At a shareholder’s meeting this weekend, a few of us were talking of the emerging “new cool” among the business elite. In the past, he who was most connected won the prize of being viewed as the most successful. This was the guy with one of the first Blackberry devices. The woman who would check her email at 3am to respond to problems. The CEO who was never “in a meeting” when you called. This group was always plugged in, and their business reputations benefitted from it.
Nowadays, the paradigm has shifted. When anyone can get a cell phone for $20 at 7-Eleven, not having a cell phone has become more prestigious. While stay-at-home parents receive 50+ emails a day, not having a public email account has signaled praise and renown. Being unplugged has become the norm for the elite of the elite, and it’s beginning to trickle down to the rest of us.
How often do you take a weekend off from touching your computer? How often do you really turn off your cell phone (and I don’t mean just setting it to “vibrate” during meetings)? Would restricting the world’s ability to reach you on a moment’s notice improve your reputation in the business community? Why or why not?
