I’ve been a fan of Survivor since its first season 11 years ago. Some season’s have been better than other’s, but last night’s finale for season 22 was the best yet. If you were paying attention, Boston Rob was playing the roles of Dale Carnegie, Don Corleone and Oprah Winfrey.
If you didn’t watch this season of Survivor, I’ll recap it quickly. Rob took control of the game on day 1 and nobody else stood a chance. This was Boston Rob’s 4th time on the show, and he had evolved into a perfect player. The truth came out at the big wrap-up show that came on after the finale where all the competitors come back to talk about the season. It was there that his genius was displayed.
The Lesson YOU should take away from Boston’s Rob’s Win
More than one of the players said that Rob’s strength was in the way he built relationships. He took the time to build whatever relationship was necessary with each player. For some he was seen as a guy pal, others a big brother and still others as a wily veteran. Each person had a different and distinct relationship with him, and each rightly felt special. Then he would also constantly check in on everyone.
Phillip Sheppard
Crazy Phillip
The most interesting person on this season was a “former federal agent?” Phillip Sheppard. Nobody liked Phillip. He was an outsider and acted a little bit crazy at times and especially the younger women couldn’t even listen to him. Boston Rob on the other hand saw something else. There’s no doubt that Rob saw the strategic advantage of having a lightening rod in camp to take the heat of himself, but he also did the thing we all wish we were strong and smart enough to do. He listened to him. At the wrap-up show Survivor host Jeff Probst asks Rob, “Rob what did you see in Phillip that nobody else saw?”
Well you know here’s the thing about Phillip. With all the talk that was said back and forth, Phillip is a lovable guy. He’s a guy that if you just listen to him for a second, listen to the story that he’s trying to tell. He’s from a family of 16… ah 12, Left home at 16. He’s going on and on. Imagine what that’s like for a minute. You’ve got to be constantly fighting for attention, and I just said, you know what? Here’s a guy that if I just show him some love he will be there for me. It’s not any different than what any of us want. We all want to be loved and we all want to be heard. So when everybody else would be giving it to Phillip for giving them a hard time…[looking at Phillip] I mean socially there were times you, you know… he wasn’t a picnic. But at the same time he was someone I could go to and find a common ground and we could exchange, we could have an exchange on that.
Boston Rob played a near perfect social game. If you’re trying to understand social media and how to become more influential within your niche, CBS just had 13 episode primer if you were paying attention.
Leave a Reply