as multi-talented with diverse interests, we immediately take notice.
And they reap the benefit of recognition and building a brand. This is especially important in the digital economy whose currency is attention.
You want people to look at you and curiously say “Who is this guy/gal”? And the best way to do that is to combine things you’re not supposed to combine. By refusing to walk into laid expectations of you.
The people who don’t get this are executives and management gurus.
Consider the chief executive officers of corporations: they not just look the part, but they even look the same. And, worse, when you listen to them talk, they will sound the same, down to the same vocabulary and metaphors. ~Nassim Taleb
What executives get wrong about Musk’s Social Rhetoric
Who does this?!
Senior executives and management gurus who criticize Elon Musk for his erratic/childish behavior miss one point. Once you become a billionaire like that, you stop being human. People write you off as you already have made it. You stop being relatable.
There’s a common thread of human hardship and suffering that connects us all. But as a billionaire, everyone assumes you’re exempted from that thread. Even your rags-to-riches story stops to hold water at some point. You’re closer to a comic book character than someone with real feelings.
It is even worse if you sound like you were downloaded from Deloitte, speaking in perfect corporate discourse.
No one sees you as like them. Just a lifeless corporate figure who is incredibly irrelevant outside the corporate climate.
So how do you make yourself relatable?
The only way to make yourself human again is, as Mr. Musk does, either by working on your sense of humor or flaunting your personality flaws. Make people say “he’s just like us”.
Even better, make people say “That’s just Elon being Elon.” Cancel culture will leave you alone.
It is about signaling what you can get away with
The highest status of a free man is indicated by voluntarily adopting the manners of the lowest class. People who use foul language on social media are sending an expensive signal that they are free— they don’t have a boss to answer to. An employee, executives included, tends to watch what they say on social media –most just stop posting.
The element of risk
The best rewards come from taking risks, not playing safe. Anything a person does that involves risk tends to inspire trust. Speaking your mind in the age of outrage and calling out is risky. Executives who subdued their opinions are forgotten once they retire.
It is also about skin in the game
People who are a proven asset of getting things done dont give a fuck about whether they look or sound like their profession. Their proven competence dwarfs any doubt about their look or choice of words. On the contrary, incompetent or fraudsters compensate for it by looking the part.
Ignoring your audience may go against the ‘Know Your Audience’ convention. But when in doubt, make yourself your own target audience.
Start sharing something you will come back to read and say ‘I wanted to hear this. Would you give yourself bad freelance advice? No.
Are you following a trend in your industry obsessively? Share it as a reminder to yourself.
People don’t notice but a good percentage of my posts on LinkedIn (where I have an audience of 36,200+ followers) are just a reminder to myself. I do that on X and doing it on Medium.
Most of the time I treat LinkedIn as my note-taking app, dumping thoughts from my daily learnings. When I write; “If you come from a low-income country or a poor family, make sure you earn in dollars on the internet”. This is me advising myself. I come from a poor country with a weak currency against the US dollar. You just happened to relate to the message.
Abdulrazak Gurnah, a Nobel Prize winner in Literature, resists “the idea that a writer represents”. “I write for me”, he says. If you hear an echo in your own experience, that’s great.
But he did not set out to represent society, person, or country.
Let’s hear some wisdom from Lang Leav an Australian novelist and poet. On what to write, she says:
You want to write for the world but you can’t figure out what the world wants. If you write for a trend, it will be over before you can get a word out. If you write for fame and fortune, your work will lack authenticity. So, remember, writing is a journey inward, not out. Write for yourself. That is what the world wants.
Lang Leav
Jordan B. Peterson once said that there’s no such thing as an audience. An argument I explained in this piece; you only talk to one person.
So whenever you find yourself struggling with “topics” to write. Whenever in doubt. Make yourself your own target audience. It works.
Kuwa makini kuhusu Followers na Engagement unayopata. Kuna mwamba pale LinkedIn anafollowers 155,300+. Ni wengi si ndiyo?
Post zake ni zile za Agree? —si unazipata zile? Yaani mavichekesho, post za huruma na mambo kama hayo.
Likes ni nyingi kupita maelezo. Sometimes zinafika hadi 54,000+ kwa post moja.
Niambie, how do you get qualified leads kwa kupost hivi vitu?
Unaweza sema huyu mwamba kashatoboa si ndiyo? From the look of it sidhani. Kwa maana hadhi ya jina lake bado DHAIFU na Hawezi Kuuza. Ana followers. Hana influence.
