Skip to main content

How I did not get published

Last week I got asked to write a piece by the Financial News, related to fundraising for remote causes (vs. local).  Though I did not say much, I was so excited. After all these years, here was my very first op-ed, about a theme I definitely had something to say. 650 words to speak my mind and also bring to the world a bit more about ALG. 
I was asked to write the article following my participation in the FN Extra Mile 40 list, for which I got nominated a few months back. This is a new list published by the FN, highlighting the service of people working in the city in multiple fronts - from giving, to doing, fundraising and the like. I was (naturally) in the doers list but I have been keeping a profile on the nomination.  Other than the front page on MS Today, not much of the world knew about it. In time, I believe the list will grow similar to Top 50 Influential Women in Finance, but until then, I am just proud to have been on it. 
Anyway, back to the article. Kimbal Musk was the guest speaker for the event, and had some controversial statements that I appreciated for honesty (full interview published this week on the FN).  Along the interview, the FN asked me to write about one of the key points of controversy, and to be controversial. After my first draft of blunt though nice honesty, the confrontation did not make it through scrutiny of Corporate Affairs.  I did explain we ended in very good terms and Mr. Musk even came to me after the Q&A but there is just to much risk about speaking one's mind.  Amongst one of my most difficult periods at work, I really did not put up a fight.  Moreover, I tend to be an understanding employee and I know why the draft was going through so many changes in one out of 7 paragraphs.... So I let it go, and God knows how sad I was when the FN said the way it was worded was not controversial enough and they gave up on the op ed as they knew I would not be allowed to be any more controversial.  
I was that close to get published... I guess I could put my piece here. I will probably give it a few more weeks (and check my employment contract) before I do so, I always have the hope it can perhaps make its way to some publication... 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Best Self

The last classes in Leadership try hard to make you think and figure out what to do about yourself. So we talked about our best self, not just about what it is but more of when it happens. We had to ask a couple of former colleagues, friends and family to give us three examples of when we were at our best. The point is not to skyrocket your ego, don’t worry. It is about understanding what are the environments that make your strengths come out. Because if you know what they are, then you will look to pursue a future that exhibits these characteristics. A “what brings the good in you” kind of thing. It was interesting to get that feedback. More than interesting, it was insightful. It was amazingly consistent throughout and it was curious to see the examples that people remember about you. I do recommend to anyone in need to find a bit more of where they should go. The thing about the examples is that they do have something in common, whether they came from people I worked with recently o...
1 comment
Read more

Flying Sunday

It's been a while, I know. But time is really a precious asset and I have not been leveraging on it well enough... But today I did and I am proud. I threw all the plans out of the window and took the irrefusable offer I was made "Do you want to go flying today?". How does no work as an answer there? Here is one of the c. 30 airplanes you could see there. First reaction from our pilot: "Why are all these planes here, don't people realize it is an amazing day for flying?". Well, I had not untill he told me so! But the best is still to come, as the only girl in the group I got to ride in the front, get first view in take-off, listen to the radio of the air control all the time (we get Boston airport frequency), check the map, speeds, everything... I guess throughout the way we were some quiet passengers, in the wonders of realizing you are on air, the curiosity of identifying different places and the struggle to take the best pictures as we pass the Harvard...
2 comments
Read more

Is this morning on a Saturday?

I have to admit, it has been a long long time since I was awake on a Saturday morning on my own free will (last week, with Patricia waking me up at 8am jet lagged does not really count, it was really not my own free will). And in a way it feels good. I mean, the sun is beautiful. The biggest reason for it to feel good is probably because I have not set my feet out of the door yet: I am claiming that I will study this weekend, and for that I have been out of bed for a couple of hours though it is still barely lunch time here. Well, I am reading about this Mountain Dew drink that is apparently super famous and I never heard about before, I read last night about the Iridium failure by Motorola and some finance case that I will have to negotiate on Monday. Things are fun fun overall but it is not exactly my cup of tea for a Saturday morning. Soon I will start doing my recruiting activities; going through immense websites and try to figure out what is it that will make me get out of be...
2 comments
Read more