I’ve been watching a lot of television lately. It’s the World Cup. While entertaining for the sport, it is also a study in what happens when the microphone finds the wrong person.
Someone gets booked. They sit across from the host. They have a title. They have conviction. And within minutes, it’s obvious they were given a narrow brief, or simply haven’t done the work. The confidence and the knowledge don’t match. They make sensational comments devoid of firsthand experience. It is obvious, and not in a good way. To the point where I now prefer watching games with commentary in a language I do not know.
Social media is no different. Maybe worse, because there’s no editor, no producer, no floor manager waving them off. Just the post button and the algorithm waiting to amplify.
Here’s what I find myself coming back to: having an opinion is not the same as having something worth saying. They feel identical from the inside. The distinction only becomes visible from the outside, and by then the damage is done.
I’ve coached enough leaders to know that the ones who command the most respect in a room are often the ones most willing to say, “I don’t know enough about this yet.” That restraint isn’t weakness. It’s earned credibility.
The question I ask myself before we weigh in on anything: Have I actually done the work to deserve a view here?
Most of the time, the honest answer sends me back to learning more.
