TransformingYourCareerTransformingYourself

Depending on who's doing the counting, up to 50% of the homeless are over-50. That is plenty alarming. But right now those of us Boomers/Gen Xers who put something into the stock market have some ease of mind. The market has been doing well. That includes today: Index: DJI · January 30, 2:47 PM EST 44,944.72 USD ▲  +231.20 (+0.52%) Low on hope about finding, holding, or moving on to better work?  Getting that back is the first step. Then you and I, as your career coach, move on to diagnosing what's in the way, trying out the solutions and creating the communications you need. Free consultation. No pressure. After that, fees custom-made for your budget. Please contact for an appointment Jane Genova (text/phone 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). 

  The shift was abrupt. One day those in a professional niche are marketable. If they became unhappy with work conditions they could simply hunt for another opportunity. That includes both employees and those contracted to provide services. BINARY LABOR MARKET Now, the labor market is hardening into a binary state. There are those who remain marketable, such as the powerhouse partner brandnames in large law firms such Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden and Paul Weiss. And then there are those, ranging from specialists in DEI to providers of woo-woo services/products, who, as demand dries up, have nowhere to go. NOWHERE TO GO Politico  features that development for government employees whose knowledge base had been ensuring equitable recruiting, retention and promotion of a diverse workforce. In this mid-sized city in southeastern Arizona, as a career coach, I am bearing witness to the shuttering of services/product vendors related to what is known as "woo-woo." Those could be mark...

The BusinessInsider headline screams that bosses don't care how you feel. So, you are mandated RTO. Forget big bonuses. Promotions have become a pipe dream. But embedded in this article with the sensationalistic lead-in is the reality that those bosses are under tremendous pressure. That extends from shareholder demands to cut costs to managing generative AI to achieve a competitive advantage. This should push ambitious employees to do what had always been a fundamental in getting ahead: Make bosses look good. Part of that is understanding their unique stresses at the time. Maybe the CEO was down on them. Their child was ill. Their blood pressure tended to spike. Yes, care about how the bosses feel. The professional anonymous networks such as Reddit, Fishbowl, Blind and Glassdoor are jam-packed with balking about how workers are being treated. Yet, there has been little feedback that supposed shabby treatment never really mattered to the big winners in the American brand of capital...

  Historically market-savvy law students recognized the difficulty landing that first real job practicing law. So, they hustled, despite the demands of their studies, to round up part-time jobs and internships while still in school. That provided not only experience but contacts. Recently that search has gotten more difficult. The federal government has rescinded internships and entry-level jobs. The NALP predicts a downturn in hiring new lawyers . Despite the expected uptick in dealmaking, there's projected by Reuters an overall decline in demand . During December 2024 the Bureau of Labor Statistics found a loss of over a 1,000 jobs. Meanwhile, all the robust hiring of new graduates during 2024 by highly profitable firms such as Kirkland & Ellis and Paul Weiss does not mean much. Inexperienced associates add little value. Some clients don't want them on accounts. If those new hires don't pick up fast how to attract work and how to do it the way partners mandate they m...

The American way of doing business - throwing money at a project or at talent - has become uncool. At least among a growing number of tribes, including the ones on Wall Street.  SO MUCH FOR WEALTH What we now know: Instead of being financed through billions of dollars, the Chinese version of generative AI DeepSeek had been developed in two months for $6 million. American Big Tech has been disrupted. One of my coaching clients is considering what to short. With a decline in demand predicted for the US law sector the high compensation for star talent at firms like Kirkland & Ellis and Paul Weiss might not be sustainable. Already that's being questioned in the UK. The natives are restless at Goldman Sachs as the top dog David Solomon received $39 million in 2024 compensation. At the same time in the lower ranks there's been a haircut on the usual amount of bonuses. Billionaires like Bill Gates and Elon Musk don't seem content with their wealth. They appear to struggle for ...

