The Tempered Radical

There’s a lot going on at work this week. Every day, I arrive to a “fashion emergency.” (Working in the fashion industry- I can make this joke). While I am fully committed to my job, I am often in awe of what people regard as a crisis. An earthquake-CRISIS!!!!!! A building that crashes to the ground- CRISIS!!!!!! Missing your sisters 40th Birthday- CRISIS!!!!!! But a calendar blow up or someone’s opinion that a design might need some immediate revision?? Well that’s just the JOB!

I am deeply devoted to my career. More importantly, I am devoted to the team that I lead and am constantly trying to consider ways to develop and inspire them. I think it is important for each person (particularly young designers) to find their voice as artists and members of their community. It’s only after we KNOW OURSELVES that we truly have something unique and personal to offer. This may pose a quandary for those of us that work within a corporate enviornment, or a structure where we are not the final decision makers. That’s why it becomes even more important to find our voices, and to hone in on those vital INFLUENCING SKILLS.

Perhaps it is my new pregnancy, my need to look a little more within and to protect the thing which is growing inside me, but I am boycotting fashion emergencies. Sure, I’ll think fast on my feet and give you a solution that will bring you to your knees, but I will NOT be a DRAMA QUEEN about it. I just don’t have the energy.

There are many at my job who flail their arms about and pontificate the injustice of the corporate world. Sure, nothing is perfect. But can we PLEASE advocate for change in a way that others will hear us and respond??? Why the drama?

And what’s all this about sitting in a high powered meeting and simply agreeing with the man ahead of you? Were we not charged with a level of expertise and thoughfulness in our craft that has brought us into the boardroom? Are they really paying us these salaries so we just AGREE with everything? 

I am trying to find a way to keep my voice as a creative, as a woman, and as a leader in a complex organization. I am trying to be an advocate for POSITIVE change, while still getting followership and support for fresh ideas.

I am reading this book called “The Tempered Radical” published by Harvard Univ. Press. It’s wonderful. A nice respite from “The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy” which is also by my bedside.

So this is the other half of my life, that I don’t often write about. It’s exciting, and frustrating and wonderful.