Hey, everyone. As many of my long-time readers know, I’m very open to receiving feedback from my readers about this blog and, at times, I’ll post the feedback in an entry along with my response if it’s relevant. This entry is another example of that.

Earlier today, an anonymous reader posted the following constructive (read: blunt) piece of feedback to me in a comment on one of my past entries about how I’ve pretty much become a less interesting person since I went off to business school. Apparently, the pre-MBA version of me from my first couple of years of entries was cool and the post-MBA version of me since then is lame…I guess it’s always easy to be blunt when you’re anonymous, but, instead of being upset, I realized that the reader made a good point in his/her comment. Gotta love getting feedback that provides examples that can be used to validate it, right? I posted a comment in response after reading the anonymous comment and have included it below. I’ll have to think about whether I need to go back to that pre-MBA me a little more in my posts going forward.

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“Anonymous” wrote:

“Hey there,

I have to say – you sounded A LOT more interesting before you went to business school. The 3 points below make up a unique, interesting individual who rightly sees that YOU CAN work hard and do good. I’d like to grab lunch with this guy:

- Wore baggy jeans, Timberland boots, and a t-shirt to work on an average day,
- Had never done a full-time job interview without an earring in,
- Idealistically believed that one’s career should only hinge on working hard and doing good work, “

But then, the guy below, sounds dull, predictable and cheesy. (Bring the thunder???) I would not like to have lunch with this guy:

- Has finally become a “grown-up” many years after leaving college,
- Knows how to act, dress, and carry myself like a true professional,
- Understands that career success is a balance of actual work performance and the “corporate game”, and
- Can finally see that I “bring the thunder” in terms of talent/abilities and have a limitless career potential

Get back your originality. There are a ton of people who say the 4 points above – they’re everywhere. Hope it isn’t permanent.”
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My response:

“Anonymous”,

Thanks for your feedback about the pre-graduation and post-graduation versions of Marquis. Your read is probably correct (and sure is detailed enough), but the change was actually necessary, especially as it pertains to personal branding in the business world.

One thing I realized over the course of my two years at the GSB is that the pre-MBA me was a REALLY fun guy, but didn’t really have the professional presence to be taken seriously. And, since the Internet is forever, I had to change the way I presented myself on this blog. I still act the same way that I used to in personal interactions, but, on here, it’s imperative that I show a more “dull, predictable and cheesy” side.

It actually made me smile to read your characterization of the post-MBA me because the change has been deliberate. I arrived at Stanford as a “scraggly lil’ dude from the country” who didn’t have much of a filtering mechanism with the way I acted. By the time I graduated, I had the goal of trying to filter myself more around folk who aren’t my peoples forreal-forreal and outwardly appearing as a standard business professional (with a little bit of my outside-of-work personality mixed in). You just confirmed that I was able to do it, so time for me to pat myself on the back for that.

Let me know if you have any other feedback because I really do appreciate this sort of perspective, even if it is more negative than I’d want. Also, thanks for reading through the blog. I hope you found some useful insights on it, even if you think I’ve become lame over the past six years.

Marquis

P.S. The “bring the thunder” line comes across MUCH better in person than it does when it is read in text…trust me on that one.