 AI in the US certainly had a blind spot, it turns out.  DeepSeek, developed on the cheap in two months for $6 million, showcased that it's not necessary or all that protective to throw money at whatever. Bloomberg goes into detail how the DeepSeek model confirms that money is no longer a moat for the US AI industry. Blowing up money-as-moat could also reconfigure the dynamics of other sectors. For example, we have been experiencing for a number of years that the legal sector has been able to buy competitive advantage if the law firms have bulging war chests of money. That business operates on star power and it takes a lot of money to recruit, retain and motivate those stars. Law firms such as Kirkland & Ellis, Simpson, Latham and Paul Weiss have that money. Their brands embed that twinkling power. But could this edge lessen? Will other law firms, less rich, come up, just like DeepSeek, with fresh models of doing business? Those could offer clients top-notch legal repres...

 Reddit has been there for all of us, no matter our line of work or the lack of work. No surprise, it has a subreddit on DeepSeek. Here you can access that. And here you can find out that DeepSeek has surpassed OpenAI in ranking on Apple's Apps. DeepSeek is changing so much. Low on hope about finding, holding, or moving on to better work?  Getting that back is the first step. Then you and I, as your career coach, move on to diagnosing what's in the way, trying out the solutions and creating the communications you need. Free consultation. No pressure. After that, fees custom-made for your budget. Please contact for an appointment Jane Genova (text/phone 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). 

 Most everything associated with generative AI in the US is reeling. That includes stock markets. Yes, it could be considered a form of Black Swan, that is an unanticipated development that generates massive unanticipated impacts.  That phenomenon is the development of AI model in China DeepSeek. It challenges the American Way of throwing massive money at tech and requiring even more money for the energy to produce AI. As Bloomberg reports: " ... calls into question the vast spending by companies like Meta and Microsoft Corp. — each of which has committed to capex of $65 billion or more this year, largely on AI infrastructure — if more efficient models can compete with a much smaller outlay." Essentially DeepSeek is everything you know about generative AI - and more. This year-old startup uses open source. So it benefits from how developers around the world can improve the software. When it responds to a prompt it includes an explanation of how it came to the answer. That e...

  The rules of the game in large law firms are obvious or should be: Everyone is expendable, with the exception of those with enough of a powerhouse brand to grow their book of business. They're the ones who Cravath, Kirkland & Ellis and Paul Weiss hire for about $20 million annually, with multi-year guarantees. Meanwhile even some equity partners are getting the boot. Yet, professional anonymous networks still post sagas, like this one on Reddit , about those stunned and deeply hurt that they were informed that they have no long-term future with the firm. Until "the talk" their billing and reviews were all exceeding expectations. They felt okay about things. One nine-year associate who was gently but surely forced out was reeling in disbelief. In 2008, he came to me for coaching to try to be able to put together a next. He had gone from $300k to $40k (the latter earned doing a bit of legal business for friends and family). Should he think the unthinkable: leaving th...

All the disruption getting to you? JPMorgan Chase head Jamie Dimon mandates: Get over it.  Have a grievance? In most cases, no one cares, except maybe your mother and your dog.  And when it comes to navigating the workplace which is in turmoil, you're expected to leverage common sense. Mentors are few who will direct you what to do or not do.  The expectation is that you're a resilient adult who'll get through whatever. Even in my career coaching (and sideline in tarot reading) I have raised the vibration on reality. And those realities include: Getting, holding and moving on to better work - that's tough. You have to master self-care since no one wants to hear it. And as you age it's more likely you could wind up homeless.  So out is the "t" word. That is, "trauma." That's obvious in the tone of the Vanity Fair's article by Anna Peele  on how Prince Harry has created an identity based on trauma. The buzz phrase for getting locked in the...

In a virtual back-and-forth Donald Trump does a stunner. At the World Economic Forum in Davos Bank of America head Brian Moynihan conducts a casual Q&A with the new President who's being looped in on large screen. During that, Trump tells Moynihan, along with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, to stop blocking conservatives. That is, there's an accusation that Big Banking hasn't been accepting accounts from conservatives. One could feel a global gasp. Here is more from Bloomberg. Obviously Trump is setting a brash tone for the new administration. It's very un-corporate. Business leaders, used to indirectness in communications, will have to come up with a new way of conversing with the president in public.  Low on hope about finding, holding, or moving on to better work?  Getting that back is the first step. Then you and I, as your career coach, move on to diagnosing what's in the way, trying out the solutions and creating the communications you need. Free consultat...

