TransformingYourCareerTransformingYourself

 There is a school of thought in the public relations industry that controversy is a useful tool for getting, holding, and growing attention. Maybe now change "is" to "was." Controversy is becoming downright unmarketable. If that's your personal brand, don't apply to X or Y or a growing number of organizations for work. Today controversial anchors CNN's Don Lemon and Fox's Tucker Carlson parted ways with their employers. Provocative consumer-product publicist Alissa Heinerscheid is currently on a leave of absence from overseeing Bud Light. Her controversial use of transgender Dylan Mulvaney stirred up a hornet's nest costing the brand about $6 billion.  Over in the world of finance Apollo co-founder Leon Black has paid a steep reputational price for his association with the controversial Jeffery Epstein.  In the staid law-firm sector David Boies, co-founder of Boies Schiller, still hasn't recovered from the controversy of representing Harvey ...

There  is  fallout from the pricey settlement of Fox News with Dominion.  Some speculated that legal development would have zero effect on how the divine right of media kings operated the popular cable news service. Then there was a factoring in of other pending lawsuits similar to Dominion's, along with a shareholder one contendng it was the leadership who got the corporation into all this legal soup. So, yes, there seems to be a taming of Fox. A sign of that is this: Ratings-genius anchor Tucker Carlson is out, documents  Mediaite.  Before that Dominion settlement Carlson seemed untouchable. Tucker has been a story of an amazing comeback. That return to visibility started with his participation in Dancing with The Stars. To me the gimmick seemed deeming. But, heck, it panned out. He got noticed. He aligned himself closely with Trump. And he came to "own" much of the viewership of Fox with his extreme right-of-center points of view. For the May edition of...

  "I fantasize about quitting my job, packing my belonging, and moving to a shack in the forest"    Reddit Career Advice , April 24,2923.  The poster is a 22 male with a good corporate job. So far there are more than 150 comments. Obviously his situation about wanting to go off the middle-class/careerist grid resonates.  Back in 2018, before the world went crazy with COVID, a war in Europe, then inflation, and now massive layoffs, the same meme also caught fire. That was with the true story about Christopher Knight. On day in 1986, Knight journeyed from Massachusetts to Maine and remained invisible and self-sufficient in makeshift shelter for 27 years. He had no utilities. He didn't work. He didn't seek out human companionship. How he survived was through petty theft, which eventually led law enforcement to end those days of Paradise. Journalist Michael Finkel gives us that chronicle in  "Stranger in the Woods."  It has had 9,237 customer reviews ...

"Forget two weeks. JPMorgan Chase reportedly wants employees to give the bank six months’ notice before they walk out the door."  Rob Chesnut, Bloomberg Law, April 24, 2023 Obviously, that is a deterrent for talent to exit that financial empire. Also, it screams the reality that management is firmly in control of human-resources policies. Worker empowerment, which had been much discussed during the boom pandemic, may reman a fantasy, at least at that particular workplace. For other employees in other settings the issue is more up in the air: How much notice to give? After all, you want to do right by the employer and the flow of the workload. Usually you don't want to burn bridges.  Two weeks is standard. More than that can trigger being banished from the organization on the spot and losing out on the paychecks you depend on. One driver is to protect trade secrets. Another is to prevent the departing employee from spreading discontent in the final four or more weeks - or...

  Work wife/husband Family Mentor and More Today Insider joins other media outfits in taking a hard look at how we talk about our relationships in our professional lives. Overall the conclusion is that most of the language is outdated.  For example, take the term "family." That concept had been standard during a time in business that large organizations essentially were paternalistic. When I had been an executive speechwriter/ghostwriter at Chevron I referred to the "family" in all internal communications. No one, not even the most cynical, made fun of that allusion. As for the work spouse idea - that is, the colleague we confide in and count on to watch our back - we have become aware of how problematic that can be. Our actual marital partner or significant other is likely to resent that level of intimacy. Even though I am self-employed and don't have an office life I warn those on my network to be cautious about how they refer to our bonds in conversations w...

The falloff in the global volume of M&A ( down 48% during Q1 2023 ) is triggering a reduction-in-force at Deloitte. FT documents the cuts, totalling 1,200 in the US, will primarily be in Risk and Financial Advisory which specializes in M&A transactions.  However, the good news on this round of layoffs in the Big Four is that it's not as massive as those in EY and KPMG. At least for now. Multiple rounds have become standard. Post-RIF, there is no longer a settling in and exhaling.  Also who gets the ax is related not so much to the company as to specific units within the organization. In this development it's the practice associated with M&A. This is confirmed on professional anonymous networks such as Fishbowl Consulting. Job searchers ignore layoffs at X or Y. Instead they seek out information about hiring in specific business units within that business. Meanwhile, until M&A picks up all professional services, especially law, are vulnerable to RIFs. Professio...

"Earlier this year: Damn, big tech is sinking. Go back to consulting Now: Damn, consulting doesn’t seem that great either. Time to switch to industry Later: woah, federal government? Later : Raise cows" -  Fishbowl Consulting , April 20, 2023   In addition, things no longer look so hot in creating a chicken farm for eggs.  MSN  reports that egg prices have finally "cracked." For too long a dozen of those delivered the sticker shock of six bucks a dozen or more.   One laid-off security professional I have coached had been determined to raise chickens. Among the risks I brought to his attention were the chickens being hit with a disease/attacked by predators - or egg prices returning to normal. Fortunately, he went on to explore other entrepreneurial ventures.   But unlike so many traditional careerists that potential chicken farmer might have been on the right track. That is, moving in the direction of starting up his own micro enterprise. Mor...