Leading Workplace Change™

The influence of celebrity culture in our day-to-day lives seems to be increasing in proportion to the number of new videos posted on YouTube.  Will its power soon be slipping into the workplace or is it already there? -  with its persistent focus on publicized name recognition rather than known accomplishments? 

We have celebrity CEO’s - most prominently in companies built on brand recognition, such as Steve Jobs at Apple Computer, Richard Branson at Virgin Atlantic and Oprah Winfrey at Harpo Productions.  And yes, within brand-based companies, it is common for folks to promote themselves with their own personal brand as part of their path to workplace success.

The consequence in the business world, as well as in popular culture is that there are always whispered questions as to whether these individuals achieved their success by true accomplishments or by just being known by the right people at the right time and place.  Even folks with clear skills and abilities to produce results, who use the ‘celebrity’ route to gain their position, have to be ready to counteract steady rumors of lack of competence.

There is also the challenge within highly celebrity-based workplaces that when mistakes are made, there is usually someone ready to take advantage of the mistake for their own benefit!  This same phenomena occurs in popular culture.  An example can be seen in Tiger Woods’ recent falling from media grace - the trappings of celebrity can quickly exalt and just as quickly destroy. 

The unintended impact on brand-based or celebrity cultures - is that workplace energies can become very internally focused on the ‘name recognition’ game and not on the competition outside.  So as usual the answer is balance - people in the workplace will always need to use relationships to get some jobs done; they need confidence in their own abilities - but let’s measure success by accomplishments.

Celebrity culture is not a new challenge - take a look at the writings of the historian, Daniel Boorstin from the early 1960’s.  A good quote of his that rings just as true today is:

The hero was distinguished by his achievement; the celebrity by his image or trademark.  The hero created himself; the celebrity is created by the media.  The hero was a big man; the celebrity is a big name.

Tags: Corporate Culture Observer, Uncategorized //