7-year old Ryan is the highest earner for 2018 (earnings estimates are from June 1, 2017, through June 1, 2018). He has estimated pre-tax earnings of US$ 22 million, and his channel shows the unboxing of toys and reviews. He is a leader in the ‘unboxing genre’ of videos. These are videos where you can enjoy the pleasure of unboxing that special item by proxy. You don’t have to buy the item yourself – you can get the same joy by watching a video of someone else doing the unboxing and sharing their experience.
The genre of unboxing videos has been growing at a breathtaking pace. It’s one of the indications of a growing desire of many people to live by proxy. We can’t get (or don’t want to get) some of the things or experiences we’d like ourselves, so we tap into someone else doing or getting it.
The same can happen in leadership: it’s easy to become the echo chamber of the Brené Browns and Simon Sineks of this world (feel free to substitute the names with any other thought leaders). There are many great experts out there, and it’s easy to simply repeat their latest idea, TED talk, article or book. By the way, it’s also safe to echo their opinion, because after all, who would disagree with Sinek or Brown?. Don’t get me wrong: there is nothing wrong with relying on experts and quoting them. It just doesn’t replace our own thinking, speaking and acting and they should supplement our leadership not substitute it.
If we merely repeat the expert opinions, we’re bystanders of what’s happening. Only when we add our own opinion, we’re putting ourselves the middle of the action and we’re fully taking part. This is risky because people might disagree with us and they may not like what we say. So what? This is you, bringing your life to the rest of the world. Let the Browns and Sineks take care of their own communication.
Stop watching unboxing videos. Do your own unboxing.
Take the Next Step
Authenticity has a lot to do with being ourselves, and being the best self that we can be. When you’re about to ‘quote an expert’, pause for a moment and reflect what you can add to it. Where did you bring this their message to life? What is your unique (or different) perspective of their thinking?
Dig deeper: want to know who’s #2 – #10 on the Youtube earning list? Here they are.