People I'm Wary Of

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Financial coaches who aren’t fabulously wealthy.

Chefs who crusade against foods. There’s more than enough to advocate for that if you’re crusading against something, you’re probably not cooking delicious things.

Fitness personal trainers who are seriously overweight.

Black belt “masters” under the age of 13.

Social media experts.

Any (American) politician whose ads include the American flag. If you’re so patriotic, why do you need to stuff Old Glory in your ads?

Life coaches under the age of 70. If you’re claiming to coach life skills, shouldn’t you have lived most of it first?

All of these share the same common theme: the claim a person makes directly contradicts the apparent evidence.

When it comes to your personal brand, how out of sync is what you say with the results you’ve generated?

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Comments

16 responses to “People I'm Wary Of”

June 15, 2009

Ryan Beale

Christopher,

I couldn't agree more. In fact, I'll take it a step further and say that I can't stand it when “those” types of “experts” follow me on Twitter. To position yourself as an expert in any field, there must be some legitimate accomplishments/testimonials behind your work (IMHO).

Good way to start off the week, with Monday Morning Rant.

RB

Reply
June 15, 2009

Ryan Beale

Christopher,

I couldn't agree more. In fact, I'll take it a step further and say that I can't stand it when “those” types of “experts” follow me on Twitter. To position yourself as an expert in any field, there must be some legitimate accomplishments/testimonials behind your work (IMHO).

Good way to start off the week, with Monday Morning Rant.

RB

Reply
June 15, 2009

meryl333

People may be sincere in their efforts to lose weight, yet unsuccessful because of weakness. If you trust financial people who are fabulously wealthy, you may be truly trusting a crook. Crusading against foods? “apparent” evidence? What do you mean. Flesh this out & it could be an interesting piece. Good topic.

Reply
June 15, 2009

meryl333

People may be sincere in their efforts to lose weight, yet unsuccessful because of weakness. If you trust financial people who are fabulously wealthy, you may be truly trusting a crook. Crusading against foods? “apparent” evidence? What do you mean. Flesh this out & it could be an interesting piece. Good topic.

Reply
June 15, 2009

tmurphy

The status of expert, like a degree or certification is not an accolade one can or should bestow on oneself. It is not enough to think you have achieved a certain familiarity with a given knowledge base and can thereby claim distinction in that field. One has to prove it in the court of public opinion. Either by complying to known competence of standards in exams or by producing a body of work, deep enough and extensive enough, that others can point to as evidence of competence.

Expertise is measured by the value others put on one's work, not on one's self-assessment of it.

Reply
June 15, 2009

tmurphy

The status of expert, like a degree or certification is not an accolade one can or should bestow on oneself. It is not enough to think you have achieved a certain familiarity with a given knowledge base and can thereby claim distinction in that field. One has to prove it in the court of public opinion. Either by complying to known competence of standards in exams or by producing a body of work, deep enough and extensive enough, that others can point to as evidence of competence.

Expertise is measured by the value others put on one's work, not on one's self-assessment of it.

Reply
June 15, 2009

Stuartfoster

I think the rebellion against “experts” is limited to the upper echelons of the social media world. I personally hate the term with a passion. However, from an individual with no knowledge about the space…I'd take an expert over a consultant. Wrong? Yes. But it probably will happen 9 times out of 10.

From my experience, people are far dumber then we give them credit for. If they are willing to believe the garbage being slung, I'll be happy to come in and clean up the mess.

Reply
June 15, 2009

Stuartfoster

I think the rebellion against “experts” is limited to the upper echelons of the social media world. I personally hate the term with a passion. However, from an individual with no knowledge about the space…I'd take an expert over a consultant. Wrong? Yes. But it probably will happen 9 times out of 10.

From my experience, people are far dumber then we give them credit for. If they are willing to believe the garbage being slung, I'll be happy to come in and clean up the mess.

Reply
June 15, 2009

RBeale

Christopher,

I couldn't agree more. In fact, I'll take it a step further and say that I can't stand it when “those” types of “experts” follow me on Twitter. To position yourself as an expert in any field, there must be some legitimate accomplishments/testimonials behind your work (IMHO).

Good way to start off the week, with Monday Morning Rant.

RB

Reply
June 15, 2009

meryl333

People may be sincere in their efforts to lose weight, yet unsuccessful because of weakness. If you trust financial people who are fabulously wealthy, you may be truly trusting a crook. Crusading against foods? “apparent” evidence? What do you mean. Flesh this out & it could be an interesting piece. Good topic.

Reply
June 15, 2009

Guest

The status of expert, like a degree or certification is not an accolade one can or should bestow on oneself. It is not enough to think you have achieved a certain familiarity with a given knowledge base and can thereby claim distinction in that field. One has to prove it in the court of public opinion. Either by complying to known competence of standards in exams or by producing a body of work, deep enough and extensive enough, that others can point to as evidence of competence.

Expertise is measured by the value others put on one's work, not on one's self-assessment of it.

Reply
June 15, 2009

Stuart Foster

I think the rebellion against “experts” is limited to the upper echelons of the social media world. I personally hate the term with a passion. However, from an individual with no knowledge about the space…I'd take an expert over a consultant. Wrong? Yes. But it probably will happen 9 times out of 10.

From my experience, people are far dumber then we give them credit for. If they are willing to believe the garbage being slung, I'll be happy to come in and clean up the mess.

Reply
July 1, 2009

Mergen from WEBGURU-CO.COM

Good post! Interesting topic with good timing. There does seem to be plethora of interest in social media lately and combined with economic downturn, many people are becoming experts and consultants. Some follow bad tactics and others truly are just trying to learn and become somewhat of an expert in the area. I guess it all goes back to personal relationships and trust building.

Best wishes to all the entrepreneurs out there!

Reply
July 1, 2009

Mergen from WEBGURU-CO.COM

Good post! Interesting topic with good timing. There does seem to be plethora of interest in social media lately and combined with economic downturn, many people are becoming experts and consultants. Some follow bad tactics and others truly are just trying to learn and become somewhat of an expert in the area. I guess it all goes back to personal relationships and trust building.

Best wishes to all the entrepreneurs out there!

Reply
July 2, 2009

Mergen from WEBGURU-CO.COM

Good post! Interesting topic with good timing. There does seem to be plethora of interest in social media lately and combined with economic downturn, many people are becoming experts and consultants. Some follow bad tactics and others truly are just trying to learn and become somewhat of an expert in the area. I guess it all goes back to personal relationships and trust building.

Best wishes to all the entrepreneurs out there!

Reply
July 2, 2009

Mergen from WEBGURU-CO.COM

Good post! Interesting topic with good timing. There does seem to be plethora of interest in social media lately and combined with economic downturn, many people are becoming experts and consultants. Some follow bad tactics and others truly are just trying to learn and become somewhat of an expert in the area. I guess it all goes back to personal relationships and trust building.

Best wishes to all the entrepreneurs out there!

Reply