Being part of DEI used to signal being on the side of equity in employment. Those in that force field were considered the good guys.  Leaders in progressive law firms, ranging from Dentons to Paul Weiss, became closely associated with what is now referred to by the Trump Administration as an "ideology." Corporations created new positions to see to it that diverse candidates were recruited and given a fair shot at promotions. In media, specialized publications on the subject were rolled out and expanded.  Now, in federal government, those involved with DEI have become the hunted. CNBC reports: "Federal employees received emails Wednesday warning that they could face repercussions if they do not report on co-workers who work in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility positions that might have gone unnoticed by government supervisors." That, of course, brings up another subject: being a "rat." In the old neighborhood you never took on that role. At...

  The medium is the message. And using the old-line medium of the voice part of your mobile device sends a powerhouse message of real-time close connection, deep listening and willingness to be transparent. About the latter, on the phone the tone, volume, pace, pauses, jump-ins and more disclose so much.  That kind of disclosure is exactly why Generation Zers, who live in a world of email, messaging apps, DMs and texting, avoid the voice part of their phone at work. Not only are they uncomfortable with that medium. It makes them anxious. In contrast, older generations, like E.T., are at home with the phone. In a 2025 Harvard Business Review podcast, those are cited as having a "superpower." In business communications they have the edge. I discuss this advantage of using the phone for the over-50 and how not using is a disadvantage for younger generations in an article published in Substack.   I suggest three ways your business can get back to phoning.  Low on ho...

When practicing law in elite firms was a profession, there was limited partner exits for supposedly greener pastures. Now that Big Law is big business guerrilla warfare has become standard. Snipers are always gunning for another firms' market share and branding by luring away the stars. Poaching has hardened into a weapon to develop business, enhance branding and gain a position of strength for recruiting other stars. It also grabs headlines. Paul Weiss, which has transformed itself into a first-class guerrilla fighter ,has had its battle victories and defeats.  Among the latter are the shock lateral hires for the London office. That probably was a brilliant move since, in order to foster growth, the UK has ousted its antitrust watchdog. Paul Weiss' M&A practice in London could become the high producer of profit.  Among the defeats is a loss to old-line Cravath. Although some of Cravath's aura is gone it's showing it's still out there in battle. Reuters reports...

 M&A is ticking up. With FTC former chair Lina Khan out, businesses can anticipate a downshift in aggressive scrutiny. Part of putting the M&A together is determining the total compensation for the brass. That ranges from cash payments to stock options.  So, it's no surprise that law firm Paul Weiss, which has been on a global hiring spree, would poach an expert in executive compensation in the M&A practice. This is big. The hire as partner is Matthew Friestedt who had been head of Sullivan & Cromwell's Executive Compensation M&A practice. He was part of the dealmaking at AT&T and Kraft.  As an aside, one wonders if Sullivan & Cromwell's new RTO policy of five-days-a-week in the office influenced Friestedt's decision-making. BTI Consulting found that the majority of partners resent RTO edicts.  In 2024, Paul Weiss represented 224 deals. Among its major clients is Apollo. Since its CEO Marc Rowan was given a five-year contract, that account...

  A fundamental for a new US President is to create a signature for the Administration in the First 100 Days. That means taking actions which will be interpreted as wins and will signal to the nation that leadership is on the right course.  The producer in him, Donald Trump added theater to this. At midnight, instead of resting after a long day of hoopla, he indicated through social media that he was purging the federal government of 1,000 Biden appointees.  The guy has the showmanship gene. This purging is not unusual. Everyone knows that appointees as well as many other classifications of employment in federal government typically have to scramble for new jobs if a political party different from theirs comes to Washington DC. If they have marketable credentials or are well-connected they don't have to scramble too much.  A recent example is former Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams who landed a partnership at law firm Paul Weiss. Since he had worked there early ...

  This is okay. But after all the hoopla, some of us might have anticipated a surge toward 1,000 points.  43,831.02 USD ▲  +343.19 (+0.79%) today January 21, 11:04 AM EST  ·  Market Open

Yes, fear gossip. In the office that's what can determine how much support you get from the team, your brand, raises, promotions, demotions, PIPs and layoffs.  Back in 2019, research indicated that the top layers of the organization ignored what was going on in the internal grapevines. Yes, plural. Not anymore, with so much employee activism and postings in social media. Even in elite law firms such as Skadden, Cravath, Paul Weiss and Simpson and in management consulting at the MBB the leadership has to factor in "Heard it on the grapevine." In this article published in "O'Dwyer Public Relations" I explain how those, at all levels of the organization and in all titles, can navigate this internal force field. Hints: Seed the grapevines with third-party loyalists. In addition, bond with the informal leaders and biggest talkers.  Affordable Career Coach Jane Genova provides end-to-end career services, ranging from diagnosis of the challenges and fix-it strateg...

Paul Weiss 2.0, its  disruptions  detailed to John Quinn in a podcast, has pulled off another kind of shift.  We all know that the law firm has been conducting an aggressive hiring spree of global "stars" for equity partnerships. Now this: It has actually accomplished a lateral hire for the non-equity tier, which it created late in 2024. Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp has positioned that innovation as an "experiment." The lateral hire for the income partnership, reports Bloomberg Law , is deals counsel for LA-based Latham. That's Michael Montgomery.  Paul Weiss wins in two ways, at least for now. Not only has it created a mechanism to attract talent. It also is able to use the non-equity tier as a strategy to increase Profits Per Equity Partner.  And, that juicing of PPEP is the rub.  See, controversy surrounds the non-equity creation. For example, in a recent proposed class action lawsuit against Duane Morris non-equity partner Meagan Garland, documents  ...

It's out there in the ethos and it feels like it'll be sticky. That's the moniker for First Lady Jill Biden:  Lady McBiden.   The reference is from the drama by William Shakespeare "Macbeth." In it is the stereotype of the ambitious female who pushes her husband to more. Destruction follows.  The shock isn't that this sort of thing would be grafted on to a First Lady. It's that here it is 2025 and an ambitious woman is still being vilified for yes, being ambitious. That’s still being treated as a crime against social norms. Back when boomer females were first coming of age, we were socialized to mask ambition. We were warned that if it showed no one would marry us.  Then came along the second wave of women's liberation. Sure, the knock would be put on us for being ambitious but we could stand up to it. Gloria Steinem showcased that there was no need to get married. As I went along building three career paths I never did get married. Jill isn...

  The cameras will have to move inside Monday for the inauguration of Donald Trump because of the cold. But all eyes will be on who the cameras keep featuring. Those will be classified as new power structure in the next four years of MAGA Man. Yes, we're shifting back to raw masculinity. Megyn Kelly salutes big strong men. For the eight after that it could be a different version honed by JD Vance.  And for global and domestic economics, politics and regulatory bodies that will be what matters.  In contrast, the  World Economic Forum  kicks off its own supposedly seminal event (January 20 -24) the same day in Davos. There will be cameras. Many attendees bring along their own public relations crew to manage media, including for the photo-ops. But the activity won't count much for Davos Man. The Trump force field dominates. Incidentally some "regulars" at Davos, such at the Edelman Group, have had their deep core business challenges. Two years in a row Edelman ...

  Do juries in Florida not like media companies? Well, we recall the nuclear award against Gawker - $140 million - awarded to Hulk Hogan. Media lawyer Charles Harder represented the plaintiff. Conservative Peter Thiel helped with the financing. The merry gang at Gawker, who had a very good time transforming big names into shaking heaps with its tabloid coverage, had no idea how to present their Big City selves to a Florida jury. Seemingly uncoached, they did everything wrong. Their smart-aleck performance in court would have made an amazing segment on "SNL." Because Gawker couldn't pony up the money it went out of business. I said "Good Riddance." Every Friday for four years there would be a high-level committee meeting at Gawker to decide if I were to be executed. Obviously, I would get stays and social media would roar that I didn't deserve mercy. I have yet to figure out my crime. Now we have the jury in Panama, Florida ruling against CNN for defamation o...

