In the very fluid job market we are in, we constantly hear from people looking to transition, or forced to transition, or just wondering if there can be something better for their career. I always take the calls, the emails, the text the notes because I have been there more than a few times, and have somehow landed, not by choice, in a role that has an exit at some point working on my own, with some great people around me to help keep the ship moving from time to time.
As I have said before none of this was by choice, I was kind of thrown into this water over 16 years ago, and was forced to either sink, swim or find something to hold on to. It worked out and I am very lucky to have been on a pretty magical ride over the years. Some of it was dumb luck, some of it was a little courage, most of it I think was being honest and trying to listen and do the right thing with people while helping build the right narrative at the right time with the right medium. It’s also a lot about learning, and adapting, and as Snoop Dogg says, staying relevant and open t the things around you.
First, it’s easy to say you can pick the people you work with when you are at a certain level. The bigger the agency, the larger the scope, the more complex the relationships are. It’s also easy to look back and say How could x y and z have worked with that company or group. How do they sleep at night or talk to their kids every day.?”
The piece reminded me about a conversation I had some time ago with a veteran communications person who had a staffer going to a firm based in New York known for taking on controversial clients regardless of their ethics and their business practices. The person was lured by a title, by a lot more money, by “access to high level media” and by the thrill of big names and bright lights. His response was very telling. “All that is good for her, but she better have a bag of change around for when their clients need to make the call from the jail pay phone.” By the way, the person was not wrong at all. The young person took the money, the title and lasted about a year before she took some learnings and went off to do another thing, working with as she told me then “people who were aligned with her thoughts and who gave her the ability to sleep at night.”
It\’s the choices you make, and often times, when you are transitioning, when you want to see what else is out there, when you want more money and the better title, you tend to look the other way and find the good while accepting the bad.
As colleague Kenyon Rasheed said when we talked at the super bowl, “Sometimes the grass may look greener, but the weeds have very deep roots.”
It’s not easy to make those career choices.
However, there is one thing that I do believe comes to fruition. Maybe it’s because I’m a schmuck who has tried to find the good and the interesting where people see the tougher road. Maybe it’s because I have spent most of my career in a place one of my former bosses used to call “The Lunatic fringe of sport, media and entertainment”…I like living there by the way…maybe it’s because now I have the benefit of a career of over 35 years where I can pick my dance partners little better…but I am a firm believer in if you take the high road, if you work with people who bring you joy and you do little things to make a difference by supporting those around you, that things have a way of working themselves out.”
Now that’s not to say that sometimes you drink the Kool Aid , or you need the Kool Aid to pay the bills, and you take on something that may not be a perfect fit. That may be true but at some point, you ask yourself “Is this right for me, can I enjoy this work and these people for long, and can I be doing something better with my time?” The answer only comes from within, not from others. The other part that the article brought up was the issue of liability by the firms promoting products or partners, from Middle Eastern investments to crypto, and when businesses fail, because those firms were the front porch for the consumer, should they be tied into the liability? While there is usually indemnification, there also runs brand damage for work with competing or businesses that have conflicting views that might rule a firm or an individual out for work. A challenge for sure, but we have seen countless people, especially in the political world, negotiate both sides of the aisle for the work vs. the cause. It’s a tricky slope, but one worth fully understanding.
What I have found is pretty simple. Fluid yes…but still simple. First, work with good people in an environment that is interesting and challenging. Take chances but weigh options and realize there are no absolutes. Sometimes things don’t work out. If it doesn’t work, move on at the right time for you, not for the other people involved. Make the choice for you.
The place you work does not define you. What defines you is the work you do and who you choose to work with , how you treat people and the legacy you build.
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