TransformingYourCareerTransformingYourself

  For our generative AI-obsessed times, the most provocative chapter in Walter Isaacson's  Elon Musk   may be "Artificial Intelligence: OpenAI, 2012 - 2015.”  Here is a line to think about: "[In a conversation with Larry Page and other guests at his 2013 birthday party] Musk argued that unless we build in safeguards, artificial intelligence systems might replace humans, making our species irrelevant or even extinct."  In particular, Musk, Isaacson documents, puts extreme value on human consciousness.  Yet, as was widely known even before the publication of  Elon Musk  at his core the richest man in the world tended to treat human beings without deference, never mind respect. Early in this career, before he had acquired the power to run the show, he had been forced out of two enterprises. In the late 1990s researchers in Italy discovered that  mirror neurons  were the mechanisms for human connection, particulary empathy. Could Musk has a ...

 Not only is the golden age over for professional services management consulting and law. The speculation on professional anonymous networks is that there might not be another one of those.  The structure of demand has mutated too much + generative AI is a wild card in how much revenue it can prevent getting into the hands of the top layers. There are exceptions but they are few. Among them management consultant Deloitte has been buzzy. Law firm Paul Weiss seems to be very confident about PE growth especially in Europe, recently paying big bucks to raid global talent in that niche. Alternate investment player Apollo is gushing.  Well, this weekend the joy of someone else's misery can fill the land. Management consultants on the bench or already off the bench onto the beach of unemployment as well as junior lawyers who beg for assignments and can't land enough of them can pore over the sad story of the once-booming public relations agencies.  The RSW/US Annual Report ...

"I’m tired of begging people for projects  ..." - Fishbowl Consulting, September 29, 2023 Ask the successful what is the most important skill. Most or all would answer: the ability to sell. It takes advanced sales skills to land the job. Then once on the job in professional services even to get routine assignments there is more selliing. For plum assignments, you better be a master of sales.  The same dynamic, of course, goes on in self-employment. Actually, in that there are more segments we have to sell to. No wonder we are so worn-out. An artist should redo the classic drama "Death of a Salesman" for 2023.  Data or the gut for your careers and communications? Both of course. Complimentary consultation with intuitive coach, content-creator, and Tarot reader Jane Genova (text 203-468-8579,  janegenova374@gmail.com ).

  Dianne Feinstein  created a confident I-mean-business persona for us females to learn from. If that were her only accomplishment that would have been enough. But there were so many others. As a boomer socialized by the post-war ethos to push women back from jobs I needed the Feinstein role model. She gave me permission to embrace the power of being taken seriously.  May her legacy continue to inspire women.

  She had no presence.  She gushed over the boss (Elon Musk).  She talked in platitudes about the big revenue subject, that is advertising on the social network platform.  She also gushed about the platform.  And she wasn't able to neutralize contentions by surprise presenter former Twitter executive Yoel Roth. He asserted that the situation related to advertising safety had gotten worse, not better. That's the story of Linda Yaccarino's presentation at the Vox Coding Conference. And, how the  media outlets  positioned and packaged that presentation was as  THE story of the conference. Yes, it was so aberrant. All this is about CEO of X, formerly Twitter. For years presentation coaches such as myself can detail what went so wrong. BTW, she also cancelled the plan to answer questions, although Q&A is standard at the conference.  Given her level of what I label "fear" and the inability to bounce back in real time from a curve ball (Roth's u...

  "[Michael] Wolff’s book [The Fall] is packed with mountains of juicy gossip on the Murdoch media empire, the succession fight that may follow his death, and the inner workings of Fox News. But some of his claims read as fantastical. Indeed, as the Daily Beast  noted  last week, the book includes 'absurd anecdotes that occasionally strain credulity.'”   Mediaite,  September 26, 2023 Looping into gossip drives content consumption. Wolff even admits that he hadn't officially fact-checked lots of the material in "The Fall." What the hell. On  Amazon  it ranks in the three digits - 252. That signals brisk sales.  However, Wolff probably isn't considered a thought leader. So far only six customer reviews have been posted. The big kahunas in analysis, stock picks and media aren't informing the world if they took a peek at the gossip.  Meanwhile, we are bearing witness to the falloff in demand the nerdy management consulting industry is having (rea...

