Written by: Vickie Sullivan | February 26, 2019
How to Use Outrage to Your Advantage
Earlier this month, I posted about how affinity can make our brilliance more sharable and, therefore, more influential. But let’s take a short trip to the dark side: Don’t negative emotions such as anger and outrage work, too?
Yep, they do. (If you want to see outrage in action, just start a political discussion on Facebook.) Media personalities use anger all the time. Here are two scenarios where thought leaders can use the power of negative emotions without too much downside:
• To call out bad practices. Sounding the alarm bell about common-yet-bad practices in our environment is a great springboard. We can show off what we know about the unintended consequences, as well as misguided intent. We can also be the innovative problem solver. This is why all those “common mistakes” articles, podcasts, etc. are so intriguing.
Listen: 2 Great Ways to Respond to Someone’s Online Outrage
• To stand up for those who can’t. If you are the counterbalance on behalf of those with less power, you can become “the noble problem solver” fast. This is why all those “report your rip-off” news segments are so popular. Everyone loves it when the underdog gets justice from the more powerful party.
Keep in mind that working with outrage can be like playing with matches in a dry forest. So, be careful. But when done strategically, we can still serve the greater good.
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