Letters May Lie

How "smart" are you?

Have you spent many years in school accumulating a lot of formal education?

Have you earned some degrees or certifications or licenses?

Do you have a few letters after your name?

Joe Blow, M.S. | Jane Doe, PhD. | Mary Poppins, LCSW | Jim Beam, CPA | or... Ronald McDonald, CMC, CPF, MBA, CSP, CPAE...

Do you think that your degrees and designations alone qualify you to do whatever it is you think you're qualified to do?

News flash: they don't.

Why not?

Because letters may lie...

The Way I See It: Content expertise does not necessarily equal communicational excellence.

The false assumption is that because a person is "educated," they are also competent communicators... intuitively able to handle personal and professional challenges in real-time, on-the-fly, and in the moment. In my experience, many of those with letters after their name are often the most arrogant of all in this area, and are the most consistently incompetent when it comes to being adept and adaptable communicators. 

A lot of people within organizations, educational institutions, or industry are like the walking-dead when it comes to communication skills. They’re stiffs that put more people off, or to sleep than they don’t. They drone on and on spewing their "expert" content while never truly connecting with their audience. Or, they're insensitive curmudgeons oblivious to the fact that they're ruled by they're own base impulses and emotions. They disappoint, aggravate, and alienate. They need a wake-up call.

They need to learn how to communicate like rock stars... the RockStar Way™

Specific content knowledge learned and earned in the form of degrees and certifications is great, and does open doors for people. Historically, society has, and still does place great emphasis and reward on demonstrated content knowledge. But in our new increasingly technologically-driven, customer-service oriented economy... content knowledge is not enough.

Have you forgotten how to simply be respectful and responsible despite how you may feel in any given moment? Degrees don't exempt anyone from demonstrating common courtesy. The letters after your name are not a license to neglect the basics.

People must also possess AND demonstrate communicational expertise in the form of emotional and social intelligences on a daily basis. People must pursue insight and situational awareness that lives at the intersection of communication (skills) and human psychology... what I call "communichology"... to truly prosper and advance personally and professionally.

PhD's who interview poorly, experienced executives who are ineffective managers, technicians who are resented by colleagues, teachers who cannot connect with students, etc., are an all-too-common reality unfortunately illustrating a lack of communichological skill.

This at least partially explains why otherwise "smart" people often struggle to attain new opportuntities and/or advance within their existing circumstances.

It's counter-intuitive that a person with many letters after their name may struggle with the basic communication skills necessary to both survive and thrive in our socially dynamic culture today. But in my experience, it's very common.

Without the adequate communicational, emotional, and social skills IN ADDITION to your letters, your progress will be limited.

Letters after your name are a good start and cetainly don't hurt, but they're only the beginning, not the end.

©2011 Tom Leu