My boss, who was demanding and gruff but a good guy deep down, got wind I was hurt and angry. He wrote me a long single-spaced email that I've carried with me ever since.
These notes were addressed to me and my particular situation. But I've found through the years that it comes in handy to re-read this note once in a while. I'm at a different place now, but the words still work.
I've excerpted some of it below:
---
"Look, you have to have a
certain amount of faith in the power of two things: creative work that is genuinely insightful
and well crafted and the willingness to put in the time to do things right.
If you do those things,
smart clients love you because their work gets results. And the others fall by the wayside because
hard work trumps a title in the long run.
It can be a tortuous
path, I admit. You are envied for your portfolilo
and envied because the people with money and influence look to you for help -
and they can't figure it out (because if they did, they'd have the same
relationships)."
---
"But it's better and more
rewarding than people who walk around with big titles and empty
portfolios. (Or even worse, the terrible
sycophants who glue themselves to a higher up and walk around kissing somebody
or other's ass because it's all that stands between them and unemployment.) If you have the work and the integrity, you get
more options. You have smarter
clients. You have more integrity. And, if you save your money, you can always
walk away and find gainful employment in any number of forms. The privilege of the righteous or something."
---
"Do you care what he
thinks about you and your work? No. Why?
Because his title is bigger than his accomplishments. You don't care what he thinks because you
think you could outperform him. And you
think he's advanced because of the relationships he's cultivated and not
because of things he's actually accomplished.
You might well be right
- and that's not a happy position for him to be in. Because if you are right, it will catch up
with him."
---
"After a year of walking
around with a big fucking deal attitude, it's put up or shut up time. Where are the awards? Where are the case
studies that bring in new business?
Where are the clients who've ascended to power on the backs of _______ success - of those things are careers and reputations made. And if he keeps posturing and not delivering,
he'll wind up being thought of as just another asshole with a Titanic attitude
and a Minnow in the engine room. That's
not a formula for career success and personal fulfillment. It does catch up with you. Believe me.
And there are plenty of
people here with more wind in their titles than in their sails."
---
"In any organization of
any size, there will always be naysayers and doubters and obfuscators and
people who want to distract you with nonsense.
They will find fault with what you do and how you do it - but they will
do nothing themselves. They don't know
how. And they fear people who do.'
---
"He used to talk about how there
are two kinds of people in this business - the ones who are in it for the work
and the ones who are in it for the lunches.
And he used to talk about the politicians and how what they really
wanted to do was distract you, bog you down in a mess, keep your mind off doing
the work and solving the problem - because as long as they do that, they're
even. The one thing that will kill them
is if you get some good work out there and it works.
You have to have a
certain amount of faith in what you're doing and how you're doing it - and you
also have to figure out who it is you're going to partner with and who has
enough integrity to let you speak your mind and fail occasionally. Those people with brains and integrity are
hard to find. But find them and deliver
for them and you will learn and prosper.
You must have faith."
---
"But there will always be
annoyances and distractions in large organizations - keep your eyes on the
prize, make the work great, and the world will be your oyster. If we don't right the problems here one day,
we'll all go elsewhere and be successful for somebody else. That's the ultimate power of knowing how to
make things happen."
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