- Commander-in-Chief Briefs
- Posts
- Your Keys to the Kingdom
Whether it’s the first time, or if it’s just been a while, let’s connect and get to know each other (better) as humans.
If we haven’t connected yet, connect with me on LinkedIN. I post some super useful stuff there, as well :)
Put 30 minutes on my calendar to chat. No strings attached, whatsoever.
Let’s get to know each other (in many cases after not chatting for a long time) as humans, friends.
Of course, if there’s something I can help you with, just ask and I’ll do whatever I can to ask.
Don’t be a stranger, friend.
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In this issue: Here Are Your Keys to the Kingdom. What Will You Do With Them?
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Keys to the Kingdom (Not the Beemer or Treasury, though)
Here’s that fun part where I tell you that my views are totally personal, not representing my employer in any way, yada yada blah blah.
It’s not every day one gets the proverbial keys to the kingdom.
Each of us might have a totally different idea of whether this is a “kingdom” or something altogether different.
In my world, it’s the first time I get this sort of responsibility.
Not as a CEO or executive or manager of people or anything, but rather as a manager of English-language social media for an entire university.
I don’t say this in any way to brag, by the way.
It’s a huge responsibility and even more so, since this is so closely connected to the state of Israel.
Social media is a massive minefield and navigating it strategically, without getting skewered is no small challenge.
I certainly can’t say that I went out looking for this.
It more or less fell in my lap as a responsibility while running English-language PR here.
And yes, it’s like a second full-time job within one, without the second salary.
I’ll run with the challenge.
In practice, this means creating, curating, posting and measuring a ton of new content, covering new research, events, student and staff stories.
I’m also starting a new podcast here to tell the amazing stories of the insane research happening here, along with the human stories of faculty, staff and students.
This is the part that excites me the most, as a storyteller.
I get to talk to some of the world’s most amazing researchers about their work, life stories, adventures, mental models and the like.
Stay tuned as we record and launch this.
If I’m transparent about this new adventure, it’s a bit nerve-wracking.
There’s the prospect of too many cooks in the kitchen, which is always present in a large organization.
There’s the responsibility not to F*CK it all up.
There’s the pressure of showing results quickly.
There’s the latent self-doubt.
But on some level, I’ve already self-started (and completed) so many different daunting projects in life, reinvented myself so many times, taken on projects way above my paygrade and knowledge, jumped into the deep end without being an expert in particular subjects…
That I strangely feel at home in the driver’s seat, even if the car is totally new and different, practically big as a building.
Don’t confuse this with bluster or pride.
It’s a certain go-broke-or-go-home confidence I’ve gained as an entrepreneur, as someone who’s been doubted, fired, derided, replaced, abandoned, schooled by life, and nevertheless managed to outhustle, outproduce and outperform a lot of my peers, who went the corporate route and stalled at some point, and out of nowhere, by contrast, suddenly respect how I’ve not just kept swimming, but built something of lasting value for myself and my family, not just for someone else.
I’m never one to look down at anyone making a living fairly (and legally).
Even if I know right from the horse’s mouth that many have underestimated me, written me off, looked down on me, called me names and so on.
I’ve never written MYSELF off. I never truly, deep down, felt incapable of doing things that were way above my station in life, above my paygrade, etc.
These days, we’re conditioned that we must FOR SURE have impostor syndrome, so we can battle it endlessly.
I guess I never really felt like an impostor. Maybe because I never really wanted to do any specific profession.
Except for 2 things. Writer (and with it, movie maker) when I was a teenager. That clearly took on a life of its own.
And when I was 5 or 6, apparently, I declared I wanted to be a firefighter.
Well, damn it, I sure have put out a lot of fires. Lit more than a few to have to put them out.
At 15, I remember wishing deep down that I could grow up to be a walking human encyclopedia, or at least to be able to find the answer to practically any question.
Shortly thereafter, Google came online and the caché of being a walking encyclopedia plummeted to basically nothing.
I can’t say that much of anything came to me easily, opportunity-wise.
Sure, I talked my way into a lot of jobs and gigs that looked great on paper or sounded amazing from those who were not close to the proverbial sausage maker, but most have been temporary, much less than advertised, even ephemeral.
Like working as a fact checker at the New Yorker magazine, talking to famous lawyers in Russia, to my childhood hero, Gary Kasparov… for a whole week.
Translating for a famous Russian MMA fighter… for an afternoon.
Working for a few VC-backed startups… for a few months, until I got let go unceremoniously.
