The other day I was introduced as a “thought leader.”  As you can imagine, I was flattered, but I was also confused and amused. I was confused because I’m still not so sure what it means to be a thought leader, and I was amused because if I’m the one leading your thoughts you’re all in a lot of trouble.

I’ve been hearing this term “thought leader” for some time now, but never really sat down to explore what it means before today. Heck, I have some time.

What is a Thought Leader, Anyway?

As everyone knows, Google holds the power to reveals answers to all life’s little questions.  So where else better to search for definitions of thoughts leaders than Google?

What I found out is that “thought leader” is another term for guru.

Again, I laugh.

In my experience, the folks who are doing the best thinking aren’t the ones screaming it from the mountain tops. They’re the quiet leaders who keep their thoughts to themselves and lead by their actions.

I’m anything but quiet and I’m certainly not a guru.

I’m not sure I like the idea of “thought” leaders. To me it’s saying that someone else is doing all the thinking for us. Right now is the best time to march to our own drummers and let our creativity shine through. With all the mediocre writing out there, who wants to think like everyone else?

I don’t want to be your thought leader, that’s too much of a burden to bear and I don’t want to be responsible for your thinking. Instead, I don’t mind being a thought encourager or a thought stimulator but to me “thought leader” conjures up images of poisoned Kool Aid.  I kind of enjoy presenting ideas and scenarios for you to think about, I don’t want to dictate how you think.

Again, if I’m a thought leader, you’re all in trouble.

“Yankee Doodle went to town,

riding on a pony,

stuck a feather in his cap

and called it macaroni.”

I must have sang “Yankee Doodle” at least a thousand times over the past 45 years and never really gave  a second thought to its meaning. Today, while attending a second grade social studies presentation about the beginnings of our wonderful country, we learned the true meaning of this song.

You see, it was written by the British in order to cast Americans in a negative light. The British soldiers sang “Yankee Doodle” to boost morale and feel superior towards “the enemy.”

The name

“Yankee,” of course, referred to a name given (by the Dutch) to American settlers. “Doodle” was a derogatory term put on the end of Yankee in order to make Americans seem like bumbling idiots.

The macaroni part

The part about macaroni was probably the most confusing. I mean, what does a feather in a hat have to do with macaroni? It turns out back in the day, this made a lot of sense. The British were fond of curly, flamboyant wigs. These hair styles were called, “macaroni,” I guess because in some sad way they represented pasta. They poked fun at the American soldiers who adorned their hats with feathers, saying they were trying to emulate their hair styles but not coming close.

What really happened

Americans embraced “Yankee Doodle” and sang it every chance they got. A song that was supposed to be negative and derogatory turned out to be a rallying cry. Imagine fighting in the British army and a brigade of American soldiers marches by jauntily singing a song the British composed to be insulting?  Now, I can’t find anything to prove this one way or another, but I’m willing to bet the British didn’t spend too much time singing “Yankee Doodle” around their campfires. Not when the Americans were having so much fun with it.

So where am I going with this?

There’s always a story

Every song, every picture, every article, every blog post, every color and every design has a story behind it. Good writers not only dig deeper to learn origins, but they also dig a little deeper to see if there’s another side of the story they’re missing. Maybe you’re like me and you sang this silly song without wondering what a “Yankee Doodle” was or why it warranted a song. Now that I know a little background, I’ll not only sing it with pride, but I’ll have an amusing picture in my mind to accompany the music.

As a writer, Yankee Doodle reminds me that there’s a lot we take for granted and taking things at surface value isn’t enough. There’s always a story, how far are you willing to go to find it?

Negativity can backfire

So the British made up a lame little song to insult the American soldiers and what happened? The Americans not only made it their own, but they made it famous. They even added to it. You’d be surprised at how many verses there are to “Yankee Doodle” beyond what we sing at patriotic events. In this case, the negativity didn’t do much for the British morale. Negativity and insults sure feels good sometimes, but it doesn’t always have the intended results.

Make lemonade

The Americans could have been disheartened by the picture being painted of them as bumbling idiots who can’t tell the difference between a feather and a wig, but they weren’t. They made the most of the situation. They took something that was supposed to be a negative and turned it into an extremely positive situation. So much so that it’s still with us today.

