Dance, Jester
Jane Fraser
Hello and happy Monday. I hope you had a good weekend. I ended my social media fast this weekend and it was… uneventful. I expected to be inundated with posts from friends and family. Instead, there were a handful of posts from college friends, some posts were sent to me, and not much else. A quiet week perhaps, but also proof that I don’t need to be online that often.
A few things have snapped me out of this social media faze. Primarily, there is increasing research linking social media use to cognitive decline, decreased attention span, and a host of other problems. Research isn’t enough, however. The brain needs cues. A good cue is short and attention grabbing. I saw a post that I think about when I need a cue to get off the internet. The post said, “You shouldn’t be on social media. You’re not even good at it. You spend hours on here and no one reads what you say, nobody cares what you think.” Or something to that effect. But the idea of “You’re not good at social media.” Is an idea that sticks. It’s short, it’s effective.
If you’re good at social media, you can use it to your advantage. But you’re not good at it. You’re spending hours at a time online, building nothing, achieving nothing. It’s totally pointless.
And so now, I’ll stop speaking about it. But I plan to remain offline during the weekdays. I think it’s better to have social media be a treat, there for me on the weekends when I really have nothing better to do. I think this is really the only path left to sanity. Well then, here’s to being disconnected.
In similar news, I was thinking about how the world we live in is increasingly distracting and distracted. I’ve always been something of a marketing hater. Marketing is a business function primarily concerned with increasing visibility. I’ve always disliked the thought of a company, or a person, having to pay for that. If you have the best product or service, why should you need marketing? Shouldn’t whatever you’re selling market itself? If you have the best product, isn’t that enough? If you’re the best mechanic, shouldn’t you always be in business?
Turns out, the answer is no! People don’t have the time to look around. Maybe they’ll stumble across you and your product, but if they don’t, tough luck. You have to dance, jester. And it’s not just business. You have to dance for your friends, family, etc. Because people today just don’t have the time. You have to get in front of them and dance. You have to say, “Hey look, I did that” or “Hey, look, I have this thing, do you want to do it with me?” If you want people to stop by or be interested in what you’re interested in, you have to ask. And this is an incredibly bitter pill for me to swallow. Because I hate asking. But that’s just the way it is.
On the other hand, people love being asked. It feels important. “Hey do you have plans tonight? No? Okay do you want to do this?” Electric. Someone somewhere thought about you enough to include you. I love to be asked, but I hate to ask. And this is silliness. For me, I guess it’s time to start dancing.
Scouting Report: Jane Fraser
Age: 58 (13 July 1967 - )
Background: Born in Scotland. Went to school in Cambridge. Bounced around the M&A world before going to Harvard. Joined Citi after writing a book about globalization, praising Citigroup.
Education:
Girton College, University of Cambridge - Class of ‘88
MA in Economics
Harvard MBA - Class of ‘94
Career/Notables:
Started in Goldman Sachs’ M&A group after undergrad. Worked at a few investment bank firms before heading to Harvard for her MBA
Joined McKinsey post-Harvard, rising to partner
Wrote a book about globalization in the early 2000s after interviewing McKinsey clients. Praised Citigroup for its efficiencies
Hired by Citigroup for Head of Client Strategy at its investment bank arm, ended up running multiple consumer bank divisions before eventually being hired as CEO
No nepo detected, seems to built on hard work
Ranked as the 8th most powerful woman in the world
First female CEO of a major bulge bracket Wall Street firm
Total pay in the last two years: ~$70 million
