YourCommunicationsEdge

  Like management consulting, media and tech, the Hollywood sector is losing jobs - probably permanently.  In an article in  LA Times , one of those in production Heather Fink puts out there that being in sound for 14 years was her "biggest mistake." That mindset likely will impede her ability to spot and pounce on opportunities.  What should Fink be thinking and doing instead?  That's where the Five of Cups card in the Tarot hammers its message. Sometimes called the "Spilled Milk" card, it manifests how dead-end (as well as off-putting) it is to reflect on what didn't go as expected.  Fink could have have taken the steps on her journey to what would be next in earning a good living by framing her past as leverable. That is, she could take an inventory of her knowledge, skills and networks and explain where she will explore figuring out a fit for all that. During the early 1970s, the market for university humanities professors went kaput. We Ph.D. students h

  "Silent Democrats Will be Complicit in Biden's Election Defeat" - Kevin McCauley, Editor-in-Chief, O'Dwyer's Public Relations, May 28, 2024.  Here  is McCauley's entire thougtht piece, which echoes what is finally surfacing on influential platforms like  Politico.   The meme is this: Joe Biden must be nudged (or, yes, kicked) off the ticket. However, Man/Woman The Political Animal knows the possible punishment for taking that step or even being identified as putting it in motion. Loyalty continues to exist in politics and there are Biden loyalists. The penalty risk might be significantly less than the risk of a Biden loss and progressives being locked out of the Beltway for at least four years. Democracy may require decades to restart in the major instititutions.  The player or players who begin the ousting dynamic could go down in American history as an authenic hero. The situation is that serious. In most cases you have only one shot in communications. Jan

  I am thrilled to announce that the influential O'Dwyer's Public Relations published my analysis of Ogilvy's puzzling pay range for a NYC-based position which is responsible for $5 million to $10 million of business. That pay range starts at $35k and caps at $65k. I was pulling down way more than that cap in the late 1980s and the job was based in an office 90 minutes from Gotham.  Here  is that article. In most cases you have only one shot in communications. Jane Genova is a communications coach and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)

  " ...  For [the interview] a new job? In general I would do 60-80 hours of drafting out stories and practicing reciting them in engaging ways.  After that I would probably do 2-4 hours of company specific research for a non-recruiter interview." -  Fishbowl Consulting, May 27, 2024 Those  who haven't been through the wringer in a recent job search and getting no offers might push back on all this amount of input. Their chief argument would be that with all that preparation you are going to come across as over-scripted - and stiff.  But note that the advice is to role play your approaches so that, yesyesyes, you aim to engage. A major part of what you invest in is the soft stuff. At the top of the list is: appearing relaxed, mirroring the tone/pacing/word choice of what those with the power are using, being looped in when responding to their request for your questions and keeping them interested in you in a sustained way.  What I recommend to clients is for them to thin

  Closing our door in the work setting and crying. At a Harvard event honoring her US Supreme Court Justice  Sonia Sotomayer  admits she has done that, several times. That is typical behavior in knowledge work and it is gender-neutral. (In blue-collar niches distress is usually signaled more openly and directly.) For example, one male associate I coached shared how he had the sense to close the door at his elite law firm before the tears just flowed. He had been given an assignment by a partner, with a deadline, with no guidance how to go about it. Eventually he figured it out but the bout of crying had drained him. That experience remained vivid in his memory bank. Throughout the floors of the prestigous trophy skyscrapers in Manhattan there are narratives of, yes, men and also women sobbing in the restrooms after they had been fired. The sad part of those sagas? Reflecting on that experience they felt "lucky" they had made it out of the termination interview intact and coul

  "Sam Altman's time as the golden child of tech might be coming to an end" -  Business Insider , May 24, 2024 On November 30th, 2022, when OpenAI released ChatGPT we played with it and it was a WOW. What would have taken us hours in research or copywriting, for example, the ChatGPT prompt spit out instantly. The better we became at configuring the prompts the more the WOW ballooned.  Tech entrepreneur behind OpenAI Sam Altman became the Next Steve Jobs in terms of being hailed as unleashing a genuine game-changer. Then concerns came about the consequences of such a powerful technology. Will humanity be wiped out? Were there enough guardrails? Less than one year later - November 17, 2023 - that kind of thinking apparently triggered the ouster of Altman by the board. But he got right back in. Many in the world of tech fundraising exhaled. Back then Altman was OpenAI. So what if he was alleged to be "power-hungry." Recently, regarding OpenAI, there have been harsh

   " The changes [in law firm partner compensation] include instituting secrecy around partner pay ( Paul Weiss ) ..." - Roy Strom,  Bloomberg Law,  May 23, 2024 That strategy - sometimes called a "black box" - has several objectives. Supposedly, they are to prevent: Internal tension about the increasingly large spread among what different partners are making.  For a while, though, there has already been resentment about junior partners having less status and power than senior partners. Soon enough those junior partners will recognize they are pulling in a lot less money.  Partner flight.  Given that they will be unaware of the spread, the magical thinking goes, they won't be ready to jump ship for a better financial deal. Yeah, sure. Partners make it their business to find out about money.  Loss of client accounts.  If partners take the exit, they could bring with them the clients they have been serving. Not only is that a hit to the business. The brand can los

  "OpenAI's defense: We're not liars; we're just incompetent. Yikes!" -  Business Insider , May 23, 2024 Meanwhile, the heat is rising in terms of what kind of player OpenAI is in the generative AI space - especially regarding safety. As many know, its "safety patrol" departed.  The temperature could possibly be brought down if, yes, Sam Altman gets the boot, again.  Axios  observes: "The dispute between  Scarlett Johansson and OpenAI  is adding fresh heat to long-simmering questions about CEO Sam Altman's credibility."  OpenAI is itself deepening that concern. Out there are not only questions about what Altman is all about. OpenAI itself had developed the narrative that the guy is a downright business bumbler. That's how the Johansson saga happened, goes the spin.  In addition, as  Politico  reports, tensions between AI and the power forces in Washington DC have intensifed.  On X I have been speculating that Altman should go. Until rec

