There are people who want to be useful and people who want to be famous.

I knew someone like this in nursing. Had written a popular book in the specialty, went to all sorts of conferences and presentations. She worked at the hospital just to keep up her actual license, but she was HORRIBLE. She ended up getting fired after it was discovered she had charted meds were given but they were found either in the room or still in the med dispenser; on multiple occasions.

I have to do this kind of thing because it’s part of the job. I don’t love it or crave attention. Raising my profile, and my employer’s profile, makes me more effective. What do you do OP?

He gets attention. Some people crave being on a stage and having an audience.

It’s not about what it’s giving him, it’s about what it is giving your emolpyer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's building his brand. He doesn't want to be a lifer as a techie in a dead-end low-end Federal job.

Op here. This is on the nose. Except that there is no money in this field so he is branding himself for just internal stuff I think. The rest of us speak some but less than him.

The reality is that he isn’t running away from a dead end job or really toward anything lucrative. He does seem to have a compulsion toward anything that will get his name and title on a flyer or web site. Just find it so interesting, the psychological compulsion.

Are you jealous of the speaking engagements he has? It sounds like you are, a bit.

You said he isn’t lazy or unpleasant, he just has lots of speaking engagements and that he works on projects when he isn’t doing that — and it sounds like he is competent when he is working so that isn’t the concern.

What is your actual problem with him speaking? Attending meetings is a silly gripe.

IME if you want to be on point for speaking engagements, you need to do them, and do them well.

I speak a fair bit (and am a woman). Most of my engagements come from people who see me present, then send me an offer to participate in their thing because they know that I will do a decent job.

I actually don’t ENJOY it at all, I am a complete introvert. But it’s part of the job so I do all the presentations my boss thinks are a good idea. Too many!

If you want to do this more, accept invites and be prepared.

No problem with the speaking he does! I’m more curious about it. It wouldn’t be top on my list to spend my time that way. Just wondering what it is that he gets out of it. What is it that all this speaking is giving him? I’m not getting it.

is he in management or SES? if the answer is yes, then this may be part of his duties/expectations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's building his brand. He doesn't want to be a lifer as a techie in a dead-end low-end Federal job.

Op here. This is on the nose. Except that there is no money in this field so he is branding himself for just internal stuff I think. The rest of us speak some but less than him.

The reality is that he isn’t running away from a dead end job or really toward anything lucrative. He does seem to have a compulsion toward anything that will get his name and title on a flyer or web site. Just find it so interesting, the psychological compulsion.

Are you jealous of the speaking engagements he has? It sounds like you are, a bit.

You said he isn’t lazy or unpleasant, he just has lots of speaking engagements and that he works on projects when he isn’t doing that — and it sounds like he is competent when he is working so that isn’t the concern.

What is your actual problem with him speaking? Attending meetings is a silly gripe.

IME if you want to be on point for speaking engagements, you need to do them, and do them well.

I speak a fair bit (and am a woman). Most of my engagements come from people who see me present, then send me an offer to participate in their thing because they know that I will do a decent job.

I actually don’t ENJOY it at all, I am a complete introvert. But it’s part of the job so I do all the presentations my boss thinks are a good idea. Too many!

If you want to do this more, accept invites and be prepared.

We have one of those, OP, in our department. He's always been considered a joke by the actual experts. He's at all of the industry conferences presenting as an expert on a particularly complex subject matter in our field. There also are quite a few empty suits like this in our management. Just ask them "why" three times on any subject and they'll stare at your blankly (mostly because they've never thought deeply about their subject). The same thing is true of many appointees. It's funny when they leave government and include that they "ran this program or department" or whatever. Most of the time, they may make a decision or two but have no idea regarding the specifics.

While I'm no fan of Elon Musk, he definitely has a way of filtering these types out in interviews. Ask them about a specific project. Then get them to go into great detail about the challenges that they faced and how they addressed them. Only people who actually worked on the project can answer it well...because they dealt with the specifics of these challenges rather than buzzwords or a topical understanding of the project.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's usually one man like this every place I have worked. For some reason, they need the adulation which comes from presenting at conferences and classes.

The man chosen to present at my work actually is an expert, but he would rather not present - because he is (truly) truly too busy. OP, if one is an expert, one does not have to tell you that they are an expert.

+1

Anonymous wrote:He's building his brand. He doesn't want to be a lifer as a techie in a dead-end low-end Federal job.

Op here. This is on the nose. Except that there is no money in this field so he is branding himself for just internal stuff I think. The rest of us speak some but less than him.

The reality is that he isn’t running away from a dead end job or really toward anything lucrative. He does seem to have a compulsion toward anything that will get his name and title on a flyer or web site. Just find it so interesting, the psychological compulsion.

Anonymous wrote:Is this your first time working with a man?

LOL.

Anonymous wrote:There's usually one man like this every place I have worked. For some reason, they need the adulation which comes from presenting at conferences and classes.

The man chosen to present at my work actually is an expert, but he would rather not present - because he is (truly) truly too busy. OP, if one is an expert, one does not have to tell you that they are an expert.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this your first time working with a man?

It's a behavior exhibited by both genders. Pseudo experts. They know what OTHERS have written about the subject, but have never done it themselves.

These types are gunning for management, executive, or C-suite roles where they need to translate "geek speak" into "decision speak". This is a very useful skill in both government and corporate leadership. Those who need to make decisions don't need to know HOW to do something; rather, they just need to understand sufficiently to determine whether it's in the best interests of the organization to take a particular risk, invest in a project/technology, or expand into a new business area.

Be careful with this type of person. S/he may be a narcissist and ultimately your boss one day.

Well said

Agree

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this your first time working with a man?

It's a behavior exhibited by both genders. Pseudo experts. They know what OTHERS have written about the subject, but have never done it themselves.

These types are gunning for management, executive, or C-suite roles where they need to translate "geek speak" into "decision speak". This is a very useful skill in both government and corporate leadership. Those who need to make decisions don't need to know HOW to do something; rather, they just need to understand sufficiently to determine whether it's in the best interests of the organization to take a particular risk, invest in a project/technology, or expand into a new business area.

Be careful with this type of person. S/he may be a narcissist and ultimately your boss one day.

Well said