In 1963, Gloria Steinem Took the Assignment That Made Her Famous. She Later Regretted It
Her struggle offers a powerful lesson in authenticity.
EXPERT OPINION BY ALEXIS FRANZESE
In 1963, a 28-year-old Gloria Steinem put on a satin costume, high heels, and bunny ears and went undercover at New York’s Playboy Club. The resulting ShowMagazine exposé made her famous. Years later, she would call it a career mistake.
There’s something courageous about admitting that a successful decision may have also had costs you couldn’t see at the time. Steinem later said the assignment made it difficult for her to get serious writing work. Editors had gotten to know one version of her, and that version became difficult to see past.
Steinem, a feminist icon, passed away this week at 92. Her struggle with her famous work continues to offer an enduring lesson I’ve learned from throughout my own life: What gets you in the door isn’t always what you want to be known for next.
A flattering box is still a box
We tend to think of being pigeonholed
We tend to think of being pigeonholed as something that happens because we’ve failed or been misunderstood. But sometimes other people’s limiting story about us is built from our accomplishments, not our failures.
Refreshed leadership advice from CEO Stephanie Mehta
An Inc.com Featured Presentation
Almost two decades ago, during my first and only faculty job search, I applied to an excellent teaching-centered university. Someone on the search committee reached out to my mentor and asked why someone with two doctoral degrees and training at a research-intensive university would want the job. I could understand the question. I was even a little flattered by what it implied about my credentials. But I never got invited in.
I wanted the chance to explain what drew me to the institution: how much I loved teaching, what I thought I could contribute, and why that environment felt like the right fit for the life and work I wanted at that point in my career. My search landed me at another excellent teaching-centered university, where I’ve built a career I love. But I still think about how easily our past accomplishments can become assumptions about what we could plausibly want next.
Leaders do this to other people, too. We see the résumé, title, expertise, or success and use someone’s visible past to predict their desired future. Curiosity is sometimes more useful than assumption.
Source: www.inc.com
