Are YOUR Headlines Misleading? -

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Image by frigante via Flickr

Leafs Show Off Their Muscle

If you are a Toronto Maple Leafs fan (and who isn’t here in Toronto, despite putting up with a perennially losing team – well, besides Maggie who isn’t into sports at all), you are more than likely used to this sort of headline. The implication is always encouraging. It’s how the team publicists and the local media keep us fanatics (some would even suggest lunatics) addicted and coming back for more.

I’m a bottom line guy. I look for the results first. Only then will I go back to read about ‘how’ my boys did it. Well, as we’ve come to expect in the Big Smoke, this was our sugar-coated end result: “Leafs show toughness in pre-season opener, get beat 3-2 by Boston”.

The entire article did a wonderful magician’s performance, showing us lunatics fans the new, improved toughness while deflecting our attention away from the one thing that really matters… will we have a contender/winner this year?

Is YOUR Headline a Cover-up?

I got to thinking, “You know Russy, you’re no different than these headlines. There’s the real you. Then there’s the you that you want people to see. And I must say, YOU are quite the magician, too at times.”

To make matters even more confusing, I read somewhere that I am THREE people – the real me, the person I want people to see, and the person those other people see REGARDLESS of the headline I broadcast.

For example, around the house my ‘headline’ often forewarns the reader of a strict, time-freakish task master, keeping everyone focused and on track. I feel it’s the headline of an ogre. Yet, Maggie and the girls look right past that ‘ogre’ part. Perhaps they see me as some kind of lovable Shrek character, a rather reluctant hero.

Is That Really You?

When Maggie and I first met, the headline she tried to show the world was that of a single mom and a simple receptionist, without much more to offer. I scanned right down to her bottom line and saw an amazingly gifted counselor who would go on to help many people.

Today, she is well on her way to becoming just that. Even now she is applying her tremendous skills and will undoubtedly have a list of clients waiting by the time she finishes her diploma courses.

I guess what I’m saying is that to the people who matter – your loyal fans – they always seem to know where to find the bottom line in your story, regardless of what headline you slap on yourself for that day. Like the Toronto Maple Leafs prove year in and year out, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. You gotta Love That Feeling!