  When hard times came, those in corporate communications were usually sized up as expendable - and laid off. They also were without a "seat at the table." That's changed - radically.  The new  Edelman  report documents that the function has gained power, influence and a direct channel to the CEO and the rest of the C-Suite.  For example, 91% of Chief Communications Officers (CCOs) surveyed indicate that they directly participated in decision-making with CEOs about strategy at the front end. Only 9% noted that they were only consulted after everything was already in-place. In addition, that role has become a stand-alone. It is less likely to be folded into marketing or legal.  The career implications are huge. This path becomes more attractive to the ambitious who might have gone to law school or for the M.B.A. If you land the right internships in college that could be all you need to start out in communications. You have the knowledge base, experience and ...

" Democrat Bill Maher says Biden may now be only candidate who'd LOSE to Trump in 2024 and says he fears president is self-sabotaging like Ruth Bader-Ginsburg did ' -  Daily Mail, Sepember 27, 2023  Money is likely everything in a political campaign. Funding sources could prevent another warm-and-fuzzy driven catastrophe as RB Ginsburg's insistence on holding onto her job. Some even thought that was "cute."  In retrospect there is no residue of cute. Many blame the gutting of "Roe" on that since the sitting GOP president Donald Trump replaced her with a conservative. To some who interface closely with the Biden Administration it might feel "wrong" to pressure Joe Biden to leave the campaign. At the top of the list could be those deep-pocketed progressive law firms which bankroll the Democratic Party. Open Secret lists the top five: Paul Weiss Kirland & Ellis Akin Gump Latham WilmerHale. The weakness of a Biden run could worsen if Rob...

“Guerrilla warfare can be as painful as full-out war ... You hit one plant, and end up destructing the whole organization.” - Philippe Houchois, auto analyst at Jeffries, quoted in  Financial Times , September 27, 2023  ALSO REELING ARE DEALERSHIPS Part of the way UAW head Shawn Fain has brought back the labor movement in America has been with atypical strategy. As the Financial Times points out, dealers expected the usual. That would be striking one auto maker. They didn't beef up their inventory. Now the financial implications of the current UAW actions could bleed into dealerships. They will push back, escalating the pressure on the auto corporations. STUN + DO IT IN PIECES + KEEP DOING IT IN PIECES Not only did Fain decide to simultaneously strike all three auto players. Another surprise was to only activate work stoppages piecemeal. And, then on an ongoing unpredictable basis. That's the essence of guerrilla warfare and why it is so effective. Just the introduction of it ...

On professional anonymous networks it has been the buzz: How to pick up side hustles and should those be kept secret from the ruling power in Big Law? Now,  Law.com  officially documents that is happening.  No Safe Harbors Lawyers have joined the growing number of employees who do work for pay beyond the day job. For the majority of those I coach what's driving that trend is the raw need for additional money to make ends meet. For the lawyers I talk to it's the realization that in Big Law you are never safe. Over and over you might be told that you are on-track. Then comes the email to meet with a partner and HR. You’re finished. Remembering Shinyung Oh Extreme employment insecurity isn't new in Big Law. Back in 2008,  associate at Paul Hastings Shinyung Oh  told the world that she had been informed that she was performing well. That's when she outed that she had been fired for performance reasons, six days after a miscarriage.  Revolutionary...

"I've been laid off for 5 months now [from Verizon] and haven't been able to find anything. My reserve funds are all tapped out and if I don't find something in the next month I'll be homeless..."  - Blind, Septemer 2023 Typically employees at Verizon (which used to be the old-fashioned New York Telephone Company, then NYNEX) aren't high-flyers like those at Big Tech. So, it might be a sign of these weird employment times that a former product manager could actually wind up in the pickle of homelessness. Implied are a lack of a nest egg, marketability to land another job and/or the availability of comparable jobs.  This Knowledge Worker could be atypical. But the scary part is that they could be becoming standard: Fall off the white-collar cliff and you're done.  In my coaching, those who do fall off that cliff have been turning to a reset in the trades. Those range from long-distance truck driving to construction. All have academic degrees. Few are bi...

"Provided the decision is not motivated by illegal discriminatory bias., employers can and do indeed fire people who aren't a cultural fit. Employers, in many cases, rank workplace culture right next to technical competency." -  Yahoo Finance, September 26, 2023 Frequently, though, the process isn't that obvious. More often, it's a situation of a thousand signals pointing you to the door. For example, you are not invited to meetings. You are treated without respect during meetings. Or actually humiliated. Plum assignments go to others. Co-workers maintain a distance. Thrown off your game, you search for another job.  So, sure, you should want to do handstands and cartwheels to ensure you are a fit. But the really tough part is to figure out what the culture is. The blurb on the website and in the employee handbook aren't granular. The burden is on you to discern what the rules are, which count the most and which, ironically, will get you ahead if you break th...