  As we all know - and as a long-term politico Joe Biden should have had that down cold - public service doesn't pay well. Therefore there is the necessary chase after building wealth on the side.  Book publishing was never the ideal path for that. In the past, even the most successful published authors didn't become financially secure through royalties. To make "real" money they had to go out there and acquire the kind of branding that merited high fees on the speaking/workshop circuit. Of course, a US President who is in office doesn't have the time for that. Currently the book industry is in decline. We are a visual culture. Book authors who do make money are those who are smart enough to hire a skilled promotion team. But even that amount in itself doesn't represent big bucks. They have to supplement the proceeds with lots of singing for their supper doing exclusive speaking engagements and how-tos. No surprise, President Biden's two books didn't e

  In the Netflix one-season hit series  "Baby Reindeer"  Donny's real-life girlfriend Teri notes that he seems to be enjoying the phenomenon of stalker Martha Scott. Teri, a therapist, may be onto something.  As a Tarot reader too often I encounter both parties being sucked in, deeper and deeper, into a force field of illusion. Reality could be too mundane. Usually it's not enough fun. Overall, their everyday existence is, well, disappointing.  Typical is this pattern: creating a momentum in a relationship that has no basis. Or shouldn't have.  An example is that the connection is experienced as the platform for a deep long-term permanent exclusive commitment. Then somehow a bit or even a large chunk of real life intervenes. There is then a tragedy of heartache. That could apply to both. There had been a shared-craziness bubble. It is possible but difficult, of course, to explan the dynamics of this to the devasated former lover or lovers.  The New York Times   do

  " Codependency is a dysfunctional relationship dynamic where one person assumes the role of 'the giver,' sacrificing their own needs and well-being for the sake of the other, 'the taker.'” -  Psychology Today Yes, as a Tarot reader I know there are many healthy relationships among partners.  But also I too often pick up the extreme pain of connections which erase one of the parties' sense of self, worth and even desire to live. The fancy term for that is "codependency." Typically it has roots in a difficult childhood. The setting embedded chaotic patterns of thinking about yourself and behaving. The codependent keeps replicating them.  Like alcohol and food disorders codependency can be a downright addiction. Those are the most tragic calls I receive. A human being can't let go of a relationship that has become all-consuming - and self-defeating. They "swear off" and then go back. The good news is this: There is a solution. Professiona

  Here it is:  "Crush,"  the ad for Apple's iPad Pro, that is triggering  horror  on X.  It signals the destruction of the art forms which have been created by human beings. We assume that in their place will be "works" totally created by technologies such as AI.  No where does the message come through that the upgraded iPad Pro, with the M4 chip (thinner than an iPhone) will be the go-to tool for us human artists.  The timing is also so off. The ethos among artists as well as commercial content-creators is high angst: Will sophisticated technologies like AI wipe out our missions and our jobs? Question: How did this get all the way through the marketing process at Apple? UPDATE: Apple makes an apology for the "Crush" promotion. Read more about that in   Financial Times. In most cases you have only one shot in communications. Jane Genova is a communications coach and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text 203-468-8579 or email janegeno

  " After two years of prosperity in which year-over-year growth of 15% and 19% were achieved, reality bit in 2023 and the PR sector could only grow 3% YOY, just shy of the annual inflation rate of 3.4%.  Then there’s the specter of AI hanging over the industry ..." -  PR Week,  May 2024 Like law, managment consulting, finance and tech, public relations became a glam career. Also for organizations and individuals "in trouble" it evolved into the go-to first stop. The world awaited Edelman's annual Trust Barometer to get a sense of attitudes.  Now, even Edelman experienced a challenging 2023. The public relations agency laid off and lost clients. Read professional anonymous network Reddit Public Relations and you bear witness to the struggle to land both the entry-level job and more senior positions.  The editorial director of PR Week Steve Barrett, though, sees a promising future for agencies which are "progressive, creative and brave."  To use the cli

   " So they [tech media companies] had the money to do it, right? They have the money and they have the means to do it. And anyone who has the money and the means tends to win in many markets." - Kara Swisher in an interview with  The Street,  May 4, 2024 That Swisher interview nails why traditional media, that is what we know as "journalism," probably doesn't have much of shot at survival. They didn't and don't have the war chest of tech media companies. And, yes, it is probably too late for them to scramble to put together the Big Big Money. Meanwhile they can huff and puff with copyright lawsuits but that won't get them back on an effective track to survival.  The same principle "anyone who has the money and the means tend to win many markets" tends to apply to myriad other sectors. That's what exposes of supposed greed in those sectors miss entirely. That is, it takes a lot of money to get in the game in a powerhouse way, to stay t

  "The more you earn, the harder it is to find a job ..."  Business Insider,  April 30, 2024 Vanguard is among the businesses which are studying the dynamics of the white-collar recession and the blue-collar boom.  As a coach I have direct access to this unfolding saga.  White-collar clients who have jobs know to stick with them, despite hating them. Professional anonymous networks such as Blind, Reddit, Fishbowl and Glassdoor record The Great Lament. Some, of course, have jitters about being forced out.  Those who have been terminated and had been at a high salary are not having success in finding comparable jobs. More and more are embracing realitiy. They are changing careers through certifications as well as training for blue-collar paths and starting businesses. On the other hand, my blue-collar clients are busy managing all the work coming their way and feeling good about themselves. They're the ones who can afford those big RVs parked in the driveway next to the hou