Earning Respect Every Day

In a Forbes interview
with older women starting over
in the corporate world,
a former Wall Street executive says
“The hardest part
is that the man working next to me
does not know that I had another career,
that I was president of a division.
He only knows me
as a junior financial advisor.”

This is something I,
as a hired gun,
deal with every day.
The person hiring me
may know my rather impressive resume
but no one else on my team does.

So I have to prove it
with every single contract gig.

There are tricks to accomplishing this.
I wear suits.
I act professionally.
I take charge of emergency situations.
I don’t get emotional.
I add insight as to
what other companies have tried.
Most of all, I achieve
and I achieve quickly.

I like this environment.
I can’t rest on my laurels
or my glorious past.
I have to bring my A game
to every assignment.

Don’t wait until you’re a consultant
or start a new career to do this.
Prove your worth every single day.