Sarah Palin’s resignation inspires me
There are a million times we intuitively know what we should be doing in our careers, but the chatter around us makes us question ourselves. Too much. If I have one regret in my career it's that I didn't trust myself more, earlier.
Watching Sarah Palin resign from her governor post in Alaska inspires me to be more brave in my own career. She's running her career in ways I intuitively think we should all be running our careers. And she's reflecting my own experience back to me in a positive way: That breaking new ground is difficult but it pays off.
Here are four new career management ideas that Sarah Palin’s modeling, in an inspiring way, right now:
1. Get out of a job when you’re done doing it
We know that the old ways of managing a career aren't working. But it's so scary to try something new. For example, you know you should job hop, but it's not what careers used to be. And it's scary. People are constantly telling you you'll destroy your career if you job hop.
But Palin is refusing to waste her time in the Alaska governor's office. Who can blame her? It's a lot of small-issue local politics that take away from her establishing big, national-level ideas. Of course quitting a local job is a good idea if you want to run for national office.
But most people who run for national office pretend to still be in their local-level office. When McCain announced he paused his presidential campaign to go back to Congress, he was widely mocked, because really, if you are running for President, you can't be in Congress. But for some reason we have been embracing the bullshit value that it's more important to stay in your job and perform badly than to admit you want to change jobs.
I like that Palin refuses to kowtow to the idea that you have to finish a job just because you started it. There is always someone else who would love the job that you’re leaving out of boredom. This is true of Palin, and all of us as well.
2. Ideas matter, not your resume
We don't need to elect someone based on their resume because the world changes too fast for experience to be a huge factor. On top of that, the internet makes most information available to everyone, so putting in long hours gathering knowledge is not as valuable anymore. Authority isn’t what it used to be — it’s based on what idea you have right now, not what you’ve done in the past.
We should judge people for their ideas, not their experience. I think we know this intuitively, especially young people: At my company, Brazen Careerist, we talk all the time about how your ideas are your resume – and you should aim to be known for your online conversation rather than for your resume.
If you put a resume online, the older people look better than the younger people. But the resume gives a false sense that older means wiser. Palin knows this, so she's not afraid to break resume rules – like leaving a job in the middle, and aiming for a job largely outside of her experience.
3. Careers are built on teams and networks
Today Palin announced that she's building a right-of-center coalition. This should not surprise anyone who uses social media to manage their career, because the career of the new millennium is about connections. A resume of experience is only valuable if the experience creates a network of people who genuinely care about you. Building your personal brand only matters if your brand stands for helping people create value in their lives. And online connections are only good if you are able to translate that to an offline life.
Palin knows all this instinctively. She is ditching the governor's job, which, by nature, is about helping people in Alaska, and she is making herself available to help a wider range of people. So smart. She is campaigning across to help people she respects.
And she's building a team, which makes sense because the best way to sidestep the need for experience is with teams. Entrepreneurs overcome their lack of skills by taking on partners. Middle managers overcome their lack of authority in the hierarchy by building internal coalitions. Palin is doing what we should all do: form teams in order to fast-track our lives beyond our limited experience.
4. No one controls your career except you
She could do what she's supposed to — finish up her job, focus on state-level politics, and talk to the press about ethics problems. But that's not what she wants to do. She isn't complaining that other people are thwarting her. She's not letting them.
So many people complain about being controlled by sexual harassment, unfair treatment, bad bosses, etc. But we each have power to control our own career. We can go where we can do what we want, how we want. We have to take risks to do that, though. We have to believe in ourselves and our own vision for what's best.
Palin does this. She does not make it look easy. She makes it look smart, though. And that might be just what we need to inspire the same bravery in our own careers.
You’re kidding, right Penelope? The whole thing was tongue in cheek?
