Be Wary Of The Celebrity Manager

Not so long ago, the word celebrity was mostly associated with professional artists and extended to some politicians, sportsmen, media professionals, lawyers and social workers. The celebrity could strike a chord with the general masses primarily through their work and then see a relationship emerge as the public began taking a keen interest in their personal lives and views on matters all and sundry, elevating them to celebrityhood.

While celebrityhood often came with shrinking personal space and disproportionate blowback on their personal lifestyle choices and views, it was too little of a price to pay for the enormous gains in fame and fortune. Celebrities and their tales have therefore inspired and enchanted all societies and the secret desire to achieve that status has been the stuff of dreams for those outside the club.

With time, several business leaders, too, have successfully broken into the celebrity league with their success stories serving as examples of the triumph of human enterprise transforming millions of lives, not to mention their contribution to nation-building.

In the non-digital era, celebrities and wannabes had fewer interactions with their audiences due to the medium-specific limitations. The rise of social media dismantled the barriers, helping create a new breed of celebs who routinely feed the public with carefully picked details from their lives. The daily barrage of crafted angular content builds a particular image and narrative, elevating some to legendary status.

Social media has engendered a new race to create an imagery of success with corporate managers posting updates on official trips, awards won, conferences attended, books read and introductions made as evidence of accomplishments.

Not just that, managers in the digital age measure their worth by social media badges and the number of followers. Likes, subscriptions and followers have replaced traditional tools for assessing professional competence. But when this preoccupation results in a disproportionate focus on external validation the bubble begins to burst.

Presence mistaken for contribution

Managers ubiquitous on physical and virtual platforms are seen as achievers worth emulating since their projected images get amplified, often masking reality. While seasoned people managers can discount the Halo effect, it isn't easy to separate a virtually projected image from the reality of on-the-ground delivery. In other words, the celebrity-status-hungry manager can undermine and erode real value in organisations.

Personal brand building masquerading as value creation

There's a thin line separating useful and wasteful personal brand building. Personal branding is useful as long as it aids in achieving professional goals, and it becomes detrimental when hampering the core role deliverables. Organisations and assessing managers should be able to run a performance assessment matrix to separate personal branding from real value addition to the organisation.

Culture of personality ethics

In his famous book 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People', Stephen Covey differentiates between Personality Ethics and Character Ethics. While Personality Ethics are about externality, presentation, and skills like influencing, which are important, Character Ethics are foundational, focusing on internal self, depth, and universal values. An excessive focus on visibility, optics, and celebrity image projection can create a culture of Personality Ethics. This, coupled with an excessive focus on likes and followers, can create a managerial ecosystem with an external locus of control, creating potential managerial fragility.

Deluge of I3 content

By I3 I mean Insipid, Irrelevant, and Indiscriminate. Access to innumerable platforms has led to I3 content being rehashed and repackaged as original or insightful. An army of influencers, motivators, and experts are recycling AI-generated leadership lessons, ostensibly gleaned from simple day-to-day experiences and events. Real interactions and thought-provoking originality have ceded space to templated wokeism around humility, transformational leadership or servant leadership projecting an ideal but unreal (read celebrity) image. Penny drops for these phoney image builders every week if not every day.

Narcissism and depression

Excess is harmful, and managers seeking celebrity status must recognize the dangers of the high visibility-low substance trap. A strong internal foundation is essential to navigate the ups and downs of a professional journey. Relying on a public persona can lead to narcissism with success, or depression with rejection.

Organizations must be wary of the rise of celebrity managers. Assessors shouldn't get carried away by the halo and question the individual's real and long-term contribution to the business role. As I sum up, I recall a couplet by Nida Fazli - आवाज़ों के बाज़ारों में ख़ामोशी पहचाने कौन, loosely translating to, 'Who recognizes silence in the markets full of voices'.

The author, Vivek Tiwari is the founder of Pragyan Advisory, specializing in Leadership, Team and Organizational culture consultancy. He has also worked with firms such as Amazon, PwC, and American Express.