Huyu akisema auze bidhaa atajikuta anashangaa kama Yesu, “wako wapi wale kenda?” Anaweza asiuze kabisa kwa wasifu ule alionao. Unajua ni kwanini?
Anajitambulisha kama Expert in Digital Marketing lakini watu wanamjua kama jamaa anayepost vitu flani funny au motivating. Hawajui anaweza kuwasaidia nini. Kwasababu ukishuka kwenye post zake, post ya kwanza hadi ya ishirini huoni post kuhusu ujuzi na maarifa yake. Yaani yeye kama yeye hana cha kuongea. Siyo creator. Ni msambazaji wa yale anayokusanya huko mtandaoni.
Akijaribu kupost huduma engegement inaporoka kutoka likes zaidi ya 20,000 hadi likes chini ya 20. Yaani amejikusanyia audience ya watu wenye attention span ya TikTok. Hawa ni kama wale walioponywa ukoma wakaenda kimoja bila kurudi kumshukuru Yesu.
Usiende mtandaoni kukidhi mihemko ya watu. There is what sells on a particular platform, and there’s WHY you are there. If you’re there to entertain the ramblings of incoherent masses then fine.
Kuwa na followers 100 wanaojua nini unafanya na nini watapata kutoka kwako ni bora,
KULIKO kuwa na 10,000 followers ambao hawajui ni nini hasa unafanya au watapata nini from you.
Penye nzi, fisi na mwewe wengi pana bidhaa ambayo walaji wake wana uwezo (read kipato) mdogo. Yaani hawana uwezo kama simba au chui kukimbiza swala, kumuua na kumla.
Kundi la simba wakiwa wanakula nyama ni dogo tu. Kundi la wala mzoga ni utitiri.
Kwenye biashara, masoko yote ni pyramids. Wapo walaji walio juu ya food supply chain. Na wapo walio chini. At the bottom.
Kama unapata utitiri wa engagement kwenye post zako basi, kama tulivyoweka bayana hapo juu, umegusa kundi la wenye kipato kidogo. Yaani watu WOTE.
Maudhui yenye chembe za hisia, mihemko, mzaha na upuuzi wenye kuchekesha huvutia watu masikini. Kundi hili linapenda burudani kwasababu huwasahaulisha uhalisia wa hali zao ngumu.
Hapo sahau kuhusu kuwauzia bidhaa. Unaweza kuongelea matatizo yao na ukawagusa, lakini pesa yao inaenda kwenye mahitaji ya lazima.
Labda kama content yenyewe ndiyo bidhaa. Yaani unalipwa na YouTube kwa views za masikini hawa. Yule jamaa yetu kapotea njia maana LinkedIn hawalipi mtu. Bora angekuwa X kwa maokoto ya Elon Musk.
Ukitaka kuvutia attention ya watu wenye kipato cha tarakimu 8 usiandae maudhui yanayovutia watu wenye kipato cha tarakimu 5.
Maudhui ambaya ni ‘ngumu kumeza’ yaani high tech, high intelligence —haya huvutia kundi dogo tu la watu. Hapa hatupo tena chini ya pyramid. Hawa wanaweza kununua.
Ok, turudi mbugani; unakimbiza swala au utakula kilichosazwa?
Kwenye post hii pale LinkedIn, kuna watu kadhaa wamejaribu kukosoa lugha niliyotumia. Huwa napata critics hizi mara nyingi. Watu hawa hawajui mimi ni mwalimu wa lugha na fasihi na kwa miaka mingi nimethibitisha umahiri katika eneo hili la uwasilishaji. What they miss is why nimechagua aina hii ya uwasilishaji.
Moja kati ya sanaa zinaogopwa na mamlaka dhalimu ni mziki wa kufoka. Nay wa Mitego akiimba kuhusu uongozi mbovu lazima nyimbo ifungiwe. Roma yuko mafichoni.
Kwanini? Ukitaka kupata mrejesho kwa watu, ukitaka watu waamke na wachukue hatua, lazima ujumbe wako uibue hisia za kero na mshituko. The average mwananchi is docile. Ukiwasilisha kipole, kizembe, na kitakatifu utaishia kupata “Well said” na “Spot on”.
Yesu mwenyewe inafika mahali anaita watu wapumbavu, wanafiki, na waongo. Anaenda mbali anakuwa violent anavuruga meza za biashara ndani nyumba yake. Kama Yesu hakubembelezi, itakuwa mimi?
