I'm thinking about: Being a Generalist
Is the world really doubling down on niche-ifying?
I’m a generalist.
Recently I had a fun comment exchange with my longtime friend and colleague Morra Aarons-Mele after she stated that “The AI era is no time for generalists.” Well, I mean, that’s a nail in my career coffin, I suppose, so I had to push back. (Side note: My 3-paragraph comment rule dates many years back and is only a rule I made for myself that if I felt so strongly about something I was willing to leave a 3+ paragraph comment on someone else’s blog or social post, then I oughta put my own web real estate where my mouth was and post about it myself.)
So what’s a generalist anyway? According to emeritus.org, the definition sounds pretty good to me:
A generalist refers to a professional who offers a range of diverse skills and an intelligent mix of knowledge from a variety of disciplines. Handling these diverse roles provides generalists a thorough understanding of all the functioning parts of an industry. Generalists multitask and collaborate to tap into related domains when opportunities arise. This hones their ability to handle unique situations and formulate enduring perspectives.
On the other hand, Merriam-Webster’s synonyms for generalist do make me say “ouch.”
jack-of-all-trades. hobbyist. layman. dabbler. nonexpert.
Yikes.
Instead of “generalist,” I could prefer terms like multipotentialite or even polymath. Still, I’m willing to admit that these terms may raise an eyebrow vs. being able to state one is a “specialist” or “expert.” It’s not really the best marketing plan to define yourself with a word most people don’t recognize.
As for AI, it’s the greatest support tool for generalists ever. Just in the last few weeks, I used it to make a 7-day #vegan, low FODMAP menu, research a list of UBI pilots and programs in my home state of California as research for my last newsletter, use a recording to make generating the first draft of an online course script 100x easier than sitting down to write it with a blank page in front of me, and brainstorm potential brand names for a client product. AI tools like ChatGPT are mos def generalists.
You know who else has to be a generalist? A CEO. Ask people what the most important role is for the CEO, and you’ll get a lot of answers…chief revenue generator, chief people leader, chief product visionary, chief evangelist and communicator, chief business strategist, chief relationship developer, and you better know your numbers like the back of your hand even when you have a CFO. So where do all the CEOs come from if we drive everyone toward a nicheified future? They probably come from the ranks of people who ignore the advice because they don’t like being put in boxes 🤷🏻♀️
I care about this conversation because I know a lot of people like me, who not only have developed and can marshal a wide range of experiences and expertise areas, but who enjoy and are fulfilled by the pursuit of those diverse experiences and expertise areas. I might not enjoy struggling with how best to position myself in a niche-obsessed world, but I enjoy the work of being a generalist.
How do you define yourself? How do you position yourself? Where do you see the future of leadership going? And have you thought about how the rise of AI, particularly generative AI, will influence all of the above? I’d love to know!
What else is going on?
The Op-Ed Page podcast
Episode 92 of The Op-Ed Page podcast is on one of my pet topics: Media literacy. As an early social web digital utopian, I was one of those annoying people who talked about how awesome it was that media was democratized. I talked about how what we knew about the world and our history was dictated by a cohort of people who mostly looked the same and had similar backgrounds. I talked about how social media allowed us to hear from more voices, more diverse voices, and more representative voices. That we could learn about events from the POV of expertise AND lived experience.
This is true.
But it’s also true that we have information overload, and we have organized disinformation efforts that result in the ignorant propagation of misinformation, muddying all the waters across all the world’s most important issues, topics, and events.
What are we to do? Become more media literate. Become educated consumers of media. Realize that caveat emptor applies to the information we consume, not just our tangible purchases.
Last week’s podcast episode gives multiple examples of how leading media narratives omit important context and force out perspective in ways that lean into fear and dread and outrage. And I talk a little bit about how to be on your guard and do a better job of knowing the story behind the story. We have a whole section in Road Map for Revolutionaries on media literacy…the topic is evergreen.
#3MinuteBookReview
I read the 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, as read by iconic actress Ruby Dee. Her narration makes this a must-listen. Even if you’ve read the book before, I suggest it’s worth “reading” again via the audiobook. Get it on Libby (the library app) now!
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Out in the world
Whether you’ve got a book inside you that you’ve never gotten out of your head, or you’re a published author already, and everywhere in between, there is no one better to talk about writing, editing, publishing, and promoting a book than my #forevercoauthor, Jamia Wilson.
Register to hear us talk all about it this Wednesday afternoon (tomorrow)…open to all!
Until next time, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on any or all of the above. This is basically my blog now! And as always, I appreciate a share of this newsletter or my podcast.
If I can help you break through the things that keep you stuck (or if you are intrigued by the idea of securing my fractional leadership for your initiative), set up your first introductory 30-minute consult for free by booking it in my Calendly. And you can always check out my new LinkedIn Learning Course, Telling Stories That Stick, a 57-minute course on crafting your stories for different audiences (media, investors, prospects, hiring managers) and ensuring those stories stick…and convey exactly what you hope to convey.
➡︎ "I might not enjoy struggling with how best to position myself in a niche-obsessed world, but I enjoy the work of being a generalist."
I could say "all the things" about the broad knowledge and skills it takes for us to be effective generalist leaders, how much impact we have across an organization, how our portability carries with it additional responsibility for shoring up leadership cracks/gaps, how we augment so many roles inside an organization when we're generalists (because we're never "only x" or "only y"... But what really matters is that we're drawn to the breadth of responsibility... it's who we are. I can't imagine being single-thread (and no one who's ever worked with me could see me doing that either).
Having said that -- the corporate world I know and love has hardened to generalists. Your point about CEOs is spot-on about "what they do" in their leadership capacity (breadth)... but the CEOs I'm familiar with all "brand" themselves in a peculiar technical way. That could be a product of my tech history, but "domain expertise" is so narrowly defined and highly valued that it is often used as the central disqualifier for those whose brand is Breadth.
Net: Think Global, Act Local.
Proud generalist here. Do you get the Generalist World newsletter or have you visited their site? I forget who told me about it. I find the newsletter useful but haven't forked out to join. https://www.generalist.world/