The Reticent Rockstars: Why Some People Refuse to Take the Stage

The other day I heard someone tell the strangest story I have ever heard!

Peter goes to an introductory meeting for an assignment.
At the end of the interview, he got the message “you have an impressive resume though, but in my opinion you are overqualified for this job!”,,
This was not the first time, he heard that!!

“Overqualified?” stuttered Peter.
“But I enjoy this work immensely and definitely believe I can do it very well!”, Peter emphasized!

As Peter sat in the car (thinking about what household chores he could still do as an overqualified professional) he wondered what this was all about.
It couldn’t be the rate, because Peter had already found out during the conversation that they were completely on the same page as far as that was concerned!
Did they actually think he wasn’t good enough, too expensive or didn’t click with the client as much as he thought?

Peter resigned himself to the fact that “you will hear from us” would probably lead to eternal silence and sang along loudly with Queen’s “you can be anything you want to be.”

Peter went back to his daily existence positively, until he told this story one day to his good friend Ronald.
Ronald listened intently to the whole story and then looked at Peter seriously.

Ronald: You know what the problem is Peter. Just don’t display too many of your talents. Humble yourself a little bit. Then you can always prove yourself later! If you show off your talents right away, it might put you off!
“Then that might even scare them,” Peter heard himself say in a puzzled tone.
Ronald: Yes then they might think you will leave immediately anyway, when a better opportunity presents itself!

Peter: So, what you’re saying is that I should actually make myself smaller than I am? Should drive like an ugly duck car (no offense, I like them very much!) when I can drive like a sports car?
Should I make myself modest first, so to speak?

Suddenly Peter was reminded of his school days. If you got good grades there, you were called an egghead. If you asked questions during class, you naturally wanted to be interesting. Even then Peter had learned that it was better not to stand out too much!

So that’s the actual message: Don’t blow your own trumpet. Just act nice and average!
What allergy would actually be behind this, Peter thought?
Does this mean that many people are deviously and sinisterly “invited” to pretend to be much dumber than they actually are? (It seems that girls are even much more sensitive to this than boys)

That many are unable to appreciate success or the knowledge and skills of others? That we cannot and should not give our all, without being sent back to the modal spectrum? Talk about energy waste and lack of sustainability!

Could it be part of my Dutch culture, where your head often gets chopped off, if you stick it out above the surface? (Tall poppy syndrome) or is this tragic story more mainstream than we believe…

I have a message for Peter, Ronald and everyone:
Above all, do what you enjoy and use your full potential to contribute to this world! Always keep searching for the best version of yourself and for the place where this is embraced!

Long ago, this was summed up by Howard Thurman with the following words:

“Don’t ask what the world needs.
Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

I wish you lots of fun at work!
Please make sure, you teach your children this as early as possible!
Give everything you got!!

Read more about finding and developing your personal Corqualities here..

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Albert Heemeijer
info@heemeijer.com

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