Most people have barely scratched the surface of effective delivery.
Wengine wasomi kabisa. Sijui wanapataje hizo Dr. na PhD bila kusoma rhetoric. Au ni za “kutunukiwa”. Tatizo la wengi, hasa wazee ni wamekua enzi za Nyerere zilizotawaliwa na uoga pamoja na maonyo makali.
Waliosoma kitabu changu wanaelewa. Nimetumia kurasa nyingi kueleza saikolojia ya maudhui na kitu kinaitwa “signaling”. Mfano wa signaling; mimi siwezi kusema kuwa nina ujasiri. Ila nitaongelea kitu ambacho wewe umefyata mkia kukiongelea. Hapo ndipo utakiri kimoyo moyo “this guys is confident.”
The best way to convey reality in a way that will shock people is to weave it into art and fiction.
Yesu Kristo na kushtua watu
Halikuwa jambo geni kwa miungu wa zamani kupata shida na matatizo ya kibinadamu. Mengine kupelekea kufa kwao. Lakini walipata matatizo hayo wakiwa kwenye hali ya umungu. They remained in their god ranks. Hivyo, ikawa vigumu kwa watu ku-relate ni kwa kiasi gani miungu hao waliteseka. Kama mtu si sehemu ya uhalisia wako, unakosa muktadha unaokuruhusu uhisi shida zake.
Lakini aliyekuja kuwastua wanadamu na kuwakera baadhi ni Yesu. Yaani akajishusha hadi kuwa binadamu wa kawaida. Tena maskini. Huo mshitko wa kwanza. Na kero kwa Warumi maana walitarajia mfalme dikteta.
Isitoshe akauawawa na wanajeshi watumwa wa Roma. Mshituko wa pili kwa watu. Kilichofuata ni wafuasi wake kumwanini zaidi na kufanya msalaba kuwa alama ya utukufu na utakatifu. Huu nao ni mshangao na mshituko kwani msalaba ilikuwa alama ya mateso kwa watu wa chini kabisa katika jamii. Watu wa kutupwa.
Hapa ninajaribu kukuonyesha umuhimu wa kuchombeza mshangao, kero, mshituko na sanaa kwenye ujumbe wako. Yesu aliingia kwa kushangaza watu (Mungu gani anazaliwa zizini?) na kuondoka kwa kustua wengi. Mpaka leo, neno la Yesu linatamkwa katika kila kinywa. Waamini na wasioamini.
Uwasilishaji fanisi umekaa kichokozi
Wale wanaonikosoa ndiyo uthibitisho wa hoja yangu. Kwa maana huwa siwaoni wakishiriki kwenye post zingine. Lakini ujumbe wangu umewastua kiasi cha kuacha comment. Ningetumia lugha ya kawaida wangepita tu. Post zangu nyingi zinazoanzisha mijadala ya maana ni zile ambazo nimetia uchizi na uchokozi kwenye uwasilishaji.
Fitness expert Doug Brignole wrote in his book, The Physics of Resistance Exercise;
“Complete forward flexion of the spine and deliberate contraction of the rectus abdominis, is much more likely to produce muscular development of the abs.”
While he could have said.
Bending forward to make full contraction of abdominal muscles will give you six packs.
Then mention the two exercises for that;
Seated cable ab crunches
Incline bench ab crunches.
But no. The expert fancied the idea of making exercise sound like classical mechanics and complex biology. Yes, exercise is biomechanics. But no one in my year of gym going has uttered things like “rectus abdominis” or “forward flexion”. Me and my gym bros we say abs, packs, or six packs.
His book is the best fitness book I ever read. You should read it. Only that his delivery limited it to a few learned, pro bodybuilders. Maybe that was his target. A book for trainers, not for the DIY rest of us.
But the point stands. There are more lies in the fitness industry than in romantic relationships. This book could have saved many. If you have something to say, and you have expertise in it, it would be irresponsible to make the message difficult to read.
Difficult, specialized words disengage people.
Unless you want to prove that you also went to school, jargon doesn’t help you much. You will look smart but also make people feel like they don’t belong.
We are wired to respond to content and stories written in clear, simple language. If you want to engage people, plain language is your friend.
With plain language, more people will read and understand your message. And act on it. And if you said something valuable to people, what impact would that be? Plain language is inclusive.
And please do not confuse your message not being for everyone with your message not being effective.
If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself
