Take 3 Career Tips from Les Mis
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More than 60 million people have seen the musical, Les Misérables. This 27-year-running musical based
on the highly-acclaimed Victor Hugo novel hit the theatres as a holiday blockbuster. What is the draw to this story? Is it the message of perseverance, the collective hope of a people, and the dream that we can rise from our circumstance? Do the stirring songs, such as “Do You Hear the People Sing”, capture us? I can’t help but relate this to the quest for career success. Here are three career tips that I interpreted from Les Misérables.
Partner with others for success – but choose your partners wisely.
Trusting anyone with information that can destroy your career is a risk you don’t want to take. Fantine loses her factory job when she naively lets the word leaks out that she is an unwed mother. From there, things only go downhill for Fantine. The people with whom Fantine trusts to care for her daughter...I’ll stop there so I don’t spoil the story.
Your career tip: Be wise when you select partners. Vet them carefully before entrusting them with a career-critical endeavor. Also, recognize that there are boundaries and degrees of confidence. What you reveal to anyone about your personal life can alter others’ perception of you and can be an impediment to your career success.
Dedicate yourself to your mission – but be adaptable.
Javert is a zealous law officer who pursues the main character, Valjean, with unrelenting perseverance. He sees things in black and white. At a certain point in the story, he makes a choice in conflict with his responsibilities as a law officer. If Javert has looked at things a different way earlier, one wonders how life could have been better for several characters.
Your career tip: We can respect Javert’s commitment and passion. However, things are not always black and white. There are grey areas and we must be able to analyze situations and act accordingly. Sometimes an unorthodox (but legal) solution is the most effective and expeditious. Commit yourself completely to your job, however analyze each situation and be open-minded to adjust your attitude and your strategy.
Focus on What You Have to Offer
Jean Valjean’s life seems to go from bad to worse. It makes the career plight of a modern professional seem quite trivial in comparison. Once a convict imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, he struggles to overcome his past and live a successful life. It is not until he is changed by his decision to help the orphan, Cosette, does his life have meaning.
Your career tip: When we focus on what we have to OFFER as opposed to what we need; our lives take new meaning. This change in mindset can empower us to move mountains. In our career, we tend to focus on our salary, our promotion, our client, etc. Why not focus on the value we bring our employer and client and watch the rewards flow to us.
One over-riding theme of the story is hope and redemption in the most severe circumstances. The anthem, “Do You Hear the People Sing” speaks of that. Les Mis is a collection of small life stories within the story. It’s about navigating life as part of a bigger community. The career message I received was:
- Partner with others for success – but choose your partners wisely and give your trust carefully.
- Dedicate yourself to your mission – but be adaptable and open-minded.
- Focus on what you have to offer – success will come to you in time.
Write me if you saw Les Mis this holiday season and if it struck a chord with you!