He did it his way. Part of Leon Black's reputational comeback has been to leverage the best legal help. And that has been panning out.  Black's latest win is about his mistress Guzel Ganieva's defamation complaint. Reuters reports:  " ... the Appellate Division in Manhattan said ... [Ganieva's] non-disclosure agreement covered all her claims against Black, including that he defamed her by saying she tried to extort him ... [It added] even if Ganieva signed the [NDA] agreement under duress, she 'ratified' it by accepting $9 million from Black, including a $100,000 monthly stipend ..." His lawyer on this one has been Susan Estrich, a brandname in her field. For other recent legal matters, Black had used Big Law firm Quinn Emanuel. Still in the works is Black's legal defense against a complaint filed by a disabled woman contending rape. Earlier in his business matters such as managing his family office Black had used elite law firm Paul Weiss.  There...

 More and more we're learning that even moving on up to equity partner doesn't bring employment security - de-equitization is standard - or even much power over decision-making about the terms and conditions of working.  The most recent controversy about the latter - control over how you work - is the mandate for five days back in the office. That edict has gone out by Sullivan & Cromwell. Of course, the fear in a sector still dominated by lockstep is that rigid RTO will catch on. HiHo HiHo, off to the office we go. Pay the big nut for commuting, meals out and additional dependent care.  Well, it's the equity partners who could derail such a shift back to the pre-COVID always-there facetime curse. BTI Consulting found that 50.2 percent of partners essentially are saying: Hell no. They like remote. The key reasons include: Being more productive Easier to do team thinking when remote using text and Zoom. Feeling resentment that they perceive themselves as being trea...

  Chair of financial powerhouse Apollo Jay Clayton indicates that  CEO Marc Rowan will continue in the leadership for 5 more years. Job number-one will the focusing on the 5-year plan. Rowan sums up that plan as capitalizing on the opportunities in "the convergence of public and private markets, and the changing role of financial institutions."  Along with the continuity of Rowan's leadership there seems to be attention to succession. That issue emerged when he put himself up to be nominated by the Trump Administration for the position of US Secretary of the Treasury.  Had he been chosen there would have been a scramble to fill the hole he had created with his exit. There is now the newly created role at Apollo of President. Appointed is Jay Clayton who will work closely with Rowan. Also Jim Zelter has become Co-President of Apollo Asset Management. Let the succession battle begin?  With Rown still in-place those law firms which had historically represented Apo...

 For centuries in America, ever since the Puritans founded Harvard in 1636, higher education had been the differentiator. Having the BA/BS or, better yet,  advanced degrees signaled - like a tailored-made suit or an upper class accent - you were destined for unique success. Those who pushed you to get "a good education" hammered the meme "They can't take your education away from you." Well, it’s turning out in some sectors that the "they" aren't willing to pay for that education either. This is not new. Way back in 2008, during the global financial downturn, in my career coaching for those displaced the issue arose: Should they leave that law degree or the Ph.D. in leadership off their resume? It was common sense they could come across as overqualified or anticipating a high salary. Post-9/11, when my industry collapsed, I deleted all but the BA from my credentials. Since I know how to handle interviews I was offered the first survival job I ...

Amid the current economic, technological and political upheaval, leaders come and leaders go. They even include a powerful prosecutor in the Southern District of New York - Damian Williams - who circled back to his former employer Paul Weiss, this time as a shareholder. Happy New Job, Happy Continuation of a Career. The media and social networks have the option of either praising those movers or positioning and packaging them with negative speculation about what triggered that development.  Those making the moves open the door to a troubled legacy if they are vague about the decision. Use the wrong cover line and it could come across that the decision was not theirs but was forced on them. Right now we wonder why MSNBC's Rashida Jones is using the standard phrase in forced exits to explain her departure: "to pursue other opportunities." Since that was not made concrete - such as accepting another plum job or launching an enterprise - a cynical public will think that the...

