Career and Life Advice: You're probably not right for that job

An example of some short and sweet 'Career and Life Advice' courtesy of the New York State (Full disclosure: the state in which I reside. For now), contest for the Democratic Party nomination for the November Governor's race.

One one side we have the current two-term Governor, Democrat Andrew Cuomo, who is running for re-election in November.

On the other side, contesting Governor Cuomo for the Democratic Party nomination is Cynthia Nixon, best known as the actress who portrayed Miranda on the long-running HBO series 'Sex and the City.'

As a New Yorker, I would rate Governor Cuomo as a perfectly fine Governor. For what that is worth.

But that is not the point of this post.

The point is how many folks, the kind of folks like me who don't follow politics all that closely, or take it all too seriously, would evaluate the qualifications of these two candidates.

On the one side we have the incumbent Governor, who has been in office since 2011, and who had previously served as the Attorney General of New York, as well as the US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

On the other side, we have an actress/activist whose prime claim to fame is playing 'Miranda' for several years.

But as I said, I don't follow this very closely and am not offering my opinion, but I do want to highlight the comments made by 'Miranda's' best friend - none other than Sex and the City's 'Carrie' - AKA the actress Sarah Jessica Parker. Sarah was asked to comment on her former cast mate and friend's run for Governor and according to the New York Post she responded with the best 'Non-endorsement that doesn't actually read like a non-endorsement but really, really is a non-endorsement'.

Here's the quote:

Cynthia has been my friend and colleague since we were little girls. I look forward to talking to her about her New York State gubernatorial run.

Man, that is sick. 'I look forward to talking to her'. Not, 'She would be a great Governor' or 'She is the sharpest pencil in the box' or even a 'She is a wonderful person who cares deeply about New Yorkers.'

But here is the thing, it is probably a good response/bit of advice from a friend/colleague that knows Ms. Nixon pretty well. It says, 'Hey friend, you are probably not right for that job' without coming out directly and saying 'Hey, you are probably not right for that job.'

Most job advice is crap. Especially job advice from your silly friends.

But this time, a well-crafted 'non-endorsement' from a friend just might be the best career advice you will hear all year.

Good luck Miranda.

Have a great day!

Career and Life Advice #1

New series on the blog, (calling it a series in case I decide to try this again, if so it will look like it was some kind of a plan all along), titled 'Career and Life Advice'.

What makes me qualified to give either career or life advice?

Nothing!

That's why the plan is to share career or life advice from folks who have had  pretty demonstrable career success or plain to see amazingly cool lives. Ok, maybe I will try to sneak in some of my own thoughts down the line, we will see.

First up, some career and life advice from San Antonio Spurs head coach, and noted curmudgeon Gregg Popovich, from an article where Pop was discussing the coaching ability of one of his assistants Becky Hammon, who many NBA observers feel will one day become the first female head coach in the NBA.

What is one of Hammon's qualities that contributes to her success according to Pop, (and here comes the advice part):

"She's been perfect," Popovich said. "She knows when to talk and she knows when to shut up. That's as simple as you can put it. A lot of people don't figure that out."

Boom.

Solid career and life advice in three sentences.

And advice we can all learn from.

Know when it is time to talk and perhaps more importantly, when it is time to shut up.

In trying to follow said advice, I am going to shut up now.

Have a great day.