Obscurity births Leaders and other musings...

Fresh out of college I started my career in the workforce on a "temporary" basis. I'd gone though film school to discover that the last thing I wanted to ultimately do is "direct". Spending time on sets (either back stage or on location for a film) had sucked up any and all of my college social life and although I would NEVER give the experience back, I came out knowing one thing about where I was headed: where I DIDN'T want to go.

So I gave the "office space" world a go, and after 4 miserable months working as an assistant to an Agent for some "high profile clients" (yeah, right... they were B list at most) my boss at the time sat me down one afternoon after mis-spelling someone's name on the "to call list" (that by the way was for her eyes only) and told me that she never wanted to me have any contact with any of her clients again- either on the phone or in person, and that her "other assistant" would handle it. I looked her in the eye through my gushing tears, deflated at the fact that I couldn't even be trusted to take a message from Rutger Hauger and said "then what am I here for?" And she told me "I don't want the hassle of hiring someone new."

I quit the next day, and although I didn't totally believe that I was inept, something inside me wondered if she had been right. And then I met Tom Cairns.

While unemployed I worked a temp job at NBC there was a specific SVP that wandered through the office. He was my Dad's age, and always looked me in the eye and used my name. Me. A Temp. That girl that wasn't allowed to talk on the phone to celebs. weeks before. Something was different about Tom, and it was the lack of his ego. As I finished up the project there he called me into his office and told me that he wanted to hire me as his assistant because he'd seen how hard I worked.

He was my boss for the next 5 years.

He was the kind of boss that never lost his temper, never spoke down to me, or punished me for a tiny mistake. Over the years, he always checked in with me to make sure I was pursuing my dreams and sent me to meetings with other execs in the creative fields I expressed interest in. Working for him, I really didn't mind that I wasn't busting my butt on a show, or pulling all-nighters on the set, because I was happy! I always wondered if having that job delayed any kind of industry successes I could have fallen into had I been more transient. But it's not the wondering filled with regret, it's relief.

I didn't find out until after I was hired that he was a Christian and actually taught a few classes at a Seminary. He told me "my Dad and my brother are both pastors, I was the black sheep for pursuing entertainment."

I can't tell you what an impression Tom made on me before I knew anything about who he was, I just knew he was different than the rest.

I left that job 3 years ago and we recently caught up. After 30 years of working for NBC, they let him go. "Restructuring". I told him about my crazy career move to reduce the hours at my day job in order to travel first and then try to go freelance with this wedding video gig. He raised his just raised his eyebrows as he listened the way he always did. The next day though, he sent me an email telling me how proud he was of me, that I seemed so "mature" and that he too, was launching his own consulting business.

With that, he sent me his website & blog and I've enjoyed his occasional musings. Get to know him too! There's wisdom and character all in one place.

Cairns Blaner LLC