Success can be found at intersection of chaos, opportunity
Perseverance, vision remain inspirations
AFTER Election Day, a lot of folks who work in politics will be updating their Linkedin profiles as they get ready to return to the private sector.
Luckily for the soon-to-be unemployed, it happens to be National Career Development Month — a time to focus on career prospects and explore new opportunities.
As part of a nearby private school’s Career Development Month events, I was invited to speak to a group of young people. There were several students interested in hearing from someone in a certain profession that, it so happens, I know a thing or two about.
I ought to. It’s a line of work that has been knocking me around pretty good for the past 33 years. I was there to talk to the students about the ups and downs of my relationship with an old love: journalism. And — given that I’ve been fired, canceled or shown the door 14 times in the past three decades — I had plenty to say.
Such as: My professional ambitions today don’t bear the slightest resemblance to what they were when I started down this unconventional road in 1989. Back then, I wanted to be rich, famous and powerful. I also wanted to be at the center of the action and be the talk of the town.
Today, I want to build things, have fun and never be bored. I want to put my gifts to good use and impact people with my words. As I told the students, that’s my new definition of success. And it suits me fine.
I also told them that being a journalist in the first quarter of the 21st century meant living at the intersection of chaos and opportunity.
On the one hand, these are rough-and-tumble times for traditional media.
Newspapers, magazines, radio stations and television networks are laying off employees or shutting their doors altogether. Journalists have to be fluent in different platforms: print, digital, audio, video, live coverage, social media and more.
On the other hand, there is unlimited opportunity for those who can adapt to change. Every generation consumes information differently. We can’t wait for the audience to come to us; we have to meet people where they are. And we have to be flexible when things don’t go according to plan. If you come up with an idea and your boss or client shoots it down, then pitch it somewhere else.
Stories of vision and perseverance inspire us and earn our admiration: the hugely successful movies that almost didn’t get made because one studio after another turned them down. The rock bands that were rejected by hundreds of record labels only to eventually sell more than 100 million albums.
On a recent episode of “CBS Sunday Morning,” a man recalled how his father urged him to get a credential so the man could always fall back on teaching high school English if his dream job never materialized. The job was filmmaking, and the dreamer was named Steven Spielberg.
Because journalism is a tough and unpredictable career, I’ve found myself reaching out more than a few times to colleagues who have lost jobs. Those with families to support are usually in pretty bad shape, feeling like they’ve let down loved ones. So they need to be lifted up.
I begin my note: “I understand that ‘congratulations’ are in order!” I say that opportunity is around the corner, and I point out that the downside to having a steady job is that you often miss the knock. Besides, I tell them, life is too short, and the world too interesting, to waste time working for anyone who doesn’t appreciate you or recognize your talents. I advise them to hustle, redefine themselves and be entrepreneurial. Think about the one thing that you’ve always wanted to do but never done, I tell them. Now is your chance to do it. Above all, enjoy your freedom. Not everyone has that luxury.
My friends always seem to appreciate the career pep talk, especially as they know I speak from experience. I’ve been facedown on the pavement, and I’ve managed to get up and get back to work. That is all any of us can do.
Jobs come and go. But professional setbacks build character, and that lasts a lifetime.