I agree with the overall message here about considering what is important in a career. What I vehemently disagree with is the example. Not because I’m a “liberal” but because I believe that when you are elected to an office, you do have an obligation to finish what your constituents asked you to do. Or, if you do not, that there be a viable explanation. There are lots of elected officials who are “lame ducks,” and finish out their terms because that is what they signed up to do. Liked the idea of the post; wish you had chosen a different example.
The main theme of this post is exactly what I needed to be reminded of right now. We all need to keep making strides to do big things, even if we’ve already done something big, even if we’re afraid, even if it means fearing mockery from everyone else. I don’t know about you, I always found doing things and trying to push forward was worth the mockery that might come with it.
As for Palin and Penelope’s support – she’s making an assessment about the situation. Maybe it involves changing sides from what PT has said before, and maybe you’re catching the scent of “sisterhood” love. That’s fine with me. We should be allowed to change our minds. We can support people for whatever reason we want to.
I’m not a Palin fan or anything, I’m a fan of ideas and I’m a fan of growing as a person. If we can no longer move forward, if we cannot try to understand the other side, then we might as well give up, buy gas guzzling 1960’s muscle cars, drive around all day, and hope we cook the planet within a few years.
I have to strongly disagree with “experience doesn’t matter, ideas matter”.
Everyone has ideas. Everyone can be an arm chair quarter back and talk about how they’d do it. Few people do it.
As they say, Talk is cheap.
If I’m looking for a business partner, employee, or political representative, I listen to their ideas, but I want to see that they are more than just talk and grand ideas. I need to know that they’ve tried and succeeded (or failed, but learned from it). I need to see that the person can push through and do the hard work that comes with their big ideas. That is experience.
Every college kid with a bag of weed has great ideas.
I have to laugh at the comments that quote “liberals”.
This has nothing to do with liberals. Are you guys so lost?
There are legitimate reasons why Palin has a 23% Approval rating, and why most Americans think she’s lying about why she resigned.
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/07/13/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5156705.shtml
It’s funny how 23% seems to be around the magic number of Americans that can’t seem to apply rational thought. You know, wasn’t it around 23% that still approved of Bush after he ran the country into the ground. Shoot, if you count the number of posters on here that think this is a good article, it’s close to 23% as well.
Why don’t all the 23% just move to Alaska and secceed from the union like Palin’s husband wanted? Do us all that favor.
Thanks
Penny,
I am on the fence with most of what you’ve written in this post, but plain old disagree with your statement,
“…the world changes too fast for experience to be a huge factor.”
Experience is most valuable because it teaches one how to act in a situationally appropriate manner. Most answers we learn in life are specific to the problem we were solving at the time, but experience usually shows us not to rush off and implement solutions too soon.
Experience doesn’t matter because it gives one the answers, it matters because smart people with experience recognise that there are more than one answer to most questions, and to optimize the resolution to that problem for the greatest good.
I ramble on but that’s my 2centsworth.
P.S. I believe that Palin is the consumate Brazen Careerist:)
I agree that people need to take charge of their career and manage it effectively. But I also think that Sarah Palin was elected to do a job and that it wasn’t a very smart move to “step down” from the position before her term was up.
Can you give some examples of other people who have been in prominent positions who have resigned in an effort to manage their careers more effectively? I mean, ones that were not elected to their position? I think it would be nice to have better examples.
I always enjoy reading your posts!
Say what you will, Sarah Palin is a quitter. Pure and simple. (And I used to like and admire her. Now? Not so much.)
Sarah Palin asked the people of Alaska to make her Governor. It’s not like they just randomly had a lottery of all Alaska citizens and her name came up. She campaigned for the office and the people elected her. Upon taking office, she swore to do the job. Now she’s quitting. And the people of Alaska are going to be stuck with an interim governor, an expensive special election, and heaven knows what else.
I don’t CARE what her reasons are. Unless she is dead or dying, there is no excuse for quitting a job — a job that she asked for — before the agreed-upon time frame had expired.
Sadly, her irresponsibility and lack of integrity mean that there is very little chance that I could support her in a bid for higher office. And I’m not the only person who feels that way.
