Career Curveballs: Winkler's Law – Curiosity Will Win the Day

This post is part of a series in which LinkedIn Influencers share how they turned setbacks into success. Read all their stories here.

David Tamburelli said, "You ought to work at Bloomberg." Doug DeSilva said, "You have to work for Winkler." Matt Winkler said, "Can you start tomorrow?"

There beginneth the panic:

My career curveball was thrown by Matt Winkler. Mr. Winkler is the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News. He hired me on the spot. Orientation was the distance from Matt's desk to the desk of Ted Merz. Medications were provided by Margaret Trapp. I bring Mr. Merz and Ms. Trapp, and could add countless others into the discussion because they represent the cardinal rule of Career Curveball 101.

Find smart and good people; shut up and, listen. Talk less; listen more.

A few other ideas to help launch your curveball off the Green Monster for a stand-up double:

* Not only figure out who to listen to, but critically figure out who not to listen to. This is a delicate and necessary skill.

* Read everything in sight. Your curveball will straighten out and your knees will not buckle the more you read. I cannot convey the importance of this. Read up on the constructive realities of your challenge and as well, read up on the tensions that surround your curveball. In my first days at Bloomberg News, I tried to read everything from Matt Winkler's Bloomberg Way, twice, to Strunk & White to essays on the New York Times, the Financial Times and NBC News' legendary Irving R. Levine.

* Try to observe yourself swinging at the curveball. This is often overlooked. You will get through any challenge by not only being within the challenge but by learning the skill of watching yourself from a modest distance. For some this is easy; for others it is like chewing glass.

* Finally, do the exact opposite of what I just mentioned. Yes, overthink this and double-do that. More than anything, adapting to a curveball demands focus. What is needed is an interior ability to focus and stay focused on the immediate task at hand. I have found that for the nastiest of curveballs, good or bad, focus, and confidence comes from lessons learned in childhood. And, as Matt Winkler would suggest: curiosity wins the day.

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