Recently star prosecutor - Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams - shifted to becoming a defense lawyer. He's 49 years old. Young in Longer Work History Time. Williams' new career will be at elite law firm Paul Weiss. Actually it's one of those Red Ruby Slippers sagas of There's No Place Like Home. Williams started his career at Paul Weiss years ago as an associate in that Wall Street defense firm. Then he went to the prosecutor role for federal government. Now is returning as a partner doing defense litigation work.  Therefore, so far, Williams has cycled through a number of career changes. In that he represents the new usual.  Given the current economic volatility, technology, evolving client/customer expectations and post-COVID questioning of values, about 80% of those in the work force will be career-shifters. In contrast Boomer parents were "lifers" in their work identities.  Career-shifting can continue into your 90s. That's how it went for one-time ...

  It was a knife fight. That's how the in crowd described what went during the process for President-elect Donald Trump to select a Secretary of the Treasury. It even involved Apollo's Marc Rowan who really didn't need the job. That guy is doing just fine. We assumed the competition went well beyond the usual sharp elbows. Eventually Scott Bessent was the nominee.  Now, the Daily Beast uses a version of the phrase to sum up a recent move at Meta: "Zuck’s Own Board Co-Chair Knifes Him Over MAGA Makeover" Michael McConnell on the Oversight Board took issue with the decision to ditch fact-checking. He perceived that as caving to political pressure.  Moving forward will we describe what is going on in prosecutorial circles and the incoming Trump Administration as a kind of knife fight? Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams has resigned and landed a job as a partner at Paul Weiss. More recently Jack Smith has resigned. Many more resignations will probably come.  We re...

  After months of steady growth the legal sector had a setback. It lost 1,200 jobs. Does this signal that heady times are over for law firms? Last year had been a record in Profits Per Partner for a number of large law firms.  However, Reuters State of the US Legal Market projects a falloff in demand, along with rising expenses. Meanwhile those firms most aggressive in poaching, ranging from Kirkland & Ellis to Paul Weiss, have big nuts to pay out for those star equity partner lateral hires. As a result, will some of the non-stars - equity partner, non-equity partners, associates - get the boot?  Here is my Substack article on the need to be a star in the unforgiving professional services game. And 6 strategies to pull that off. In my career coaching I have never come across a "star gene." Twinkling is a learned experience. Essentially the middle has fallen out of white collar careers. Either you're a star or you're increasingly vulnerable to brutal performance ...

 Kraft Mac & Cheese is struggling because it's a brand in the middle. There are now on the market premium kinds of that dish and discount kinds. Customers buy at either end. Not in the middle. Overall, in business the middle has collapsed. That applies to careers, at least white collar ones. Either you are a star or a non-star. Stars get the lion's share of the goodies. Non-stars not only get less and less. Along the way they are often treated badly. This article in Substack presents 6 strategies to become a star at work. Affordable Career Coach Jane Genova provides end-to-end career services, ranging from diagnosis of the challenges and fix-it strategies to preparation of resume/cover letters/LinkedIn profiles and how to gain control of an interview. I specialize in over-50 work issues. My edge is a background in marketing communications. For a confidential complimentary consultation please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com . Remote and in-person.

  The Democratic Party is heavily stocked with brilliant minds: strategist James Carville, former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Paul Weiss law firm chair Brad Karp and head of legal at Uber Tony West. Yet, no one has been able to halt the meltdown of the Democratic brand since conservatives knocked the stuffings out of progressives in the 2024 general election. Now, things have worsened.  In a story broken by Abovethelaw, the world finds out that a superlawyer embedded in the Democratic Party - Marc Elias - has done dirty the employees at the law firm he had founded. That is, Elias Law Group . The New York Post reports: "The Elias Law Group’s new policy, which drew an internal protest letter from 42 subordinates, prevents employees from suing and includes a class-action waiver and non-disclosure agreement ..." That is considered verboten in general. So unfair to employees. It's a total abomination in a law firm. Watchers wonder if that law firm has something t...