Comments on: Why Self-Delusion Can Help You Succeed

By: The real Shawn Hessinger

The real Shawn Hessinger — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:21:56 +0000

Wow, Carleen. Just now saw the amazing quote from me above. All the more amazing perhaps because, as it happens, it is not from me at all. Just the work of a persistent troll who, after being locked out of my website about this time last year, and armed with some old links, decided to roam the Internet planting rediculous comments like this one. Perhaps the real subject of the above post should be protecting oneself in an age where anonymous individuals like this one are able to exercise irresponsible freedom of speech without fear of reprisal.

By: Plan B: Why ‘What Got Us Here, Can’t Take Us There.’ « FoundRead

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 18:56:02 +0000

[...] in the week we posted about Marshall Goldmsith’s so-called Success Delusion. Today we read a interesting post by one of Inc. magazine’s bloggers named Greg Wittstock, [...]

By: cathy Brooks

cathy Brooks — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 23:06:42 +0000

So I had one comment in mind after finishing the article, but upon reading the comments, I have to amend it and address the issue of “fudging”. While it is naive to think that people don’t spin their history in a positive fashion for their CV, the truth of the matter is that Aruni is right – people figure it out very quickly if the talk and the action don’t match. Let’s not forget that lying on your resume (as it might be used for a job application) generally serves as grounds for that job being terminated should it be discovered. And in today’s ever transparent, disclosure saturated world, the likelihood that fudging will be discovered is pretty high.

Now to the other point I was going to make … In reading the article above, I immediately began to wonder about how gender might play into this discussion. Typically men are socialized to tout their success and talk about it as a matter of course, whereas it’s something that often women are taught isn’t a good thing. Now I don’t personally subscribe to such things, but I’d be interested what people might think about this angle…

By: Aruni

Aruni — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:09:04 +0000

@Shawn – It is a good idea to think big and act big. However, most people will figure out you are more talk than action over time. I believe you have to be authentic because if you want to attract long term partners they will see right through quickly enough. You can paint a vision but you also need to demonstrate that you are taking steps to achieve that vision.

By: Carleen Hawn

Carleen Hawn — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:49:16 +0000

Interesting. We’re getting a post soon from a high level recruiter about where the lines between marketing, fudging and actually misleading/lying are. Is good food for thought.
Maybe I’ll make this a question of the day.
Thanks fro writing in.
Carleen

By: Shawn Hessinger

Shawn Hessinger — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:00:52 +0000

I absolutely believe that you have to sell yourself to make money, even if that means fudging your resumes a bit. If you look at my LinkedIn page, you’ll see that I tell people I’m the CEO, publisher and owner of three websites:

n10ahmusic.wordpress.com
http://www.postranger.com
http://bootstrapdesign.wordpress.com

If you actually go to these sites, you’ll see I haven’t posted anything new for months or even years! But that doesn’t matter. The trick is to think big… because it’s that attitude that will eventually help you succeed.

By: Tony Wright

Tony Wright — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:39:33 +0000

Thanks for ruining it. ;-)

Now I know it’s a delusion. How do I re-delude myself?