Hi, EditorMum!
Wow…this is the first post I read since I subscribed for your blog and I am already rethinking my decision.
That was fast! So Palin style!
Everyone saying Palin did the wrong thing would have been the first in line on July 2 to sign a petition asking for her resignation.
Sarah Palin did exactly what this blog is about – look out for her own best interest to advance her career. And Penelope did an excellent job in recognizing that even though she may not share Palin’s political views.
Excellent post! I have no problems with Sarah Palin’s resignation–if she finished her term, she was going to be hamstrung by frivolous ethics complaints that were depleting the state’s resources, not to mention her own, and she wouldn’t have stepped down had she thought that her successor is unqualified. I wish that Mark Sanford would resign too. I don’t think that the post was about politics, but it certainly set off those who can’t concede that Palin has any intelligence or talent.
PS John, I’m an attorney and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and I don’t sit around watching Oprah and Tyra.
You know, I’ve been thinking for a while that I’d prefer to do my job but just not so many hours every week, or that I’d love to cut back on my hours and add a side consulting business. And you’re right. The only reason I’m not doing it is because I’m afraid that it’s not the normal path of a career, but when else in my life have I ever cared about being normal? Thanks for pointing out the life lesson in a huge media story. I think I will take your advice (and the advice I frequently give others to not be normal) and as soon as my boss is back from vacation, I’m going to negotiate for some extra time away from work. The only thing holding me back is my own fear of what everyone in the office will think. Thanks for pointing out that the only people who fear the opinions of others are weenies. Whatever else you may say about her, Sarah Palin is certainly not a weenie in her career, and neither am I!
Loved the post and ALL the comments. When I saw SP’s resignation speech I was impressed. That woman has chutzpah. God help us if she ever got elected but I’ve done the same thing in my professional life, and I’m an older Boomer who’s reinvented herself many times. I voted and worked for Obama, though I initially wanted Hillary. The scary thing is if you look at Obama’s career, he’s done the same thing, job hopped. And what did he really accomplish in any of his positions? I fear that he won’t do well as president though I like the guy and his family and how he’s our face to the world. Back to Palin – I’ve learned that you have to be nicer, share credit, work well in a team and not so obvious with your ambition. But always be more loyal to yourself than to anyone else. But then I have brain power and poor Sarah, well …
Oh, no! Many here are going to have to cancel their subscriptions to the Washington Post or stop visiting their e-site as they’ve caught Penelope’s frightful disease and are letting Palin write an opinion column for them on Cap And Trade. http://tinyurl.com/ludeob
@ Andrew,
Well said! I am not a fan of Palin, or of many things in the blogosphere, but to unsubscribe when someone contributes a divergent viewpoint is as lame as taking your marbles home if your friends don’t play the game you want.
Blogs are for gaining mental exposure and expanding one’s viewpoint, not a fora for bobble-heads.
Oh having said that Andrew, there is no comparison between Palin and Obama. That would be like comparing style and substance:)
Penelope,
I just completely loved this post. You’re on a roll this week! While I’m not a fan of most of Palin’s political views, I definitely see the brilliance of this career move. Thanks for this analysis and insight!
Cheers,
Beth
I’m a big fan of yours but I couldn’t disagree more. Palin is backing out on a commitment she made to all the people of Alaska. This isn’t just a job. I hate to use this word to describe any woman but this stunt just makes her look flighty. And irresponsible: it may actually be proof. Seriously, who would ever vote for someone like that.
I’m sorry, you make some great points in this post but nothing about Sarah Palin should be inspiring anyone’s career path, unless you are encouraging people to lie, act irrationally, flip flop on issues, continuously speak off topic (with poor grammar to boot) and then quit. Sheesh. The only advice Sarah Palin can offer is how to always look good, no matter what the task at hand. And maybe how to shoot a gun or skin a moose.
She can’t quit! She needs to be thrown out!
