“I don’t know anything about you. I was just told that you’ll be joining our team.”
I was having a get-to-know-you meeting with my new editor after we both learned I was being transferred to her publication — or, as she put it, her ‘baby’. The magazine I worked for had been discontinued, and I was offered a position with a sister publication that had an opening.
Or so I thought.
As it turned out, my new editor had already identified a candidate she wanted to hire. But the decision was taken out of her hands by the company higher-ups, who felt I was the right fit for the job.
I know this because she told me during our first meeting. She barely made eye contact with me the entire time, and I could tell how upset she was that she had been — at least from her point-of-view — undermined. I understood why she was frustrated.
But here’s the thing. That frustration was being directed at the wrong person. I had nothing to do with the choice (and if I did, of course I’d want the job). I understand that she was put in an awkward position. But what she should have done was step back and assess the situation before meeting with me. If she had done that, she may have realized that while she couldn’t control the decision that was made, she could control her reaction to it.
Our meeting would have been so much more beneficial had she chose to spend that time asking me about my experience and telling me what qualities she values in an editor. But instead, I listened as she complained about the situation.
Eventually I was able to convince her that I was worthy to join her team; that I could help improve the publication and website by incorporating new ideas. But I never quite warmed up to her. I could never really get past that first frosty meeting.
I believe there is a right way and wrong way to react when a decision has been taken out of your hands, and how you react can make a world of difference.
Back in the ’90s when I landed my first newspaper internship, I encountered a similar situation. The editor-in-chief at the time, Jeff Cox, had a strong professional relationship with my advisor, Dr. Walt Brasch (who was one of my mentors). So when Dr. Brasch recommended me for the sports department intern position, Jeff offered me the gig — on a trial basis — without consulting the sports editor, who had been away on vacation.
So naturally, I was nervous about how the sports editor might react to being “undermined.” But when we spoke, he was candid and kind. He inquired about my skills and asked what I was hoping to gain through the experience, and laid out his expectations.
“This is a daily paper. You need to meet your deadlines and do whatever is needed to help everyone else get their work done,” he said, explaining that one of my duties would be to help gather all the scores and statistics from the Friday night football games. “It gets really busy here. But there are some great people here who have been doing this for a long time. If you’re willing to put in the work, you’re going to learn a lot here.”
And I did. Although a lot of it involved grunt work like fact-checking and even picking up food, I also had the opportunity to shadow a very talented reporter. I learned more by watching him cover games and interview players than I had in all of my journalism classes combined.
That internship was a great experience for me. And I can’t help but think that getting off on the right foot played a significant role in how things panned out. Given the choice, the sports editor may not have hired me. He may have even had someone else in mind for the job. But when he met with me, he chose to give me a chance.
And perhaps more importantly, he chose to take the high road. It may not always be the easiest route, but it’s the right way to go.
Share Your Thoughts
You must be logged in to post a comment.