8 Lessons in Online Interactions From The King’s Speech
On my way to SXSW this year I had the privilege to see this awesome movie on the first leg of my trip while on my favorite airline @jetblue.
I did see when Colin Firth won the Oscar and I had seen James Lipton interview Colin a few weeks earlier. I did not have much interest for the movie or Colin until I had the opportunity to watch The King’s Speech [Blu-ray]
(Amazon Affiliate Link). I enjoyed it so much I counted down the days until it was going to come out on Blu-ray.
I sat down to watch the movie for the third time and I realized that many of the things that happened back in the 1930’s when Prince Albert became George VI are still in our nature. Many of the obstacles he had would have been played out differently today given the many communication channels we have and also how aware we are of people with impediments much like George’s speech impediment. George VI, the father of the current Queen Elizabeth, had a speech impediment which became an even larger issue when he had to take the throne and communicate effectively in different scenarios.
Looking at many of the key issues and curious facts, I was able to align 8 Key Topics that are focused on what happened in the movie and can relate to how our lives have revolved around social networks for the last few years.
Use of Unorthodox Methods
To overcome the speech impediment, unorthodox methods where used. We can see how at the beginning they try to cure the Prince’s speech impediment with marbles that where originally used by the ancient greeks. This ends up not being very helpful and they have to resort to an effective therapist that used unorthodox methods.
I see this with many of my clients and even friends who want new results but when you show them a new way of approaching things, they resort to old and ineffective methods. A good example is how people spam other people with emails. They call it the Email Blast and they take a list of people and just push their message. It has never been that effective and it will not be now. Pushing spam to an email list is as effective as using marbles to help with a speech impediment.
Pseudo-names
We see how King George had the alias of Johnson which he used in the war. It served to protect his identity from harm and a way to integrate him in the Navy so others would not know where he was located and would not become an enemy target. I see many people using aliases and strange twitter names never putting a face to their twitter account or facebook page. That is great if you want to protect your privacy but if you’re that concerned about privacy then the internet is not the place for you. Using an alias so people don’t know who you are for whatever reason is fit for a prince or a king.
Souvenir
You can clearly see how the therapist hands a souvenir to the Prince (soon to be king) which ends up being a copy of what he had made the prince accomplish. He gave him a sample of how quickly he could bring the king results. Sometimes giving a sample of your work might help you create unique relationships. Example a few weeks ago I created a free Social Media Evaluation on my corporate site for other businesses to use and I posted samples of the offer of websites for $495.
My friends at Kitchen Table Companies (Affiliate Link) also offer a free area for you to get a touch of what Kitchen Table Companies is about. It is a small virtual souvenir you can keep about the experiences of visiting the website and just a small sample of all the value you will get from being able to access the premium content.
Permission Based
Just as Prince Albert did not want to be treated for his condition, I have to diagnose the needs of my prospective clients. If they don’t understand my services at CIMA IT Solutions I try to educate them. If they don’t understand their needs, I move on to focus on clients that are really interested.
My house, my rules
Lionel (played by Geoffrey Rush) sets his own rules while working with Prince Albert. He makes sure that protocol is secondary vs the main objective which was correcting King George’s speech impediment. Therefore he choose to call the King Bertie as only the closest people in his circle would call him. There are protocols around many things when interacting on social channels. My recommendation is to make sure people meet them. If they don’t, clearly let them know they are outside your boundaries (preferably via private message).
Also remember that titles and what you do are secondary when you are interacting in an environment that is made to collaborate and share ideas. So make sure you leave your titles to the side unless you are asked. I always ask myself this question “Do all Protocols Serve a Benefit to Society” and I ask you the same?
Accomplishments over Loyalty and Protocol
Everyone was sure of how good Lionel was but for many it was more important to bring someone closer to the royal family. In business like I wrote the other day there are many that are always searching for those that are supposedly at a superior level. I have seen how loyalty and making sure someone belongs to a certain group can be detrimental to some efforts. Make sure you work along and hire the best resources. Forget about brands and titles sometimes they are the only thing that might give prestige to a group of people especially those that are similar to a Rusty Fan pushing hot air.
Recognizing Our Gifts
Lionel was the son of a brewer and he saw the benefit of getting free beer from his dad. We always have to look around what privileges and advantages we have been given within the environment and situation we are in. Everyone, depending on their situation, has had an advantage over other people. Not everyone is up for the throne but I am sure our parents and grandparents have left us some kind of gift and legacy so we can build upon it.
Never go Against Nature
King George was Left handed and they made him write with his right hand. His legs where apparently not to par with how a prince legs should look like so they placed braces that where painful to correct them. His mom was never near so they had a nanny that did not really take care of him and would starve him. All these things that happened to King George went against nature and were the onset of his speech impediment.
As human beings we are always looking for ways to make things fall into what people are accustomed too. I always recommend to go along with mother nature and find a natural solution.
How many times have you gone against nature? What has been the outcome?
Overall I enjoyed watching The King’s Speech and I have to say I learned a lot from watching it multiple times.
Are there any other lessons we can apply to our lives specifically of our online interactions?
photo credit by Lancashire County Council