Well done, Penelope. This is a good page-view increasing essay to offset that long no-posting period. You’ve received the usual “I’m canceling” responses (which is childish but not as bad as wanting to leave the country just because you lost big in the last two elections) and a surrogate of Dan’s has showed up from Canada to argue nonsensically that the increasing deficit is to be blamed on a President who has been in office for all of six months (as opposed to blaming, say, an unnecessary war, wartime tax cuts or a bubble popping economy).
As for the actual substance of Palin’s decision, it is a clear money-making move. More money for books, tv shows, fundraising, etc without having to abide by pesky “ethics”. Her family makes “only” $211K a year which is what I make. She will now add millions to her coffers. Unfortunately, I do not have her looks :)
She may be dumb (And Andrew, if you believe she wrote that Post column I have a Bridge to Nowhere that I supported, than didn’t support, than supported to sell you in Alaska) but she certainly is not stupid. If only 25% of America supports her, that still is 75 million “Americans” (in paranthesis because most of them seem like they want to secede) buying what that bird is selling. And those people live among you…
Sidney, I actually do think Palin wrote the Washington Post article because it was so full of nonsensical sentences. This sentence, for example: “So, at risk of disappointing the chattering class, let me make clear what is foremost on my mind and where my focus will be.” Who else could’ve written such garbage except the person who uses “’em” instead of “them” on a regular basis because she seems to think it is cute and appeals to some unknown class of people. I also think she wrote it because she has her facts completely wrong and demonstrates a complete lack of knowledge about supply-side economics. I think the reason people keep talking about her (including me) is that it is like watching a train wreck in that is so horrifying but one can’t look away. Yep, that pretty much sums it up for me.
Dear Penelope,
What can we learn from Sarah Palin? How not to quit!:
#1. Don’t quit your job unless you have another job lined up. If you quit first, you lose momentum, risk being sidetracked. Sarah Palin was on the fast track. Now, unless she’s got something up her sleeves that we don’t know about, she is in the slow lane.
#2. Tell the truth, at least as much as you can. She had to say something, so she said stuff but not the real reasons why she resigned. And she doesn’t lie well. She doesn’t want to admit that she is burned-out. How do I know? From reading Penelope Trunk’s prescient analysis: http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2008/09/04/palins-children-should-take-priority-over-being-vice-president/ . She is also frustrated with Alaskan democrats who used to work with her, but now treat her as a Political Object, and oppose anything she wants. On this count, she is helping Alaska by removing all the BS and controversy.
#3. Stop yourself before complaining about stupid stuff. When Sarah Palin is under stress, she complains about David Letterman. She’s right, but who cares? It is a distraction that makes her look thin-skinned. Perhaps she is. It is a natural human reaction to lash out when you are under stress – usually a bad reaction.
#4. Take some time off, if you can. A couple of weeks will bring fresh perspective. Better to take some unpaid time off than to quit in a huff.
I wish Ms. Palin had been more honest about her motives. I still find her fascinating. Don’t count her out, she may be ignorant but she isn’t stupid, and I believe she has the ability to learn, unlike George W Bush. As Nixon said (ironically) after losing in 1960, “At least you don’t have Nixon to kick around anymore”. Although I know more about foreign policy than Sarah Palin, she has ambition and energy, and we will probably see her again someday.
The only thing that really surprises me is that the
Sarah Palin meltdown took so long to occur. She is a quintessential limelight-seeking manipulator, whose needs were no longer being met, pure and simple. It may be true that leaders all must have those two characteristics, but true leaders who make a positive difference in the world are made of much different stuff.
The real lesson here is watching what happens when someone completely unqualified for a leadership position, or any other job for that matter, is somehow put in that position. We will all be learning that lesson for many years to come, I think, thanks to the actions of the previous occupant of the White House.
