Don’t Burn Your Bridges

Your talent gets you in the room. Your bridges keep you in the game.

Some people always land on their feet.

You know exactly who I am talking about.

That person who shows up in the news with a new position at a top company. The one who moves from one major event to another, from one great organization to the next. Even when their last project was a disaster, somehow they land somewhere better.

I have watched these people my entire career. I have talked about them with friends and colleagues more times than I can count. We always ask the same questions: How do they do it? How is it that they always find the next opportunity? How do they keep jumping to the best jobs, even when some of them are not as talented as others we know?

After 20 plus years of watching this pattern repeat itself, I think I finally understand the answer.

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It’s Not Talent. It’s Bridges.

These people never close a door.

No matter how bad a situation gets, as long as their values are not in jeopardy, they leave on good terms. They understand that every exit is a setup for the next entrance. They keep relationships warm, they stay professional, and they treat every goodbye as temporary.

Because here is the thing about our industry. We think it is big. It is more global than ever. But the phrase “this world is smaller than you think” applies perfectly to broadcasting.

Once you get to a certain level in your town, your city, your country, or worldwide, everybody knows everybody.

So when these people need a new job, their bridges carry them. When somebody thinks about them for an opportunity, the first thing that happens is a phone call to someone who has worked with them before. And that voice on the other end? It is always a friendly one.

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The Coaching Tree

In American football there is a concept called the coaching tree.

A successful head coach develops assistants who eventually leave to become head coaches themselves. They go out, they build their own teams, they run their own programs. Some succeed. Some fail.

But here is what the smart ones do when they fail. They don’t burn that bridge.

They go back to their mentor as a coordinator. Or that mentor picks up the phone and recommends them for the next position that opens up. The relationship stays alive because both sides protected it.

The same thing happens in sports production around the world.

There are key people who influence our industry. Trusted professionals whose endorsement opens doors for others, for their pupils.

If you are fortunate enough to work with one of them, protect that bridge. Their pedigree becomes your pedigree.

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The Bridge That Hasn’t Formed Yet

Now here is the part that most people miss.

We all understand the importance of not burning bridges with people above us. With our bosses, our mentors, the decision-makers. That is obvious.

But what about the people who are just starting out?

The young assistant producer who just got her first credit. The finance intern who joined the team last month. The junior engineer running cables on the truck.

In 15 years, one of them could be the person deciding whether you get your next opportunity.

More often than not, this is exactly what happens. People rise. Careers take unexpected turns. And if you burned that bridge early, just to prove you were in charge, just to demand “respect” for being a veteran, you closed a door you did not even know existed.

Don’t just protect your bridges. Build new ones with people at every level. You never know which one will carry you next.

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Whether you are the veteran or the newcomer, the one hiring or the one looking, this applies to you. Building bridges and protecting the ones you already have is not a soft skill. It is not optional. It is one of the most powerful things you can do for your career.

Your talent gets you in the room. Your bridges keep you in the game.

If you have a story about a bridge that saved your career, or one you wish you had not burned, I want to hear it. Hit reply.

The more we share these lessons, the better we all get at playing the long game.

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Bulletin Board

This week I had the pleasure of visiting the IBC in Milan for the Winter Olympics, thanks to Sotiris Salamuris, CTO of the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS). When you see the setup in person, you understand why they keep delivering at the highest level. Impressive as always.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Barry Grossman, a subscriber of this newsletter, and his colleague JP. They bring years of expertise in broadcast engineering and IP transmission across the US and Canada markets. What I admire most of Barry is his dedication to teaching students in the New York area about our industry. If you ever have the opportunity to work with Barry, don’t let it pass.

Talk soon,

Oscar S.