#10 Rap Lyric That Shaped My Leadership Style

For the background of this list – see my original post from 2-10-12.

Hey, we made it – the Top 10 – if you’ve stuck with me this long – Thank you.

My #10 Rap Lyric That Shaped My Leadership Style comes from Mos Def and Talib Kweli’s 1998 album Black Star and from the song K.O.S. Determination. The actual line is rapped by Talib (but I love me some Mos Def!).  Here’s the line:

”At exactly which point do you start to realize, that life without knowledge is death in disguise”

The one thing I’ve always done my entire career – is to keep learning.  After graduating with my undergrad I went back and got my Master’s in HR on nights and weekends.  After getting my master’s I went after my SPHR, which I’ve continued to hold and re-certify since 2001.  3 years ago I started blogging and found it actually forced me to research what I was writing about, and gain a better understanding of so many more things in HR that I never would have looked into personally.

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Outliers – he explains his 10,000 hour rule.  Which basically is, if you want to “master” a subject or skill you need to put in 10,000 hours of practice.  That’s like 3 hours per day for 10 years.  But in HR, I don’t think we need to be “master’s” – I’ll settle for “Expert” – let’s say 5,000 hours.  That’s doable right!?  We have roughly 40-50 years of working in our various careers – becoming an “expert” should not be hard – but you do have to make a concerted effort to get there.

It’s one thing I encourage and support within my team – continue to educate yourself and get better.  If you’re a recruiter – be an expert recruiter. Read everything you can get your hands on – watch videos – attend seminars – create new sourcing methods.  If you’re a compensation pro – go after your CCP – then blow up your compensation model and make one that will put your organization in a competitive advantage.  Be an Expert.  You won’t get their without knowledge.

3 thoughts on “#10 Rap Lyric That Shaped My Leadership Style

  1. I wonder how many people in their 40 – 50 years get the chance to be expert. I see a lot of people with 10 years in a role who don’t really have 10 year’s experience, they have one year of experience 10 times.

    Doing things differently and extending out from your zone of comfort is hard to do.

    The quest for knowledge and seeking ways to apply it- blow up the compensation system- is a radical concept for lots of people in the safety of HR- the same people who complain about a seat at the table
    Thank you for the great article.

  2. I wonder how many people in their 40 – 50 years get the chance to be expert. I see a lot of people with 10 years in a role who don’t really have 10 years expereince, they have one year of experince 10 times.

    Doing things differently and extending out from your zone of comfort is hard to do.

    The quest for knowledge and seeking ways to applu it- blow up the compenstations system- is a readical concept for lots of people in the safety of HR- the same people who complain about a seat at the table.

    thanks for the article

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.