English: A logo for my usepage

English: A logo for my usepage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Awesomeness.
Awesomeness.
Awesomeness.
Good enough to start things, keep things going in the middle and good enough to close with.
I recently had a LinkedIn contact request I endorse him for awesomeness. It got me to thinking about the whole word and the whole world of endorsements on the fabled professional networking site.
Endorsements on LinkedIn are given out at the rate of “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” buttons on St. Patrick’s Day. They’re just a little out of hand. To be more genuine, endorsements are approaching out of control status.
Hohner awesomeness

Hohner awesomeness (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


I used to ask someone to give me a recommendation on LinkedIn. I believe I have nine of them at last count. I think recommendations are more of an indicator to “contact wannabes” of just how capable a professional you are.
But when someone who connected with me on LinkedIn wanted an “awesomeness” endorsement, I thought endorsements in general on LinkedIn had just jumped the shark. This gentleman had endorsed me for a few things and so I thought I’d return the favor. I even went so far as to include “awesomeness” in the endorsements I gave him.
Now, I really had no way of knowing for sure just how much awesomeness this individual possesses. But, since LinkedIn endorsements are so watered down now, I figured awesomeness was as good an endorsement as any I could give him. I even thought it’d be nice if someone would endorse me for awesomeness.
English: The awesomeness that is Cheryl. Oh, a...

English: The awesomeness that is Cheryl. Oh, and the A3 Treat Cart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Well, today my wish came true. I received my first endorsement for awesomeness. It does feel pretty good. In fact, it’s got a whole lot of awesome to it. Awesomeness will probably end up like the Holy Grail of endorsements. Many of us might go our entire LinkedIn tenures without once getting an endorsement for awesomeness. How sad is that.
But I know several of you out there are more than deserving of receiving some awesomeness in the form of an awesomeness endorsement on LinkedIn. I also believe gestures like endorsing fellow professionals on LinkedIn for awesomeness could lead to the overall loosening up of the stale, professional networking stalwart.
I was thinking about what might eventually exclude someone from receiving an awesomeness endorsement. I have a few suggestions for LinkedIn when they decide the ability to give out any endorsement you want is no longer. When that day comes, certain endorsements like awesomeness, while still free to give out, will not be showered upon just any Dick, Harry or Jane.
For instance, if you don’t have a picture with your profile, you will probably not be deserving of an awesomeness endorsement. Let me explain. Awesomeness defines part of a particular person’s persona. You can’t be awesome to anyone if there isn’t a picture to identify you or put the face on the awesomeness if you catch my drift.
Another example of being excluded from awesomeness on LinkedIn is if you haven’t first bequeathed awesomeness to someone else. This would be commensurate with giving before receiving. How awesome is that? Awesome enough that you can get an awesomeness endorsement if you follow suit my friend, that’s how much awesome that is.
Awesome is one of those words that transcends generations. It seems to have been around forever. Attaching “ness” at the end is one way of perpetuating it through the 21st century. We have so many buzz words that just fade away. Awesome and awesomeness are here to stay. Again, very, very awesome is the staying power of awesomeness.
Now that I’ve broken the awesomeness endorsement ice on LinkedIn, I’m hoping to receive many more of them. The one I just got today, while pretty awesome indeed, looks lonely compared to the other ones I’ve gotten. Fortunately, the endorsement world for networking professionals is about to be taken by the awesomeness storm.
Awesomeness on LinkedIn will no doubt blaze a trail for future endorsements of which we’ll see. Here are a few we might anticipate:
Even-temperedness – while perhaps not as awesome as awesomeness, if someone is even-tempered, isn’t that pretty nice, too?
English: Arthur Richards takes a moment to con...

English: Arthur Richards takes a moment to contemplate his own awesomeness at the Fundraising Summit 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Posture perfect – although this sounds close to tempur pedic, I’m thinking it could still be an eventual endorsement breakthrough for public speaking professionals
Straight-faced – this could be an endorsement for the professional specializing in public speaking at somber events or where there is not much laughter anticipated
Absorbent – if Dick is an absorbent person, he should have an endorsement for this ability. After all, when is being sponge-like not a good thing?
And, I’m going to hide this next one in the middle of a paragraph. Eventually, skills like bullshitting are going to be respected and accepted in the business community. Everyone talks about honesty, but it’s given far too much sway. If one is truly going to be honest about it, the ability to bullshit effectively will get many a business professional through too many to mention tight spots in the real world. Good sales people know all about the fine art of bullshitting and the payoffs derived from doing so effectively.
Awesomeness.