Notes from the Field

I’ve never heard of Carol Smith before, but I read the New York Times for a reality check about once per week, and since today is my day off (aka it rained! Finally – the farmers here really needed it), I was cruising the NYT homepage and found this article, an interview with the Chief Brand Officer from Elle magazine group.

She pretty much took the words (about being in charge) right out of my mouth. What I would add, however, is that in thinking about my own leadership these last two weeks, I’ve concluded that it’s women, more often than men, who need to win over employers in order to get good work out of them. Men are allowed and expected to be assertive (”you did this right,” “here’s what I want you to do next time,” “this is what I need you to do better,”) whereas women get more pushback from that kind of direct, assertive talk (and very little productive work out of it). When I speak assertively or directly to my fieldcrew about what I need them to do, I get a fair amount of negative murmuring and quiet grumbling, and very little adherence to my instructions. Now this could be cultural, social, or personal, but it’s definitely there. I haven’t had this much time or opportunity to reflect on group dynamics in quite awhile, but my field crew is of late providing plenty of food for thought…

One final thought on the article – regarding never hiring people you don’t like. This is a lesson I learned very early in my career, during an early summer field research experience, and which was reaffirmed for me in one of my professional positions more recently. In both cases there was a highly desirable candidate, competed for by other potential employers, whom a boss of mine sought and obtained as an employee. Both of them immediately rubbed me the wrong way for different reasons, and seemed to have egos bigger than the positions they would be hired to fill. I tend to have a good instinct for people and personalities in this capacity, which held true in both instances, and reached out to my bosses to share my reservations, in a politically and professionally appropriate way.

In both circumstances the candidate in question was an egotistical man a little too big for his britches, and in both cases he was hired despite my quiet (and in the latter case, incredibly direct) objections, and in both cases, the candidate left the job or dropped out of the program within the first year of the opportunity he had been given. I don’t think I would have put the two together if it weren’t for the employer from the earlier case, with whom I’m still in contact, and who always recalls when we’re speaking how I cautioned her against picking up the “employee” in question, and how she went against my intuition and regretted her decision when the candidate became a nuisance to her own career.

Two cases doesn’t prove the rule, but it does provide a good reminder that anyone you’re going to spend as much time with as an employee, and especially a field crew employee, should be someone that you really, really like, someone that you can converse easily with, and someone who you enjoy talking to. More importantly in my case, perhaps, it should be someone whom you can look into the eyes of, and imagine towing their weight, and holding up under a little hard work. Because the only thing harder than holding up under your own hard work ethic day after day, is holding yourself up while also propping up everyone else.

7.3 forests to go. See you on the flipside, when I hope to be down to 3. Here we go, here we go!

-M-