Out Of the Game.

I was recently in one of my favorite cities Montreal. Salut mon ami. I caught a free concert by Rufus Wainwright. I have been enjoying his current album and his song “Out of the Game”.

Now Rufus’s game is a lot different than mine but the melody stuck with me and came back to life when I ran into a number of people who were out of the game in their worlds.

I recently had a couple of networking meetings here in the OC with two different people working in Senior Marketing Positions with two different companies. They both had VP Marketing titles but only in title. Both had worked for those companies for 15 plus years but now found them out of the game. They still worked there but their souls weren’t engaged there. A few years ago somebody in the same position at a different company on the other side of the country described their role as “Counting paper clips.” Both were looking for their next opportunities.

Both said the same thing I have also heard in the past. “There have been changes at the top and it’s not the same.”

Both were hearing the Train of Transition coming down the track. Choo! Choo! The only Problem they have is that they aren’t riding The Little Engine That Could. Often trouble leaves too slowly.

I also recently had another networking Starbucks with another Marketing Person in the B to B space. A Fortune 500 company I think based back East with a division here in Southern CA. They were really fans of Social Media and were trying unsuccessfully to transfer their enthusiasm and knowledge to their company’s social media initiatives.

They ran into their legal department. People afraid of their own shadows and career playing it safe. You don’t win in business in the New Normal by playing it safe. Just ask Kodak. They are also out of the Game.

I have heard that companies like GE are actually training and incentivizing their employees to learn how to be proficient on LinkedIn. Imagine that.

I recently conducted a LinkedIn training session for a couple of companies that wanted to empower their employees and their company. They are in the game.

On a daily basis, I encounter people who keep themselves out of the game even though they think they are in it. Lousy business cards, poor LinkedIn presence, only practicing hot and cold networking. If the train of transition comes down their tracks they are in deep doo doo. They simply aren’t ready to get fired.

So are you in or out of the game? Can you hear your Choo Choo? What train are you riding?

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