Career Curveballs: It's Time to Take a Big Leap

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

I didn’t set out to become the head of public broadcasting. In fact, I began my career in fundraising and believed that I had found a field that suited me well. I worked for UNICEF, International House, and then helped the Metropolitan Opera and WNET build endowments. At that point in my life, I knew that I was a good fundraiser and I could do that for the rest of my life if that's what I chose to do and, in fact, that was my plan.

After completing a large capital campaign for WNET, the President of the company asked if I would consider becoming station manager. On paper this was wildly outside of my area of expertise. I had no experience with the day to day operations of a television station and I had no experience managing more than a few dozen people.

I think that in everyone’s professional career, there are one or two big moments. Sheryl Sandberg might call them “Lean In” moments. I call them “Airplane Moments”: you can either decide to take the leap, or play it safe and continue on the same path. In order to truly succeed and grow, you have to be willing to jump out of the airplane every once in a while. It is only when you challenge yourself to do something that is truly terrifying that you can move forward, otherwise, if you stay on the safe path, you never stretch, you never grow and you sell yourself short.

I chose to take the leap. It was terrifying as I knew it was a critical moment for WNET. I truly believed that if I wasn't successful in this new role it could have an enormous impact on an institution I loved. I knew this would be the job that would absolutely define the rest of my career for better or worse.

So I took the skills I’d developed as a fundraiser and applied them to my new job. Key among those skills was the ability to listen carefully and develop a strategic direction and drive towards outcomes with relentless focus. A successful fundraiser needs to be the ultimate optimist and recognize that at times you need to navigate a path of rejection and challenge before reaching your final goal. All of this preparation served me well in my new role.

To successfully lead an organization you must have a passionate belief in the mission and its people. You must surround yourself with the best possible talent and empower each to do their best work. One of my hardest challenges was moving into a different role with people who had previously been colleagues and now reported to me. Focusing on building a sense of common purpose, I was slowly able to bring most everyone around and together we worked towards achieving our goals. It was some of my proudest work.

It sounds dramatic to advise people to “jump out of the airplane.” But there’s a big caveat: don’t do it alone. At every step of my career, I've looked for mentors. To this day, I reach out to people I admire who have faced similar challenges. In fact, if I could point to a single factor that most helped me during this transition, it was finding that support both from within my team and through wise counselors. And so I jumped, and found my true life’s path.

So, what’s your airplane moment?

Photo: Lion Television