Yesterday I was watching the film 'Invictus'. It's the story of South African Nelson Mandela and how he took over as President after so many years in prison by winning the popular vote at that time. The story starts with him going out for a walk; a newspaper bundle is deposited out front and he stops to see what were the headlines. The headlines said something to this effect – "He's won the popular vote, but can he govern?"
As I read that I thought that it was a very pertinent question to ask. Does popularity translate into governance? Can you assume that people who are voted into power really govern? That is a good question for us in our times today even as we look not only at our country but also around the world. Does popularity really translate into good governance? The name of the film Invictus comes from a poem written by William Ernest Henley many years ago. It basically says, "I can look beyond all this because I have an unconquerable soul. I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." In other words - not letting the things that go wrong in our lives or the circumstances that are impinging on our lives dictate how we are going to face life.
That thought is what brought me to the point of how popularity translates into our lives. We can often be popular in our workplaces. Once we get into the company on our merit, the rest depends on how we interact with people and how people view us as ones who can lead. Getting well known within the company might get us to be team leaders or project heads or something like that. Yet, it always boils down after the initial popularity, to whether or not we have the capability. That's where we realize we must have something solid beyond just being popular. That was the crux of what Nelson Mandela faced. Do you have what it takes to now unite a divided country, as South Africa was at that time?
Moving beyond that film to you and me and where we are today I realize that if we don't have what it takes to do what others think or perceive we can do, then what drops is our credibility. That is the most difficult to regain – getting back our credibility. We need to be very careful that somehow, in the selling of ourselves, we always make sure that we are able to do what we say we can or are noted for doing.
I was reading this article by fueldog about Inborn marketing solutions. They were talking about how SEOs are not really enough. You can do a search engine optimization and bring awareness of what you or your company is doing. That can help in the short term, in terms of getting hits on a Google search by putting the proper tags or optimizing the site key words and all the rest of it. But, as they say, that alone doesn't get the job done. You've got to go beyond this. SEO alone isn't enough. "Ultimately, as the publishers of old used to say, Content is King. When your site content is constantly updated, it optimizes what the search engines can do for you, and then you'll begin to go down as the list of sites that can be picked up on Google.
They then talk about how we need to have inbound links that keep coming in and how to do that by using Twitter and LinkedIn and Facebook, Google+, Reddit, Digg, etc. But it's so important to continue on or to move on with whom you're being compared to today.
That's a good thing for us today – to really strictly look at ourselves and say, "Who am I? What am I known for? Do I match up to that?
The late Dr. Kurien of Amul fame used to talk of the Amul brand and said, "Every time you buy a packet of Amul butter or cheese or anything that has Amul on it, it comes with an invisible contract that gives the buyer a list of things that will never change with Amul – it will always be available, they will not raise prices when there is a scarcity of other products in the market – things that you could take for granted." That's the way our own personal brands ought to be. We too need to look at life this way. When I put my hand out and say, "Hi! I'm Cecil Clements," does my personal brand mean something? Does my name mean something? Do people respond and say, "I know Cecil and this is what I can expect from him." Is that what we can say for each of us? Do we match up to what people know about us? Sometimes if our popularity goes ahead of us and we cannot match it with content or with the things that we profess we are able to do, then we are in trouble because we lose credibility. When your brand loses credibility, then it's very difficult to get it back.
So this morning, I want to throw this out to you. It's a line that got my attention from the movie Invictus – "He's won the vote, but can he govern?" You have a place in the company but can you match it with performance? It must always be that who we say we are matches what we say we can and will do. The two must come together to ensure that our credibility stays.
I like the line from our Holy Book that says: "Don't think too highly of yourselves, but consider yourself with sober judgment." Wise words! Let's not think too highly of ourselves but consider ourselves with sober judgment. If we have that outlook, we will never run into this problem of not being able to match who our popularity says we are.
I want to leave you with these words. Look at who you are, what you're known for and always make sure that you're able to deliver on all of those things, that you never lose credibility with friends, with your colleagues, family, with people who have gotten to know you.
Can I pray for you? Almighty God. Without your help, it is so impossible to do the things that we need to and want to do. We pray that you would give us wisdom never to get ahead of ourselves, never to think too highly of ourselves, that who we are known for, who we way we are, Lord, that we can always deliver. We ask for your strength to help us in that area. I pray for that wisdom to be upon all those on this call today. I pray your blessing upon them in the name of Jesus. Amen.
• Kevin Gulley, "SEO Alone just doesn't get the job done. Period" http://www.fueldog.com/dogbytes/bid/87250/SEO-Alone-Just-Doesn-t-Get-The-Job-Done-Period
• " "He may win an election, but can he run a country?" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1057500/quotes
• William Ernest Henley, "Invictus." http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/william-ernest-henley/invictus/
• Bible quote: "Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us." Romans 12:3
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