As for quitting versus staying on in a position, others commenting here have made clear the differences and dangers of doing so in the political arena, as opposed to doing so in the world of work. I would add, however, that the golden rule of quitting is to always have another job in place before leaving the job you have, even if the psychological benefits of quitting are obvious. I think we can assume that Ms. Palin has her ducks in a row in this respect, although I think she is mistaken if she believes her next job is holding any political office.
For the rest of us though, I think you are doing a great dis-service by glorifying anyone who is essentially stomping off in a huff, especially from a critical, highly visible position such as Ms. Palin’s. As a Career Advisor, you would be doing a much greater service by warning people of the potential negatives involved in such an action, than you are by glorifying one extremely unusual one. For many, especially those who quit or are fired under duress, the psychological and career wreckage can follow you in life for many years, sometimes for the rest of one’s life. I think it would be interesting to hear from the respondents who have left jobs under those types of circumstances, and have not experienced an uplifting career surge. I suspect, however, that just re-visiting that experience is painful enough that those living through the dark side of quitting a job will not wish to come forward and tell their stories.
As for Ms. Palin, if nothing else, she is entertaining, now that we no longer have to worry about her lobbing missiles at Russia from her back-yard, or institutionalizing young women who may have opted for exercising their free-will regarding the unplanned, life-long servitude of motherhood.
As a card-carrying “Liberal” though, I have to say it’s hard to see how it doesn’t get any better than this. But I have to ask, Penelope, thinking about the limelight: are you and Sarah secret email buddies, with a little kick-back scheme going on, on the side?
Steve C.
Give me a fucking break.
This is a stretch, a HUGE stretch. And clearly this post is the mark of someone who has not read the recent Vanity Fair article on Palin that came out one week before her resignation. You want to slam McCain for going back to the Hill during the financial crisis but managed to completely miss Palin’s obsession with her approval ratings in Wasilla? That is so hypocritical. I’m not even going to waste my time addressing your other points of nonsense (#3 Careers are built on teams and networks and #2 Ideas matter not your resume). I usually love your writings but this is the post is the sign of a woman who does not have her facts. Or a clue.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/sarah-palin200908
Sarah Palin’s a pawn – and a dimwitted one at that. Her career moves seem to be only partly her choice. Instead, she seemed dismayed to be leaving office (with $500,000+ in attorney bills from ethics complaints). She’s not someone to be admired. She was elected office and quit – that’s the easy way out, not the brave way.
Anyone who takes your remarks about Sarah’s career to heart is going to have a long road to hoe. Sarah is delusional and an idiot; and will probably never again be hired by someone less than senile.
Brina. Gotta love your comment. The first line really says it all. I feel pretty comfortable though, that Penelope is simply trying to expand her own limelight radius here. That is, after all, what she does, isn’t it? I was going avoid commenting just to not get sucked into the scam, but I really feel strongly about the advice she is giving regarding quitting jobs, even knowing that sometimes, we really do have to quit. Anyway, I think you hit the nail on the head. It should have been the first comment responding to the post, and maybe would have thinned out some of the other drivel that has inevitably shown up.
Steve C.
I’m trying to figure out what the difference is in SP leaving the office of governor versus Obama leaving his Senator position. Or Clinton leaving her Senator position . . . This happens all the time. It’s politics.
Jackie M.
You’re really trying to figure out the difference? Really? You mean like figuring out how to tie your shoe-laces? Any luck yet?
C’mon, you can do it.
To Jackie M.
Not to belabor the obvious, but Senators leaving that office in order to fulfill and complete an election to a higher office, or to accept an appointment to a higher office, in government, or say, for an appointment to the judiciary, are quite substantially different from resigning a high post to….. what? There are very formal long-held protocols for moving from one political office to another, removing people from office, even resigning. These are part of an orderly system of government generally known as a representative democracy. It’s how our country runs. One can try to write one’s own rules, develop one’s own system of governing, but those techniques are usually reserved for banana republics and/or totalitarian regimes(see Iran).
