Joe Biden gave a disastrous debate performance. His team floated the idea that he had a cold and that was why his voice sounded so weak and soft. There was also talk that his prior busy international schedule had also taken a heavy toll on him. Should he have gone on with the debate? Looking back, I am sure he regrets the decision to go forward with it, rather than rescheduling. What about for us in business?
Dates for events are set well in advance, but a lot can happen in the interim. If we get Covid, that is an easy one – there is no way we can turn up and infect the multitudes gathered to hear our pearls of wisdom. What about a cold, food poisoning, toothache or something a little less dramatic than the residues of the pandemic?
If you were a man brought up in macho Australia, you would keep going and “soldier on”, regardless. But is that actually the best policy? We have to keep in mind that like Joe, we are putting our personal and professional brands out there on public display. Does anyone seriously forgive Joe for his shambolic presentation simply because he had a cold or a flight back from Italy? I doubt it. We judge what we see in front of us, and we are all so sceptical and unforgiving today. We quickly jump to conclusions and we have no tolerance for underperformance or time for excuses.
It is tough in Japan, because the number of occasions we may have the opportunity to give a talk are relatively limited, even if you speak fluent Japanese. We may not want to miss the chance to speak. The organisers will expect you to turn up and deliver and we will feel obligated to make sure the show goes on regardless of how bad we are feeling. Often, the organisers in Japan are not expecting fireworks with the talk and their main concern is that the programme is completed in full and on time. If you give a reputation destroying effort, the hosts don’t feel any remorse about pushing you to perform as scheduled. They did their bit to pull a crowd and after that, it is up to you, to carry it off.
I would suggest that we take the long-term view. Your reputation and brand are inviolable. Once you create doubt about your professional competence, it is hard to win it back. That is what Joe Biden is finding. He cannot mount enough capability to overcome the train wreck and by the time this podcast gets released he may be out entirely. Bad news moves at a fast clip and good news travels along on the saddle of a sloth.
We may compromise our relationship with the event organisers, but in most cases, we are speaking for no pay and just for glory. If Joe had said I am unwell and can’t debate on this particular date, then the whole thing would have been rescheduled, despite the inconvenience to everyone. After a day of headlines, everyone would have forgotten about it and would be focused on the new date.
Hardly anyone will remember that you cancelled your talk. However, everyone there watching will remember you were a disaster or were fundamentally unimpressive. And that is precisely what they will say about you when you name comes up. “Oh, yeah, I saw him speak once and it was dreadful”. Is that really the legacy we want to haul around with us as we move through this business life.
Making excuses doesn’t go down well either, once you do turn up. Telling the crowd at the start that you are unwell gets no sympathy vote whatsoever. Everyone expects you to be on top of your game and any excuses are seen as whining, weak, and pointless. Japanese speakers do this a lot. They start off their talk by informing us they are a terrible speaker or have a cold or didn’t have enough time to properly prepare the talk. This is all seen as tatemae – superficial truth – by the audience and as a weak flex to show humility. No one pays the slightest attention to the content of what is being said and expect the speaker to perform, anyway.
Our brand must be protected at all times. If we feel we are not going to be able to defend it, we are better to be like the ballad of Davy Crocket and come back and “fight another day”. Better to reschedule if you are not doing well and can’t pull it off. There is no upside for you to go on stage and a huge downside if you do perform and fluff it.
