Today I read a viral pop-science article that made my head spin. The article reported research from Stanford University. The research consisted of two parts.
In the first part, the scientists tested a bunch of people to see whether those people were prone to feelings of guilt.
In the second part, the scientists had those same people interact in group settings, like planning a marketing campaign.
And get this:
The scientists found that the people who tested the most guilt-prone… were also voted as being the most leader-like. That’s according to the other participants in the study.
The underlying message of this research was clear:
If you yourself get burdened with deep guilt from time to time, there might be hope for you yet. In fact, it might be a sign that you secret talents – maybe even a purpose, a mission — that you just aren’t aware of yet.
Inspiring, right? No wonder this article went viral, with billions of upvotes and trillions of comments.
Aye, but here’s the rubbety rub:
The Stanford scientists didn’t just test whether subjects were guilt-prone or not. Instead, they actually tested whether subjects were more prone to either guilt… or to shame.
Guilt? Shame?
Maybe you’re not sure what distinction there is between those two. I wasn’t sure. But the Stanford scientists have their own definitions of the two terms.
Guilt is proactive: You feel bad about something you did, and you want to make amends.
Shame is passive: You feel bad about something you did, and you want to hide and not be seen.
Aaahhh…
So it turns out this inspiring Stanford study was really a bit of clever categorization and reframing. The article I read was titled, “Feelings of Guilt May Signal Leadership Potential.” But really, it could have been more honestly titled, “Proactive Behaviors May Signal Leadership Potential.”
But whatever. This article cannot in any way help us with persuasion and influence. So let’s just drop it.
And in entirely unrelated news, let me pay off today’s subject line:
Perhaps you sometimes catch a sneaking sense of entitlement coming over you.
Perhaps you get angry when you cannot get what you want… or you feel you are special and should not have to accept normal constraints… or you cannot discipline yourself to complete boring or routine tasks… or you become easily frustrated… or you have trouble giving up immediate gratification to reach a long-term goal.
All those might sound like very negative behaviors and thought patterns, ones that are destined to keep you from success.
But what if I told you that feelings of entitlement might actually signal copywriting potential?
The missing thing you might not have realized is that there are two related but actually distinct states.
One is entitlement. Entitlement is thinking you are better than others, and is rooted in a sensitivity to outside stimula, to social cues and responses, as well as to your own internal states and your place in the world.
The other is arrogance. Arrogance is thinking you are better than others, but is based in dullness and a lack of sensitivity, both to outside and inner sensations.
And that’s why arrogant people cannot make for good copywriters. They are not interested enough in observing the world, in how others behave and react, in what it all means.
On the other hand, entitled people, well, their sensitivity actually predisposes them to become immensely successful as copywriters.
I won’t name names here, but when I look at some of the most successful people in the direct response industry, both now and in the past, I suspect they felt a strong, even dominant sense of entitlement. Even if they appeared to be modest, self-effacing, humble people.
All right, let’s wrap up this pop science article.
Final words:
In case you are trying to make it as a copywriter, and you’re wondering where to start, then here’s a resource that may help you make the most of your latent copywriting potential: