Friday Notes, March 7, 2025
Dear Friends —
I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.
I made that promise, as has every single other person who’s worked for the Federal government and — with tiny variations in wording — every naturalized citizen and every member of the armed services of the United States of America. That means there are about 47 million people across this nation, some 18 percent of adults, who have taken this oath of fealty to the Constitution. It’s not a schoolchild’s rote pledge of allegiance to the flag, but an active commitment by responsible adults to support and defend our democracy against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
The question for those of us who swore that oath is not whether it’s the moment to show that we are keeping our word — it’s who among us will, and how?
When you’re on the job market, you’re supposed to reach out to your network, do information interviews, and ask in every conversation, “Is there someone else you can introduce me to?” That’s the typical advice, and it’s not bad. But one person I met recently is deploying a far more creative and potentially valuable approach: the career pivot “board of directors.”
Here’s the idea: First, you think about what you need from a collection of supporters. In his case, it’s to help him think through how his many skills and his varied experience in global development and humanitarian programs could be in demand for U.S.-oriented roles. Second, you think about a small number of people you know to be are your solid supporters and have diverse experience and networks — people who are likely to ask the right probing questions and then help with connections. Among the people on this individual’s “board of directors” are a professor-mentor from university days who knows about the career pathways for people with similar training, and relatives who are connected to start-up and philanthropy worlds. Third, you convene these folks initially and then episodically, facilitating a conversation that helps focus (or expand) your search. Members of the “board” leave the meeting with assignments like email introductions. I imagine that as a search progresses, this same board can help think through whether it’s worthy applying for particular roles, and even help prepare for interviews.
The approach seems like pure genius to me because it harnesses the power of the collective. People are far likelier to think creatively when they hear others’ ideas, and their follow-up is aided by a little implicit peer pressure and the prospect of the next meeting (just like on an organizational board). It’s also likely to be a rewarding experience for the job-hunter to have a circle of supporters focusing their attention on finding the right next step.
This concept is well described in this article, and is absolutely worth a try.
In the unlikely event you are not sufficiently unsettled by developments in the artificial intelligence world, here’s more evidence that all those “the future is now” engineers aren’t very good at thinking ahead.
I’m taking a three-week hiatus from Friday notes but I’ll be back in early April. Don’t miss me too much!
Have a good weekend.
-Ruth