Had Sarah Palin been upfront about her reasons for resigning instead of leaving it to the media and our imaginations to deduce, she would have gained far more than she will have lost by acting in the manner she did. I personally think that she was pandering for sympathy at the same time she was copping(sp?) out on a very serious responsibility, another variation on the limelight scheme; sort of like Briney Spears shaving half her head or flashing her bug around for the paparazzi to distribute to the media.
In the end, it will be Sarah Palin and her family members who will determine if she made a huge blunder or not. One thing is certain, they will not live through the results of her decision in a vacuum. To me the saddest part is, I don’t think she has figured out what that really means, to her or to her family. I also don’t think she has any idea what the people with whom she has ideologically bonded are really like, on geo-political scale. If she wanted to experience manipulation at a high level, she is about to get a PhD in the subject.
Watching Sarah Palin navigate the political arena is kind of like playing poker with a drunk: no one can predict what direction he/she will go in, except for one certainty: winning the game. Even a blind drunk gets lucky occasionally, but not very often. The results of her actions will certainly not include being elected to a higher political office.
A simple, “I’m resigning my post for personal and financial reasons” would have done the trick. Everyone would have understood that, and probably would have been sympathetic as well. Playing the martyr and casting blame about was poor form at best, childish and irresponsible at least. It was extremely poor role-modeling for sure.
Steve C.
I’m surprised a writer of your caliber would fail to make the distinction between “information” and “knowledge”…
We’re in the information age… Not the knowledge age. There’s a lot more to knowledge than an accumulation of information. Experience is a crucial intrinsic component of knowledge. Which brings me to my second point… ;)
I’m surprised a writer of your caliber would fail to make the distinction a “resume” and “experience.”
I agree resumes are meaningless, but experience is everything. Ideas are worth nothing without execution, and to execute, experience is key.
Well, that’s my personal opinion…
Sorry Briney, I meant to say Britney Spears.
Steve C.
Penelope:
The only thing that I can figure from this post is that you must have a newly-written check in your hand from the GOP, because that was the best piece of spin that I have seen come from a non-politico about a disgraced politician in a long time.
Others have said what I wanted to say about leaving a publicly held elected office (this is very different than an appointed position), the obvious error in assuming that ideas are more important than experience, etc. But I just have to add my two cents in about how Sarah Palin’s resignation affects one thing — the image of women in the workplace.
First, I defended Sarah Palin for a lot of things during the campaign. The $100K wardrobe, the unfair attacks on her looks and her beauty queen persona — I shouted that women have tougher physical-attractiveness standard placed on them than men do. A woman can be all things — beautiful, talented, charming, strong, smart, and still look hot. Let’s judge Palin on her words and record, not her looks.
But her resignation after governing 2.5 years is another “proof” to some people that women can’t hack it in a “man’s” world. If they are not getting undying adulation and pats on the back, if things get a little uncomfortable, then they break down and quit. Sarah Palin is an embarrassing example to young women that when the going gets tough, the tough abandon their responsibilities, hide behind their families, and seek the book deal. I’m not saying that Sarah Palin should have stayed with the job indefinitely, but that she should have served out the term she committed to. Otherwise, she confirms that flighty, soft, wishy-washy, Barbie doll image that many of us are fighting every day.
I know that you don’t think there is a double-standard for women in the workplace, or that women earn less than men, but you don’t work where I do. It exists. And the rather public image of the strong-willed, feminine powerhouse Sarah Palin resigning her executive office has rekindled a little of that “sweetheart, just sit there and look pretty” attitude that many of us continue to fight against at work.
If you are an entrepreneur and looking at starting a company, its VERY easy to put off the hard part. Which is generating sales for your company and making a profit. Believe it or not, its far easier to go out and raise enough money so you are "in the game". You can raise the money, start the company and take your chances. If you run out of money, you can raise more. Until you can't. At which point you enter the world of consulting, having learned from your experience.
