Damien Grant

When did everyone become a ‘‘thoughtleader’’? Whenever I wander into the fetid pool that is the self-promoter’s swamp of choice, Linkedin, I am confronted by cellphone videos of idiots giving me their insights on a vast variety of complex business issues that they evidently do not understand.

Incredibly I recognise some of these clowns because I’ve liquidated their businesses. In one case, multiple times, but his resolute selfconfidence hasn’t been dimmed at all by his repeated failures. Perhaps this in itself merits some consideration.

It is possible we always thought we were brilliant but in past eras it was only our spouses that had the misfortune to endure our pontifications.

Now, thanks to the genius of cellphone technology and social media we can tell the entire world about the importance of engaging with our customers in a sustainable manner or the perils of inauthenticity in our corporate profiles.

I’m curious about the mental process that Cheryl from Sydenham took that led her to the belief that her perspectives on the importance of integrity in sales leadership is anything anyone would ever want to listen to.

We’re deluged with lowwattage Steve Jobses ‘‘checking-in’’ with their imaginary followers and updating them with the progress on the infantile minutiae of their mundane lives.

I’d be more impressed if there was any diversity in this parade of mediocrity, but there isn’t. There must be a guidebook somewhere that emphasises the need to repeat the words authentic, integrity and leadership.

Some relief could be afforded by attention to the quality of production. Alas, I suspect that the guidebook advises that holding the phone in one hand and walking about like a twerp adds to the legitimacy of the experience.

Most reprehensible are those who prop the phone on the dashboard and spend a few minutes of their day to share their thoughts. These people need to turn the phone off, look back at themselves in the rear-vision mirror, and ask: really?

Sadly, this affliction isn’t limited to millennials, who have been raised on a diet of Facebook and Instagram and whose narcissism has been fuelled by decades of helicopterparenting. Balding and badly dressed boomers can be seen hustling their wares in this dignitydestroying farce.

Thankfully these older purveyors of banalities go for slighter higher-quality production but the lack of originality in content condemns almost all attempts to remain relevant to the digital dustbin of obscurity.

By producing something for public consumption, you are making a claim that what you have generated is worth the consumer’s time. This comes with a responsibility.

There was a popular saying: ‘‘If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all’’. A new saying for a new generation should be simpler; ‘‘If you have nothing to say, say nothing.’’

Balding and badly dressed boomers can be seen hustling their wares in this dignitydestroying farce.