Meet Me There

Last week, I connected with a member of the Skyrocket Education team. After some pleasantries, the person told me they ran into someone who not only knew of Skyrocket (that’s not odd), but who had very strong opinions about me personally. 

“You work for Michael Sonbert?” 

“I heard he’s a nightmare to work for.” 

“I heard he yells at everyone all the time.” 

“I heard he’s a total ***hole.” 

While the person on my team pushed back, this other person (whom I’ve never met), was unwavering in their criticism of me. 

Friends, there was a time when hearing something like this about myself would have devastated me. I’d have wondered, how on earth could a person believe things about me that are so obviously untrue? I would have asked a dozen questions. 

“What was their name?” 

“What did they look like?” 

“Where do they work?” 

“Did they say we’ve ever crossed paths?” 

I’d have wracked my brain, thinking about a time when we might have interacted and how I was in that situation. Was I a jerk? Was I short with them? 

But this time, I simply said, “Cool. Tell them I say, ‘hi’ next time you see them.” 

A few months ago, the band Linkin Park, after a 7 year hiatus following the death of their singer, Chester Bennington, the night before they were to embark on a world tour, re-emerged, almost in the dark of night, with a new singer, a new album, and a new tour that was about to begin.

They kept the entire thing secret until the band's Instagram page began a countdown a few days before they shared the news. Even with the clock counting down, fans still didn’t know what it meant. 

Once the news was revealed, reviews were mixed. Some fans were elated that their favorite band was back. Others, including Chester’s mom and oldest son, were livid. They publicly called out the band’s guitar player/second vocalist/songwriter and brains behind the act, Mike Shinoda. Chester’s family, and others, accused him of desecrating Chester’s memory. People threatened to boycott, said terrible things about Shinoda and the new singer, Emily Armstrong, and claimed that this version of LP was just a cover band. That without Chester, Linkin Park ceased to exist and any attempt to make it exist meant, essentially, that Shinoda just didn’t care about Chester, his family, or the fans. 

And guess what? Linkin Park is playing sold out arena shows around the globe despite all this. 

I don’t know if any of this was painful for Shinoda and the rest of the band. I imagine it was. Especially since so much of it wasn’t about the new music. It was about his character. Their character. Just like that criticism of me. 

I also know that the bigger the game we play, the more criticism we’ll receive. It just works that way. 

I’ve worked incredibly hard to get to where I am. I know you all have as well. I also understand that at this place, people will try to knock us down. I also understand that at this place, there’s zero time for self-pity, wallowing, being broken down, or letting the negative words of others affect our actions. 

It took me a while to get there. If you’re there too, it’s great to see you. If not, care to meet me there? 

If so, send me a note at Michael@RebelCulture.com saying, “I’m meeting you there, Michael.” 

Crush this week.