[Seo Mideum's Book Review] Advice from the 'Facebook Sage'... Recognition Over Praise

Shin Sujeong, Head of KT Enterprise Division, Publishes 'Time of Insight'
Reflections on Work, Life, and SNS... "Recognition Focused on the Person Themselves"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo Mideum] There is a person known as the "Sage of Facebook." He is Shin Sujeong, the head of KT Enterprise’s division, who gains attention on SNS with his insightful posts about work and life.

Each post he uploads on SNS receives over 1,000 likes and hundreds of shares. Having previously gained recognition with his book Il-ui Gyeok (The Dignity of Work) (Altus), which compiled such content, he has now returned with Tongsal-ui Sigan (Time of Insight) (Altus).

While his previous book was a collection of relatively long posts written on Facebook after his 50s, this new book is a compilation of short posts he wrote on Twitter in his 40s. It is characterized by “organizing the insights of predecessors rather than my own experiences and insights” and delivering them “concise and straightforwardly.”

This can be considered a prequel to Il-ui Gyeok. He explains, “Because it is short and to the point, it will be easy for younger readers to understand,” and adds, “It is a misconception that only special people have insights and can exert influence. Everyone’s life is full of insights.”

The book contains a total of 555 entries. It is broadly divided into ‘Insight,’ ‘Learning,’ ‘Action,’ and ‘Success,’ but each entry is distinctive enough that readers can understand it regardless of where they start.

The reason the author is gaining attention is because his insights are sharp. Like Confucius’s words, they make you nod in agreement but are not detached from reality and can be applied immediately. A notable feature is that he is not “old-fashioned” or “condescending.”

For example, the representative “Six Principles of Advice” include ▲not pointing out things bluntly ▲not listing only faults ▲not comparing ▲not being overly strict ▲not speaking at length ▲not repeating the same words. This is why young people listen to his advice.

From a leader’s perspective, his advice is practical. He emphasizes, “Praise focuses on what has been achieved or accomplished, while recognition focuses on the person themselves,” adding, “‘You did well on that task’ is praise, and ‘You are enough’ is recognition. Praise is good, but recognition is more important.”

He also sharply exposes logical flaws. Addressing some corrupt religious leaders who claim, “If I am guilty, God will judge me directly. I live well because I am innocent,” he retorts, “Living comfortably does not prove innocence. God has not yet struck Satan dead with lightning either.”

He also centers on content that is easy to overlook. Regarding the common self-help advice to “focus on your strengths,” he advises, “In reality, focusing only on strengths often leads to failure,” and suggests, “It is effective and efficient to leverage strengths while avoiding critical weaknesses.”

Some may regard this book as a typical self-help book. However, just as blindly trusting self-help books is problematic, so is outright rejecting them.

The author advises, “What distinguishes success from failure is ‘execution,’ not the book itself.” If you don’t know something, realize it; if you do, put it into practice.

“If even one or two of the 555 sentences resonate with you and inspire you, allowing you to change your perspective on life and take action to transform yourself, that is enough. That is the very reason and value for which I published this book.”

Time of Insight | Written by Shin Sujeong | Altus | 256 pages | 18,000 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.