On the flip side, if you want to start and grow a business that you retain control of, put money in the bank from and can make a long term commitment to, then always remember that sales should be the first thing you focus on when you wake up in the morning. Profitable Sales to happy customers is the best path to making money. If you go to bed at night thinking about how to sell more and how to make your customers happy. You probably are in a good place. If you go to bed and wake up thinking about how to raise money to stay in business, you might as well get the new business cards and think about what your new consulting blog is going to look like.
Mark Cuban
Agreed. You are the CEO of your career. Palin is proof that she is in charge of her destiny.
http://jessicabond.blogspot.com/2009/07/annual-performance-review-your-employer.html
hello P – I see sense and have used all four points you make. Gathering great people around me has given me my success to date. Also conquering the fear of quitting and getting out when you are still on top of the game is always a good thing.
Much better to leave as a star than get bored, be half hearted and then try and go.
Also best you know when the time is right to go and take the bull by the horns and do so … I tell my employer – who is usually an elected rep – councillor or board – that I do not want to be where I am not wanted … lucky for me I am nearly always wanted :) cheers le – on her way to whoop whoop …
I think this post was rushed to publication. I’ve looked over all the comments and there are valid arguments that have already been made. However there were good points in this post with which I learned and agree with so I’m glad you published this post. I think you more closely resembled a lightning rod rather than a train wreck here. Here’s to more at bats as I’ve seen you hit your fair share out of the park.
@Andrew in Toronto,
The vitriol thrown at Penelope here is exactly what she wanted. The only time she really generates any real interest in her posts is when she fills them with remarkably stupid, misguided thinking. If people are angry at her, it is because of the shameless attempt to capitalize(yet again) on the antics of a failed public figure, an arguably apolitical blog or not.
I haven't noticed any veiled threats here, nor has anyone challenged anyone's right to have an opinion, just the right to have that opinion expressed as fact. If you were expecting everyone to shower Penelope, and by proxy, Palin, with adoration, you probably shouldn't be engaging in the activity of reading and responding to blogs like this. Better to stick with the western version of the Islamic Madrassas like Fox news, right-wing talk radio shows, and televangelists.
As for being scared of Sarah Palin, I'm scared of people like Palin in the same sense that I am scared of pin-headed Ayatollahs, not because their being elected to powerful offices in our country, but for fear of the hell-spawn whackos who listen to their drivel and then go out into the world and start killing people. There's nothing "funny" about that.
As for the comparison of Palin to Obama and finishing jobs, we'll have to wait and see if he resigns in mid-term to go out on the lecture circuit, when things don't go as he planned. For now I guess finishing law school, teaching constitutional law, and practicing law will have to fill the bill, not to mention winning a United States Senate seat, serving three terms as a State Senator in Illinois and being elected President of the most powerful country in the world, an admittedly trivial pursuit.
Oh, and BTW, before you dust off your crystal ball regarding the trillions in debt and deficits I'll enjoy paying off, better take a look at the numbers already well-documented, regarding the source of the deficits we are facing. Here's a hint: they were not created by my moral and intellectual superiors, the elite (read: "liberals"). They were created by the past republican administrations, particularly the most recent one; although to give credit where credit is due, Ronald Reagan really did the seminal work in that department. We're having a ball here in California with the remnants of his policies. Did I mention that we have another former actor running the show here, also a republican?
Steve C.
Great entry, Penelope. I particularly liked #4 No one controls your career except you. If I may add to #4, it can also rephrased as “You have the right to reinvent yourself.” Let’s face it, the global economy and technology change rapidly. We must keep pace. The problem is when people have this fixed mental picture of what their jobs are. A fixed view of one’s job/career goals can only get in the way of making the changes necessary to not only adapt to changes but thrive and prosper because of it.
I look forward to more of your posts!
Penelope has taken the art of trolling to a new level – well done, P…
I like the points about teamwork.
But we all know people who constantly express their opinions or ideas and yet have never gotten off their duffs to execute or truly support a single one of them.
