Mediocre people who work loudly outperform great people who work quietly. Is it fair? No. Is it reality? Yes.

This advice goes against another wise saying by an anonymous author:

Don’t tell others your plans. Show them your results.

Anonymous

I agree that speaking about plans drains energy — as if the satisfaction of accomplishing in the future is replaced by the joy of imagining one met one’s goals today. But being loud does not mean telling others your plans. I recall having once introduced a particularly energetic student as “Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honor to present, often wrong but never in doubt, Ms. ___!” Big applause! She took it as a complement.

So, what to be loud about? Ideals! Here’s a famous quote said by the David Gale, Kevin Spacey’s character in The Life of David Gale (2002). Terrible movie, beautiful quote:

“Fantasies have to be unrealistic because the moment, the second that you get what you seek, you don’t, you can’t want it anymore. In order to continue to exist, desire must have its objects perpetually absent. It’s not the “it” that you want, it’s the fantasy of “it.” So, desire supports crazy fantasies. This is what Pascal means when he says that we are only truly happy when daydreaming about future happiness. Or why we say the hunt is sweeter than the kill. Or be careful what you wish for. Not because you’ll get it, but because you’re doomed not to want it once you do. So the lesson of Lacan is, living by your wants will never make you happy. What it means to be fully human is to strive to live by ideas and ideals and not to measure your life by what you’ve attained in terms of your desires but those small moments of integrity, compassion, rationality, even self-sacrifice. Because in the end, the only way that we can measure the significance of our own lives is by valuing the lives of others.”

Successful leaders share an exquisite ability to articulate their vision of an ideal — and unattainable –future.

So be it.

(Q.C., 240105)