Here is the cost of two parts of the licensing procedure in California for lawyers, detailed by Reuters Legal: "The cost of the exam will go from $796 to $1,000 for law graduates, while their moral character determination fee — which covers the bar's review of an applicant's past conduct — will increase 32% to $725." That's a lot of money, right out of the gate after paying through the nose for law school. Some law firms might assist with a a stipend. Let's hope so. Data or the gut for your careers and communications? Both of course. Complimentary consultation with intuitive coach, content-creator, and Tarot reader Jane Genova (text 203-468-8579,  janegenova374@gmail.com ).

  Schlep Chutzpah Gelt Goy Klutz There was a time in urban neighborhoods on the East Coast when those Yiddish words were embedded in Americana.   That's the way we talked.  Then the growing affluence of the post-WW II economy made us more white-bread in how we jaw-jawed. We strived to be middle-class to have access to those goodies. After all, we wanted to get out of downtown Jersey City, New Jersey and relocate to the suburbs. So we talked the way they did on the medium of television, especially the 6 o'clock news. In addition, given the time was the WASPing of American institutions Yiddish came across as way too ethnic. Try to get ahead in large corporations if you didn't look, walk and, you bet, talk like a WASP.  That was then. Currently, reports  The Washington Post , Yiddish as a language is having a comeback. What's driving that is a pushback against the increase of antisemitism. Way back in 2021, influential law firm  Paul Weiss went up against that...

  Capitalism as an economic system has gotten quite brutal. And its principles are difficult for those coming for Tarot readings to absorb. They are working three jobs to hold off homelessness and can't get their heads, hearts or souls around that. Why is it so hard, they ask. As I set out the Tarot cards the message has become increasingly pragmatic. Capitalism doesn't promise you anything, including not a job or that three jobs will bring some sense of financial security. I introduce strategies to navigate to where the well-paying jobs and gig assignments are. That's what it takes. Those might require working for free to grab experience, becoming certified or licensed and/or operating several micro businesses. To refine my Tarot reading skills I performed extensive pro bono work on the border of Mexico. You bet, it is a hustle. Spirituality might deliver inner peace but it takes more than that to get, hold and move on to better work.  Capitalism is a raw individualistic s...

  The buzzy way to refer to frugal lifestyles is "LCOL." That is in contrast to "HCOL" ones.  However, at this time of raw angst about money and the fear of actually becoming homeless even the most linguistically sensitive are defaulting into using the term "cheap."  For example: It is cheap to live in northeast Ohio where even access to the lake and its beaches are free and that includes the parking. This isn't Long Island.  There are also the situations when folks gush about my cute little Smart Car. What I come back with is: It is cheap to run - 40 miles to a gallon. Parts are cheap too. The new hood was 200-something. Peanuts. However, in much of professional services, despite the slowdown in a large number of practices, there is no concept of "cheap." That would denigrate the branding. At Boies Schiller law firm David Boies charges a bit more than $2k per hour. Not cheap. The Kirkland & Ellises, Skaddens, Paul Weisses and Cravaths la...

"Secured a new offer in 6 weeks [after a layoff]. My key advantage was a willingness to relocate to LCOL markets." -  Fishbowl, September 2023  That is the dirty secret to landing good jobs, no matter what is happening in the economy in general or in your specific industry such as law, management consulting or communications: Be willing to relocate to uncool sections of the United States or the world. In addition, the money you will save because you're not in the HCOL neck of the woods can accelerate your building of wealth. Also, your lifestyle could be enhanced.  For instance, here in not-status-location Northeast Ohio there is plenty of no-fee outdoor activities.  Think about it. There is no charge for access to Lake Erie or the beaches for swimming. That includes no charge for parking. The resort areas do not exploit or have seasonal surge pricing. Compare that to the East Coast. During the deep recession of the 1980s, I had been laid off in the New York Metro ar...