Consulting various banks and hedge funds… for a few months at a time.
It’s been a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.
I get a great gig, it starts out really well, I get too bullish on it, then circumstances quickly change, plans change, the Kool-Aid wears off and it’s done.
There’s always opposition. There are always politics. Always someone who gets jealous and eager to retain their perch.
It takes immense effort to overcome the conditioning of getting pumped-and-dumped.
A bedrock kindness to myself and a fundamental kindness to all those who’ve wronged me.
But also an iron will not to lash out, not to follow the same patterns as before.
Patterns that have led to wounds, disappointment, financial harm, relationship harm, to abandonment, even the rare self-harm.
How is it possible not to fall down into that rabbit hole?
A strong faith in G-d is the only possible way.
All the things that seem bad on the surface carry a lot of good locked inside.
If nothing else, lots of learning about how to avoid the same traps next time.
And all the things that are golden on the surface often carry lots of negative things locked inside.
Working for a well-known logo means lots of toxic people, toxic politics, betrayals, crazy stress, etc.
Working for yourself looks glamorous to some, but is a never-ending slog of dead ends, pitching and selling, hacking together and re-hacking to look better, plus crazy financials ups and downs.
I don’t know if I’d wish that sort of uncertainty for most people, even my enemies.
But you know what? Even with all the hardships, I got this job because of my own work, whatever I built with my own hands and brains, my own energy and understanding.
And of course, with G-d’s immense blessing.
Perhaps for the first time in my life — pr at least for the first time in a very long time, where without much of a track record, without “deserving” it per se, I’ve somehow been given the keys to the proverbial kingdom.
No, it’s no treasury and social media ain’t no real kingdom, but it feels like a big opportunity.
Do all the old patterns come back?
Nope, I’ve evolved. No high brings me too high. No low brings me too low.
Is there a guarantee of success?
Clearly not.
But I know what I’m capable of. I know I’ve got this.
Maybe the opposition will be smaller this time. Maybe not.
Maybe the support will be better than the basic-bitch budget I’m used to self-funding. Maybe not.
It’s easy to be the new-hype-kid in town. It’s much harder to live up to the hype (especially as PR is all hype, with some writing and interviews).
Let’s see.
I may not know everything, even if I’m learning a lot on the job.
But I do know one thing.
I know who I am and I know some of the reasons for why G-d brought me here and put me through all those experiences.
I will fail, and I will succeed. One because of the other, always in an up-and-down cycle.
The way I have it scripted, the last questions I’ll be asking each guest…
If you had unlimited time and an unlimited budget/resources, what would you build, create, empower or dive deeper into?
Because that’s the sort of vision that sustains us all, in the end, if there is one.
Even if it’s fighting windmills or chasing clouds, it’s still a vision.
Appropriately enough, this is Shabbat Hazon (Vision), the one before Tisha B’Av, the most tragic day in the Jewish calendar, when both Temples fell, the Spanish Inquisition expelled the Jews from Spain, among a host of other horribles.
Vision can be dangerous, but without it, we’re all lost.
And so, I ask YOU - what’s your vision?
If I gave you the keys to the kingdom right now, what would YOU build, create, empower or dive deeper into?
Wish me luck! I always wish you luck and a great vision :)
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We’ve launched the Commander in Chief Community
WHAT’S INSIDE?
Basically, this has all my best stuff, coaching and consulting materials, latest tools, my book split into chapters, with a whole bunch of my best trainings, workshops, writing, podcast episodes you name it.
Oh yeah, the premium stuff?
When you subscribe (and help me pay the damn bills, only fair), you’re gonna get:
1) Group coaching - career, business, life, whatevs
2) Private monthly trainings and workshops. Think:
a. getting promoted,
b. getting paid more,
c. building a 6-figure side business,
d. building a brilliant personal brand.
3) Special discounts for 1-on-1 coaching
You’re gonna LOVE this. Yeah, it’s pretty MASSIVE value, amigo/a.
Time to get off the sidelines.
Like, this is basically all the best stuff I’ve ever produced, with weekly updates and a ton of new stuff.
YEP, IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING!! GET EXCITE!
And NOW, I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse…
I don’t want to hear any objections. You straight up have ZERO EXCUSE, homie.
Get in there, get active, help me keep building this amazing community.
Seriously, what are you still doing here? LOLZ.
Get in there and make some noise. Intro yourself.
Send this to 5 of your friends. NOW. Seriously. Pretty, please 🙂