Palin campaigned for a job involving the public trust. Her quitting before completing the job seems to demonstrate that she was probably not worthy of that trust in the first place. While quitting is not the same level of violation as theft and other misappropriations of money and power for personal gain, it still makes me question her dedication to public service and makes her motivations highly suspect.
“kowtow to the idea that you have to finish a job just because you started it.”
Me too. However they say thats called ADHD and I have to take lots of stimulants……
-jonathanstrange
This is why you’re brilliant. Because when SP announced her resignation, I was paying more attention to what others were saying in the news about it rather than think about what it meant for herself personally. That you could see this as a career example that you can then blog about is genius. I love how you’re so rich with ideas and unconventional.
I read your subject line and I had to say I was infuriated and embarrassed by Palin’s resignation the way it was done. Last minute, with little explanation. Her “logic” and stories drive me crazy.
It made her and other women look bad. I’d never vote for someone I thought would not complete their term for nebulous reasons or for scandal.
-Janet
“We don't need to elect someone based on their resume because the world changes too fast for experience to be a huge factor. On top of that, the internet makes most information available to everyone, so putting in long hours gathering knowledge is not as valuable anymore. Authority isn’t what it used to be – it’s based on what idea you have right now, not what you’ve done in the past.”
As a 25 year old engineering professional, I can tell you that this is utterly ridiculous. While it would be great to judge people based on their ideas, and their potential, just because someone has great amounts of both, does not guarantee success. The phrase: “The best indicator of future behavior is past behavior” exists for a reason. A resume is a track record. People want to see what you have accomplished. While a successful track record, also, does not guarantee success, it is sure better to know that the person has been able to execute tasks and achieve results than to find out that person is all talk and no action. While vision and ideas are important, they also come with experience. It is experience that builds credibility and not great ideas.
Great points Angela.
From the article:
“We don't need to elect someone based on their resume because the world changes too fast for experience to be a huge factor.”
This is the type of double-standard, double-speak that is at the heart of a lot of folks on the right. When it was just McCain VS Obama, “experience” was the most important factor.
When Palin hit the scene, all of a sudden it was “experience? who needs it?”
Ahhh to be a blathering hypocrite on the conservative right. It’s a wonder their feet dont’ hurt from all the dancing.
why would a fringe candidate whos so far from main street USA shes out by the bins inspire you to do anything. Its a sign of how the take over by the hard right is destroying the GOP.
What the GOP needs is the equivelent of what John Smith and Tony B did to the leftwing in the Labour party and teh left neaver got as far as teh righ has in teh GOP
I’m sorry but I see this as fail.
On your own terms. Because this is not the stereotypical gen y type bs.
It is gen x type bs that is gen y wannabe.
Because it smacks of me me me me me.
Snakes in suits is not a motivational self-help book.
Hmmm, I just now got around to reading the Cap and Trade article in the Washington Post. I’m pretty suspicious of it, the article that is. First we had Sarah Palin the potential VP of the Untied Sates of America, now we have Sarah Palin the Resource Economist? Ah.., no, I don’t think so. Not that there was any real description of anything like what a Cap and Trade energy system actually is, let alone Supply-Side economic theory.
Still, she came out of nowhere to be the running-mate of choice for the GOP presidential campaign, and it was written well enough to make the Washington Post, and it was essentially filled with opinion rather than fact. So I guess it could have actually been written by her.
Sarah, just in case you are reading this comment, and I’m betting you are, please, please, please, I would love to hear your explanation of a Cap and Trade energy system and also of Supply-Side economics, especially as it relates to relevant energy issues. Maybe you could do a live interview on the subjects, so we can all share your knowledge?
Steve C.
I was a Sarah Palin fan. However, quitting is not a part of my DNA. Therefore, I view this move as very negative. I believe you should finish what you start. And, from what I understand, Sarah only had something like a year and a half left of her term. All I can say is “Why now?”
also surprised you actually support her too
Could you imagine she actually made it into office, matt dameon would leave the country and that means no more bourne movies
:(