29 Mar A 30 Rock Path To CEO: How To Donaghy When You’re A Lemon

While many women and especially writers proudly compare themselves to more of a Sex and the City-Carrie Bradshaw, I have no qualms over being more of a lemon. Liz Lemon, that is.

For those of you who may not be avid fans of the television sitcom, 30 Rock, Liz Lemon is the manager and lead writer for a Saturday Night Live (SNL) -ish show aired by NBC. The character is played by Tina Fey, a former SNL star. The director of the entire television network and her boss is Jack Donaghy – a cool, career-driven character played by Alec Baldwin.

Now that we have that out of the way… this isn’t just about how my ex insisted I look like Tina Fey years before she was on everyone’s radar as an actual star. Rather, it is more about the fact that I would even mention an ex in the middle of what should be a professional post on LinkedIn. That’s Liz. That is just like Liz.

Liz is a chronic overeater that brings dramatic stories of her personal life to work with her and treats her boss as her best friend. She’s hardly ever up front; although, she’s still very honest. While she’s a strong character, she is steeped in a lifetime of having to reassure her status through thick bouts of self-imposed doubt. She hardly ever seems to be on her own side and as a result, she is often stressed over her team’s performance or the organization of her show. Everything is more of an obstacle than an accomplishment.

Donaghy, on the other hand, is calm, cool, and collected. No matter the drama that crosses paths in his personal and professional life, he’s focused and confident. He has skipped over the “can do” attitude entirely and arrived steadily on the platform of “been there, done that.” He doesn’t ever look at life based on who or what he needs. Instead, he understands that what everyone needs around him… is him.

In the past, nothing could have been further from my comfort zone than being a Donaghy. Instead, the unspoken lines of my early resume would give you classic Liz Lemon behavior. If you too are a Lemon, the foundations of your career experiences may stand by the same life rules I once had:

1. Always attend a work party where there is food. Eat two of everything. Tweet This
2. Helping set up for a pot luck is the best way to get away with the fact that you have never actually brought anything to a pot luck. Again, eat two of everything.Tweet This
3. End every professional conversation with an awkward moment.Tweet This
4. Write personal emails to your manager explaining that the reason you were 15 minutes late this morning was because of a terrible dream, horrible breakup, cramps, etc.–and explain in as much detail as possible.Tweet This
5. Battle all self-doubt by insisting you’re pretty good at this “alone thing” and after all, you completed school entirely on your own with no help from anyone. Ever. Alone is what you do.

Despite professional fashion faux pas (like yoga pants under knit dresses), you can be really good at what you do. In fact, you can be the best at every job you have ever held and perhaps you have thought that was the only thing holding you back from moving up in any company. People always warn about being “too irreplaceable.” For me, I went from thinking I needed a chance to knowing that I needed to change.

So, I quit my job.

To quit a job with no other plans marks the same kind of risk as walking into a boardroom and being able to bet everything on the value of your work. The experience opened my career to a whole new level and has ensured that every project I get my hands on should be a project I’m willing to put my all into and give it all up for one in the same.  That’s something you can read more about in this LinkedIn article.

Like Donaghy, you can decide what it is you want to be and start over at the bottom if necessary.  Whether you’re in the mail room or stepping back into a role you’d already consider yourself overly familiar with,  here you have as many choices as you do chances to move into a career path that will benefit your ultimate end-goal. From here on out, every part of your life is a strategic move on to a greater path and there will be no rest stops on the road to your future.

Volunteer. Give to charity. Start your own business. These are all little bits I like to refer to as “resume candy” that help swiftly move you past the land of “overworked and underpaid” and well into the realms of doubling and tripling your rates. Stop approaching new clients with an explanation of, “This is why you need me” and confidently assume you both know they can’t live without you.

Like me, you can learn these far more significant life truths that help get you out of that stock purchases swivel chair and right into the cushy, made just for you kind you find in corner offices throughout the world.  These are just a few things I can attribute to my “Donaghy-style”:

1. Surprise people when first meeting. Break down barriers and assumptions by being more absolute.Tweet This
2. Show, don’t tell. More importantly – know, don’t insist.Tweet This
3. Movement is a sign of weakness. Controlled body language exudes confidence.Tweet This
4. Wear dark colors accented by one, “power piece.” For Donaghy, this was a particular tie. For me, a self-stating piece of jewelry.Tweet This
5. Never speak first.Tweet This

While your former Lemon habits were more along the lines of going unseen and seeing what you could get away with, Donaghy makes a decision that forces change. He’s constantly on to bigger and better things both personally and professionally.

You don’t have to already be in a manager role to live by these rules.

We’ve all heard terribly cliche references such as, “It doesn’t take a manager to be a leader,” or “fake it until you make it.”  However cliche, these are absolute truths that are necessary to getting out of your comfort zone and more into something you know you’ll easily become more comfortable with – like making six figures.

Every new accomplishment isn’t meant to be celebrated, but rather, be posed as a challenge to now do something even better in life! For Donaghy,

There is always room to improve while maintaining the attitude that he has already reached the nirvana of self-perfection…

While some of your Lemon habits will forever be a part of you,

You can move past wondering and into the realm of knowing you are the only person that can lend definition to who you are today and every day…

For me, I cannot say I will never again substitute yoga pants for thermals or Spanx. I have no shame in admitting I still eat two of everything when offered free food. But, my life no longer lends itself to excuses or explanations. It just is. You should know the value you bring to the table and bring everything on your own terms – including but no longer limited to whether or not to bring pot luck dishes to work events.

As a result of my Donaghy experience, I’m happy to say I have spent only a few short years achieving the finer things in life like – moving from a cubicle to a closet to an office with a view, and racing up the chain from Representative to Director.

Surround yourself with powerful, like-minded people and set sail for that corner office. After all, Donaghy solves his greatest life’s battle from the stern of a yacht. You are the master of your own worth.