WhenIWas15: Iconoclast
The origin of a professional identity, traced to a Time Canada article at age 15 and confirmed in a mentor's note twenty-four years later. Published on LinkedIn, May 2018.
Magazines were prominent media in our house when I was 15. "Time Canada Edition" was excellent morning reading, I read it cover to cover each week. It really was well localized for our country and I ate it up. Some stories were profound and life changing.
I particularly recall an article about a fellow who worked in a strange role at Labatt Brewery, among the top brewers in Canada at the time. He reported to the CEO, he had no direct reports or real accountability, his role was to walk around the office and talk with people. Injecting some awkwardness, being provocative and engaging, his goal was to literally change the conversation. His job title was, "Iconoclast". The article had a searing impact on me to the extent that #WhenIWas15, I naively determined, "This is what I want to be".
Late in my thirties, knee deep in the doldrums of my career, my frustration made me more visible. I received a note from an executive where I worked. In it, he referred to me as an "Iconoclast". He wrote, "Iconoclasts are rarely appreciated in their day, especially those who rail against the bulwarks of a hundred-year-old organization. The future is yours, live it!"
It woke me up, his words emboldened me with a realization of achievement from this most profound compliment ever received. And it crystallized that Age 15 ambition: I can be an Iconoclast!