When the World Laughs . . .

Mike Weinstein was CEO of the Snapple Beverage Group during most of my time associated with the company. A former agency guy, Mike knew how to put on a show. His entrances at sales meetings were legendary. He would usually spoof the big summer blockbuster and show up in character. Think Dr. Evil or Castaway Tom Hanks with Wilson the volleyball. He went all out for costume days at the office. I vividly remember him drilling me on recall recovery while wearing a Hawaiian shirt and plaid shorts on Crazy Clash Day 2001. This style worked well for Mike.

I have never been entirely comfortable being the center of attention and have a more muted approach to bringing my full self to work. My humor can sometimes be so dry or erudite that it fails to connect. This often (maybe too often), leads to the retelling of family stories that inevitably make me (or my Dad) the jester. Big entrances and costumes are not authentic to my leadership style. Poking gentle fun of myself is.

Earlier this week, I caught wind of the fact that there were a few “Rob Memes” going around our agency. It was bound to happen after 15 months on Zoom. Amanda Holtz, a Senior AE on our team had grabbed a few unflattering screen grabs of me and used them to create “agency life” memes.

During a brainstorming yesterday, I found an opportunity to lightly bring up my knowledge of these memes and told Amanda to send a few of her favorites to me. She did. They were harmless and quite funny. I asked Amanda if I could share them in this post and she said I could as along as I tagged her.

Sure, I have read a lot of the books on leadership, and I have been to the training sessions and had individualized coaching. But I do not pretend to be an expert. I am sure there are some leaders who would have a really hard time with the idea of being memed by members of their team.

I have worked to be authentically me at work. Which means that the family stories and dinner party rhetoric have demonstrated to the team that deep down I am a self-deprecating Jewish guy. That is how I connect. By being me.

Mel Brooks, the granddaddy of Jewish humor said, “Humor is just another defense against the universe.” I agree. You just have to find the brand that’s right for you.