The GameChanger of the Month for November goes to Jimmy Biblarz, Mimi Rodriguez, David Kamins and Maya Festinger of Hamilton High School and the teacher, Christina Gutierrez, whose job they saved.   By organizing a campaign that included (administration approved) student protests, stories in the media, a letter-writing campaign, and a formal presentation to the School Board, they were able to keep ‘Miss G’ at their school.

It is evident from reading the story in the L.A. Times that Gutierrez is the kind of player anyone would want on their team.  It was not the loss of a teacher that stirred the students to action, as much as it was the threat of losing someone who genuinely cares about them.  Biblarz felt extra heartache when he heard Gutierrez was getting laid off (because she lacked seniority).  When his younger sister, Veronica, was out of school for two months with an illness, Miss G made sure she got her homework assignments, and that she was all caught up when she returned to the classroom.  “She just actually cares,” Veronica Biblarz says in the Times article. “Not like the fake pretending to care. . . . She takes it seriously.”

Interesting, isn’t it, that the student calls out ‘fake pretend caring?’   A fact of which every brand should be aware: the b.s. detectors of the networked audience are fine-tuned.  And there is no substitute for authenticity.

One of my improvisation teachers, Scot Robinson, said one day in class, “I hate people who generalize.” He delivered it with such deadpan perfect timing that it got a laugh, but getting a laugh was not the point, the point was this:   Give the gift of specificity. Don’t be a generalizer generalizing.  To hold your audience’s interest, be unique, be remarkable, buck stereotypes.  You cannot accomplish this if you are ‘general’ about your role, your character, or your game.   You cannot accomplish it if you limit yourself to what’s in the script, the employee manual or the teacher’s guide.  If the people in your audience feel they already know you, you will fail to hold their attention.  It’s when they do not know you, but rather, want to know more about you, that you win them over.  It is when they see the the world a little differently because of you, that you create value, and make a difference in their lives.