Life is funny. Back in 1998 while in a corporate communications position I had the assignment of hosting a Ph.D. candidate who was to interview a number of “my” high technology executives for his dissertation.
As a “good” hostess, I arranged to meet him upon his arrival to town and took him for a tour of the sights and sounds of Minneapolis/Saint Paul complete with dinner at Dixie’s on Grand. During our “get to know you” discussion, we spoke about what we both liked and disliked about our professions, getting advanced degrees, and more. It was actually fun.
And oddly enough this “stranger” taught me a really important lesson about me. He noted that I was a backstage girl – the kind of person who works like a fiend behind the scenes to make everyone else look good. Pretty perceptive and spot on.
We got his interviews taken care of the next day and he was back on a plane to UC -Irvine. We exchanged a handful of emails as he wrapped up the Ph.D. and I presented my Master’s thesis. I think the last time I heard from him – he encouraged me to enjoy my time on stage accepting my degree.
But when I’m burning the midnight oil tweaking some writing or worrying about a detail and wonder if anyone cares, I remember my friend telling me that “it’s the backstage people that make things happen.”
Em-Bolden 