Beware of drowning in your own hype

Published on Wednesday, Apr 08, 2009

There is a lot of hype surrounding people in key jobs. The regular work-based hard-sell like, ‘Has a lot of people working under him….’, ‘Is responsible for a great deal of money….’, ‘People sit up and listen when he speaks….’, ‘Is constantly making important decisions…’ ‘Mobilises extensive corporate resources….’ can be quite intoxicating.

It is not confined to the executive suites either. Many a times, even middle-order job positions are touted as ‘Wielding great power and influence….’ to build up excitement.

The sailing is quite smooth as long as you are simply building the hype or even paying people to boost your image. But it’s quite easy to get caught up and carried away by the puff and glamour.

Trouble comes calling when you actually start believing in the propaganda yourself and act as if you are ‘the next best thing’!

The hype around you can make you feel quite good indeed. But once it goes to your head, it translates into a haughty and pompous attitude brimming with delusions of your ’exalted’ status, worth and importance.

Now you start insisting on asserting your status, demand special attention and expect others to act impressed, as you are a ‘very important person’.

This self-delusional sense of importance can be your undoing. Yes-men and followers who constantly reinforce that you are very important, soon surround you.

Yet, they will never respond honestly to you and may even keep bad news away from your ears.

On the other hand, the burgeoning egotism and arrogance paints you as a cold and hostile person, destroying all empathy, trust and support from your erstwhile supportive colleagues or subordinates. The supercilious condescension further instigates them to attempt to bring you down and put you in your proper place.

The end result is that your myopic view itself leaves you alienated from both your sycophants and rivals. Your stress and anxiety further accelerates, as you are paranoid about losing your importance.

What’s more, it also stands true that in today’s tough economic situation with the economy spiralling out of control, you are not doing yourself any favour by believing in your own hype.

Kick delusions: Tempting it may be, don’t be sucked in by the feel-good publicity. It’s downright foolish. What’s more, the hype is not even real; it’s simply an illusionary deception!

The trick is to rise above the hype by keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground and knowing where you stand in reality. Always strive to keep yourself in perspective – you are not irreplaceable at all; in fact the exact opposite is very well true.

This is possible only when you practice humility and detachment, even when you are in the topmost job. Be dispassionate and do not take yourself or your position too seriously.

Keep your focus fixed solely on your work instead of troubling yourself with what others think of you or how they treat you. This simple and calm outlook will help you to lighten up and free the overwhelming burden of self-importance from your shoulders.

This is easier said than done, but staying humble and focussed will open the doors to even greater success, which will sit lightly on your ego. To sum up with a popular proverb, “Don’t believe your own publicity. You can’t; you will start thinking that you are better than you are.”

Payal Chanania