The American soldiers were outnumbered, they were short on supplies and could have been short on morale. Every little bit of negativity directed that way could have caused them to lose their self esteem and make the situation seem even more dire. It wasn’t to be though. In true American fashion, our founding fathers made lemonade.

Finding inspiration

I was so impressed by this story, I couldn’t wait to come and work out a blog post. There’s more than three lessons here for sure, but the positivity message shines through.

Have you ever taken something at face value, only later to be surprised at the truth and beauty behind it?

Overheard at the supermarket: “I don’t like the way they do things over there. I’m going to give them a piece of my mind. There’s going to be a confrontation.”

To be fair, I don’t know what prompted the above-referenced quote. It stuck in my mind for a variety of reasons, the first is that I’m not confrontational and avoid heated confrontation at all cost. The second is that I wonder if the woman above, who was clearly on the defensive, took some time out to ask questions and discuss whatever set her off before deciding on her confrontational course of action?

When I worked as a receptionist, I was always so surprised by how many people started screaming at me as soon as I said “hello.” I didn’t know these people, nor was I the reason for their anger, but they felt that if they were “spirited” right off the bat they would get results. Later, when I worked in a customer service capacity I bore much of the brunt of customers’ wrath. One thing I learned is that the anger and abuse solved nothing. Many times the issue had nothing to do with my company at all and if the customer asked questions instead of being confrontational he would have received answers quicker and on more pleasant terms.

Here are some truths I’ve come to know as a result of working in a customer service capacity and also as a freelance writer and blogger:

1. There are two sides to every story. There is no exception to this truth. Being confrontational won’t change that fact.
2. If you’re too busy yelling to hear yourself yell, and you’re not willing to listen, you won’t achieve results. You have to let the other person talk to achieve any goal.
3. There’s a different between honesty and rudeness. If you feel “blunt honesty” isn’t rude, think again. While some people might cower to this, most people just see it as anger.

It’s been my experience people are confrontational because they don’t know how to ask the right kinds of questions.

• Instead of saying, “I can’t believe that person did that, I’m going to give her a piece of my mind,” try saying, “Wow. I wonder why she said that. I’m going to ask.”
• Instead of saying, “So and so told me she said blah blah blah and now I’m going to rake her over the coals,” try saying, “Wow. Could that really be true? I’m going to ask her for her side of the story.”
• Instead of saying, “I don’t know what possessed him to do that,” ask.  If you want to know why someone did something, don’t assume. Ask.

As writers and bloggers, it’s our jobs to seek out the answers even if they’re not what we expected. That means asking questions and allowing both sides of the story to come through. Being confrontational is one-sided. People only respond to anger because they want to get rid of you. However, if you take the time to talk and ask questions, you may find you get answers and a whole lot more.

In the past few weeks I’ve received a flurry, no a barrage, of angry emails asking why I’m qualified to be a freelance writing blogger.

Though I don’t quite get the anger, I’m happy to receive these questions because it means writers and aspiring writers are thinking about who to trust and that’s always a good thing. There’s too much blind faith in the Internet world and we need to spend more time questioning the credentials of those who claim to be authorities.

We’ve discussed my background and qualifications many times before, I’m really not going to get into that now. I mean, when you think about it, the freelance writing community is filled with bloggers who in their past life had nothing to do with freelance writing, or even writing at all. While many do have backgrounds as freelance writers, the majority of your freelance writing bloggers are folks who are doing this because they didn’t want to work at a full time day job. Seriously. The blogs you read each day are written by former publishing associates (like Yours Truly) , P.R people, print on demand publishers, attorneys and marketing execs and many of them had no writing background or interest in writing until they decided they wanted to work at home and I’m no exception.

Our backgrounds are diverse but we all share a similar quality -we all achieved success as writers. While all the different freelance writing bloggers bring unique perspectives to the field of freelance writing, what makes one blogger more qualified than another?

So let’s take it to the streets. As a freelance writing blogger I can tell you what to look for, but that’s always a little predjudicial. I mean, yeah I believe you should make your own choices and find the bloggers who best share your vision. However, my telling you which freelance writing blogs to read is like a fast food exec telling you what hamburger to buy or Toyota giving you a list of the best cars to purchase. You’re the folks who read the blogs. You’re the folks who follow the advice. You’re the folks who should be discussing this, not me.

Tell us, what makes a qualified freelance writing blogger? What catches your eye? Why do you follow a particular blog on a regular basis and what turns you off? Let’s discuss…