I have done it. We all have. But let’s all be honest with ourselves, name dropping is the worst.
What do I mean by that?
Surely you have been in those conversations were every other sentence the other person utters out of their mouth contains some humble brag about how they know x person or have talked to y person.
The truth?
The more you name drop, chances are the less people you know.
I used to (and still) somewhat do have this problem where I am constantly combing through my memory linking things I have heard of with the active conversation. In effect, I do this to show my knowledge. I do this for ego. But I also do this, to be fair, to make the conversation deeper and more interesting.
The end result of this, though, is not what I intend.
The end result is that I become a “name dropper” – someone who thinks they are gaining credibility by bragging about who they know but in reality are losing it.
I want to avoid that.
I am establishing a few internal rules. Be super cognizant and well-defined about who you say you know versus actually know.
Secondly, and most importantly, only bring up extremely relevant and helpful names.
The truth is that *most people* do not care about who you know. They care about who you are.
Also published on Medium.