The conversation with my grandma
“Jason, did you read this?!?!!”
There I was, at church, when my grandma hands me a stack of papers she had printed off about a subject she was passionate about. I’ll be honest, this was several years ago now and I don’t even remember the subject we were talking about; but at the time it was a big deal to her!
As I looked through the stack of papers, reading some of the content, there were several things that didn’t sit well with me.
After a little while I looked up and asked my grandma, “Where did you get this?”
“I got it online!”, she replied.
“I see you got it online grandma, but where? What source did this come from?”
It was then we had a good conversation about the reality of the internet; not everything you read online is factual.
This was several years ago and I think most people are now aware that we need to check the source of where the content came from. Even then, it is easy to find positions that agree with our bias to things, especially if they are controversial. Since I’m not one known for being controversial, I’ll leave that one alone!
What to look for when you are finding facts online
“Jason, did you read this?!?!!”Here is a great video on how to fact check news online:
A great to remember how to validate stories online:
- Always evaluate the author and source.
- Be skeptical.
- Check sources for accuracy.
- Don’t forward until you fact-check
Teaching from the Trenches
When it comes to fact checking a story it is a little more straightforward; but what about when it is personal experiences and lessons learned?
I was challenged a few years back on this subject when asked what relevant experience a person had in relationship to what they were communicating. A great example was someone who ‘knew’ about running a business vs someone who actually was running a business. One might have the theory and head-knowledge, but the person who is actually running that business is the one that has the credibility.
This isn’t a knock on education at all, quite the opposite.
I heard John Maxwell say once when he was asked about the hurdles that young leaders have to overcome say, in essence, that the hard part in being a young leader is that you ‘know’ more than you have experienced.
That isn’t a bad thing, in fact it is a great thing, because when you ‘know’ something and then experience it, the lesson is ingrained. When you experience something without the knowledge of what you are going through, you learn the lesson the hard way (and the hard way is not my favorite way personally).
These experiences that people learn and pass on to others is true in tangible things (don’t put gasoline in a diesel engine for example) but they apply to soft skills as well.
As I am on the sales and marketing side of Alyrica there are soft skills that I have learned and teach our team about working with people, conflict resolution, leadership and management.
There is plenty to talk about on those subjects, but I’m going to leave that alone for now.
What are you able to pass on to other people from your experiences?
I challenged folks at our webinar a couple weeks ago to take a look at who they are mentoring and in what areas that can mentor.
The things that you think are mundane because you do them everyday are the things that someone else is trying to learn. I challenge people to pass that along to someone else somehow, some way. That is what we want to explore in our webinar coming up. The past 2 webinars have been incredible and we hope you join us this week!
Leading the Way
Topics we will be covering:
- Becoming an Expert in your Field
- Thinking Globally, Not Just Locally
- Staying Ahead of the Change Curve
May 28 @ 1PM PST.
Questions?
Feel free to reach out to me via email: jason.richards@alyrica.net
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