Keep Repeating: It's Not the Work, It's the Strategy (from the UAW to Paul Weiss)

"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 implementation. And that reality circles back to the old joke that the "C" students become the bosses of "A" students. The latter, yes, did all the work. The former figured out how to get by, on their own terms.

Sure, the top layer in elite large law firm Paul Weiss consists of very hard workers. You wouldn't last in that kind of setting unless you were committed to 12-hour days or more. But, again, that's the price of entry. It only allows you to play the game. 

Paul Weiss' organizational and personal-brand success directly depends on the strategy. That's how it got to be Paul Weiss.

Recently there was the strategy to poach talent and send a message of a disruption by raiding competitor Kirkland & Ellis. The hits were to both the London and Los Angeles offices. Now Paul Weiss "owns" everything from buzz to the aura of the go-to firm for private equity and more. In response to the raid Kirkland & Ellis felt it had to reassure clients that it could continue to deliver on quality service.

Unfortunately the mythology of hard work - officially labeled The Protestant Ethic - is hard-wired into the American ethos. Even after being forced out because they missed what the game was about, otherwise smart people come to me and lament: But I worked so hard.

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).