TransformingYourCareerTransformingYourself

Being close to power can create the illusion that that aura belongs to you. Then, the relationship ends. The illusion doesn't. And  you assume the mystique is portable. For instance, if the connection had been in tech, you put out there a book on tech. You are certain it will sell briskly because, after all, you had been in there with those big names in tech. That could have played out if you were also up there as a big name. But if you were only a rank-and-file the odds are against the market taking you seriously. Call the phenomenon Power Lost. You were in it. Then you weren't. No one cares. The best you can do is position and package it on a resume for conventional goodies such as landing another job in tech. Anything else could be a stretch. From the get-go the book winds up in the Amazon ranking abyss. Your enemies - and we all have them - react with glee.  In my career coaching one of the hardest fundamental to get across is that proximity to power rarely means you can c...

"Media Companies Are Ready to  Sell. Does Anyone Want to Buy? "Experts agree the media business needs to consolidate.  But high interest rates, a hostile government and a shaky advertising market make it almost impossible to do a good deal."  Bloomberg, August 20, 2023 Along with what used to be plum jobs in broadcast are those in advising corporations and handling their legal woes. All are reeling from employment insecurity. Read professional anonymous networks such as Fishbowl and Reddit and the meme is fear of losing the job and then never being able to get back in if there is a recovery. For years in America the ambitious chased those glam professions. Their parents gushed, "My son/daughter at ABC, at McKinsey or at Cravath." Currently the buzz is about directing the offspring to the trades such as welding, plumbing, truck driving and being an electrician.  Of course, the deflation of glam will worsen with generative AI. We could return to the mid-20th...

"We went from super low interest rates, learning to work from home, and a Donald Trump world to the highest inflation in 40 years, people relearning to work in the presence of others, and Joe Biden’s very different style." -  Randall  Peterson of London Business School, being quoted in  Yahoo Finance,  August 19, 2023 Those post-COVID developments have triggered high turnover at the top. CEOs stay in the job for a shorter period of time. Among the corporations where they have stepped down have been PayPal and Kraft Heinz. Meanwhile, of course, a number of those CEOs who remain in-place are obviously struggling. They range from Goldman Sachs' David Solomon to Disney's Bob Iger.  Those struggles mirror the turbulence workers are also navigating. The majority of those I coach tell me that they have never experienced what is going on in their workplaces. Management seems uncertain. Even though there is supposedly a culture of transparency employees sense many hi...

" Apollo Global Management Inc.  has fired  Dylan Foo , a partner and the firm’s head of infrastructure, over inappropriate behavior and policy violations, the firm said." -  Bloomberg , August 18, 2023  It - that is, myriad versions of "inappropriate behavior" - used to happen all the time. But if the alleged or proven miscreant was powerful, a high producer, a rainmaker or simply had excellent air coverage not much happened. Those reporting the supposed misdeeds usually were the ones punished.  That should have changed when value systems shifted to not tolerating those kinds of conduct. In 2017, what was supposedly going on at 21st Century Fox was investigated by a major law firm - Paul Weiss. Cable broadcast giant Roger Ailes stepped down. What then followed, as we well know, were growing numbers of executive abrupt exits in a broad range of sectors. And, the assumption was that those who wanted to hold onto their jobs would not cross the lines. Obviously tha...

"Law Students Should Only Apply to Firms That Prioritize Climate" -  Jessenia Class and Aidan Bassett, Bloomberg Law, August 18, 2023 When I was teaching Freshman Composition at the University of Michigan I would have given this opinion piece a "C-" as the grade. From the get-go with the title, it pontificates. It doesn't persuade.  Isn't it puzzling why Bloomberg Law published this kind of op-ed. 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 202-468-8579,  janegenova374@gmail.com ).

We boomers vividly remember the local public library as where you went for books.  Then that institution turned into a Third Place for latch-key kids and adults needing stimulation. The special events were (still are) awesome.  Next was the library as media center. It was there that I learned to navigate the internet and conduct a Google search.  Now, in this dicy times for finding, holding and moving onto better work, it has become a downright hero.  In May 2023 I moved into this area. Since then I have popped into the Liberty Public Library, Yongstown, Ohio for work-related searches and for actual assignments requiring copying, scanning/emailing and even, get this, having photos taken and a 75-second video made (against a blank background).  A boomer, I am not at home with technology. I simply have enough of a handle on all that, including generative AI, to remain employed and marketable. In contrast, the staff at the Liberty Library is skilled. They are also...

  There we were. We boomers became The Therapy Generation. We knew all about Woody Allen's time on the couch. It was more difficult to be admitted into a clinical psychology Ph.D. program than Harvard. Everyone, be it our boss, our neighbor or a national figure like Richard Nixon, was raw material for jaw-jawing about their inner demons. At those cocktail parties we overshared what our analyst had said (and igored the glazed-over looks). Critics of that psychological scrutiny labeled the phenomenon "psychobabble." That was then. Now the national mindset is shaped by lawyers, not psychologists. We want to analyze our leaders through the legalities they put in play or which are foisted on them. For that we turn to lawyers. The bestseller “Servants of the Damned” by David Enrich documents the current power and influence of the legal profession. Think about it. Right now, the headlines about Donald Trump track his surging legal woes. There is no national fascination with who ...