  “Institutions are living too much in a two-ice cream world of chocolate and vanilla, of publicly traded debt and equity. They’re about to move to Baskin-Robbins.” -  Told by Apollo CEO Marc Rowan when discussing private debt in an interview with  Yahoo Finance , September 2023 Another metaphor Rowan uses is alluding to the seismic discovery of the technology of fire. When discussing his strategy for transforming what was a private equity firm into a leader in private debt he muses: "I don't think I discovered fire." Obviously he knows his Greek mythology. Prometheus was known for stealing fire and handing it over to humanity. That is uncommon on Wall Street as well as many slots in professional life.  To finance that shift from PE Rowan took on the risk of taking over the part of insurance player Athene  Apollo didn't already own. Its long-term law firm for handling its M&A Paul Weiss oversaw that pricey transaction. Some watchers gave it the thumbs-down. ...

“Big Law has been a super profitable business, using people to deliver complex legal solutions. [Now], we have a proper tool that enables the delivery of these solutions at scale.”  - Told by Pinesent Mason partner Alastair Morrison to Financial Times, September 2023 Generative AI would facilitate feeding in the data related to all the variables associated with the cases. The next step would be an automated interpretation. And out would come the solutions. Sure there will still be a need for those brilliant legal minds which put together strategy. But there will be fewer of them and the traditional model of the law firm will be scrapped. Morrison further observes: Lawyers will collaborate with giant technology firms Billing will be computed based on value, not hours Everyone in the firm has to become adept with advanced AI There will evolve new models The culture will mutate The major reward goodies will be restructured to be distributed beyond the partner system. In the real esta...

"Software development; IT operations and helpdesk; mathematics; and other white-collar jobs [such as communications]  were the most vulnerable [to being done by generative AI], while jobs in driving, beauty and wellness, and home health care had almost no exposure, Indeed found." -   Investopedia, September 21, 2023 In my coaching, this is a sign of the changing times. Those pushed out of the traditional middle-class Knowledge Economy jobs have invested $1,000 to $7,000 to become trained and licensed to drive rigs long distance. Actually they could have had done that free if they had agreed to drive for a company for two years. Females have been making a go of this blue-collar line of work. And, you can usually bring your dog. Buy your own truck? Instantly you are self-employed. You can operate it or rent it out. Eventually you can invest in a fleet.  Some have been willing to take the pay cut to be a paid caregiver. The field is broad. For instance, you can register with...

  About the same time in history (so don't claim "it was a different time with different mores") Secretary of State for War John Profumo in England and US President John F. Kennedy both had sexual affairs which could have impacted national security. Profumo's career collapsed and it never recovered. In contrast, Kennedy was protected and even today he is revered in some circles. Scandal has oddball dynamics.  Currently scandal seems to have stuck to outsized financial player Leon Black. He was on top, ranging from CEO/Chairman of alternate asset management firm Apollo to Chairman of the board of the Museum of Modern Art. Then came a probe of his financial relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He got off the hook and that could have receded in the global and US consciousness. After all this was Black, mover and shaker in finance and culture.  But then came a nasty lawsuit by his former mistress Guzel Ganieva. There were plenty of allegations including sexual misconduct. T...

  "Iger needs to dream up better ideas than spending more on parks." - Financial Times , September 21, 2023 It is becoming increasingly obvious that the one-time role model for effective corporate leadership - Bob Iger - may not be up to the complexity of turning around a distressed empire. The history of business clearly indicates that when major players return for a second act they have to do things very differently. Iger doesn't seem enough there. The possible sale of ABC would be a minor move.  Think about it. After his fall from grace, including prison, Michael Milken developed a new identity in philanthropy. Later he circled back to being a presence in finance.  Fired from Ford where he had headed marketing, Lee Iacocca became a CEO (a very different role) at near-bankrupt Chrysler. There he introduced what were then radical ideas. That worked, at least for a while.  Voted back in by the partners last May, Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp unleashed a disruption throu...

"UAW Eyes Next Strike Targets as Parts Shortages Begin to Hit"     Bloomberg, September 19, 2023 UAW head Shawn Fain is the ultimate strategist. That's what counts. So, there are no photo-ops of his pulling down grueling hours to orchestrate this unprecedented kind of strike. Among the strategies are conducting a form of guerrilla warfare and not grabbing on to low-hanging fruit. The model of activism he is creating, much like that of  Saul Alinsky , provides a fresh approach to reform - and hope.  Over and over again career coaches like myself try to get the message out that the work per se is only the price of entry. Moreover, it is a defensive move. To hold onto that job, to get promoted, to earn a bonus and/or to differentiate your business, you need more than that.  You bet, you have to be totally strategic and on an ongoing basis. That entails sizing up the situation for your points of leverage. And only then "doing the work." That is the implementat...