American Idol and the importance of connecting with people

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I celebrated her birthday by driving to Los Angeles to view a live performance episode of American Idol. The competition was down to its final three: Lauren Alaina (pictured on the far left), Scotty McCreery (center) and Haley Reinhart (right). As we watched each of them perform, I realized something: Scotty is the least-talented performer of the group, but he will undoubtedly win this thing. (For those of you who don’t watch the show, Scotty was crowned the winner a week later.)

I realize that the degree of Scotty’s talent level is a subjective opinion and many of you will disagree with me. But I believe that Scotty won the whole thing because he was able to connect with the largest number of people with his engaging personality in addition to his country singing skills. As someone who watched him perform in person, he is an expert at working the crowd and you can’t help but like him.

A correlation I took from the experience is my own need to improve my abilities when it comes to making connections with people. I realize the importance of developing a unique skillset that will help me stand out in the workforce, but that won’t do me any good if I can’t connect with the people who are in positions to give me those great opportunities.

Connor Child