Are you a LinkyBrain?

If like me, you spend a lot of time on LinkedIn and Quora, you may have come across the term LinkyBrain. The phrase was only coined last week, but it’s already become a bit of a phenomenon. In this article, I’d like to explain what LinkyBrain is, then show you why it resonates so much with me. Who knows, maybe you’ll find that you’re a LinkyBrain too?

The history of LinkyBrain

A bit of background first. This is how LinkyBrain started.

Doug Scott, a serial entrepreneur and startup investor, wrote an article about 23 things he’d realised about himself during a month-long writing session. You can read it here.

His friend, Alex Dunsdon, also an entrepreneur and investor, realised he shared most of these traits with Doug. He coined the term LinkyBrain to describe the way their personalities entwined. He wrote an article too.

Chris Tottman from Notion, who I know really well and has spoken at one of my Sales Confidence events, also got involved. He wrote an article on Quora.

Talk of LinkyBrain started to build on LinkedIn and Twitter. People who believed they were LinkyBrains too began to change their LinkedIn titles and connect with each other. A phenomenon was born.

I am a LinkyBrain

It caught me off guard, to be honest. Chris Tottman told me he thought I had many of the traits of a LinkyBrain. I immediately went and read his article on Quora. It was like a light bulb exploding in my head, I felt like I ticked every box.

Honestly, this has stimulated so many thoughts I’ve written 3 articles!

I’m not going to go through Chris’ article line by line, all 26 points of it. I’d certainly advise you to read it for yourself (here it is again!). What I want to do is tell you about the points that I felt most connected to.

·     #5 – High failure rate as breaking means learning and growing

·     #12 – You’ve never been quite understood

·     #15 – Obsessive nature

·     #22 – Spelling and sitting still not often a strength

·     #25 – Prone to burnout

Let’s analyse these a little deeper.

Failure

If having a high failure rate qualifies you as a LinkyBrain then I’m a 100% fully paid-up member! I’ve tried so many things and failed, especially in business, I wouldn’t know where to start telling you about them all.

I wrote about a few of them in an earlier article. You can read it here if you like.

The thing is, the more you do the more you fail, but also the more you win. I’ve got a high winning rate to go with my high failure rate.

Mr Misunderstood

When I’m into something I seem to see solutions way before others. It’s just one of those things, the right path is obvious to me. This can lead to problems as I wait for other people to catch up!

Obsessed

‘Obsessed’ sums me up perfectly. It’s how I’ve always been. It was how I was growing up as a high-level rower, and it’s how I am today in business.

When I put my mind to something, it takes me over. I don’t just want to win, I need to destroy the competition.

However, once I’ve done something, I lose interest. I have no drive to repeat success. I’m always looking for the next challenge. Once is enough.

$￡%*@!

Yeah, I’m not the best speller in the world, as anyone who’s ever received an email from me can testify! Luckily, someone invented spell-check and Grammarly so who cares?!

Burnout

I’m lucky enough to be a natural on stage with minimal prep. I love to help and connect people, and I sleep like a log anywhere.

If I could add another point of Chris's I agree with, it would be that I’m prone to burnout.

Part of my LinkyBrain nature is that I’m always full of energy. I feel that every minute I spend on earth should be productive. If I could, I would work 7 days a week. Luckily, my 3 children and my partner don’t allow it!

Unfortunately, energy is finite. If you carry on in this way without taking a break you will eventually implode. I have to force myself to rest. Do any other LinkyBrains do this?

How about you?

This is why I believe that, like Doug, Chris and Alex, I’m a LinkyBrain. I hope these traits lead me to be as successful as they are. My next article is going to be a more detailed explanation of how I think I became the way I am. Stay tuned for that.

Over to you now. Have you read the articles by the original LinkyBrains? What did you think? Do you share any (or all) of those LinkyBrain traits? I’d love to know. Let me know in the comments.

LinkyBrains unite!

About this Linky Brain

James Ski is CEO and Founder of Sales Confidence and CRO of Opogo. He previously worked at LinkedIn, where he advised companies on recruitment, marketing and sales. 

If you would like to be first to read his published posts focused on sales confidence sign up to his blog here.

He is currently running London’s first Sales Accelerator and London’s first B2B SaaS Sales Conference, SaaSGrowth 2018.