One Deceptively Simple Piece of Career Advice

I've asked many guests on the No Film School podcast what advice they would give anyone trying to build a career. There is a huge range of answers, many familiar. All useful. 

But there is one thing I've heard a lot that is reiterated to me around the industry, even off the record. I've heard it put quite simply a number of times, and it's an easy enough phrase. 

"Be fun to have lunch with." 

There is a lot to unpack there, because what does it mean, exactly? Must you be entertaining? Must you be memorable? Unique? Force a personality? Do you have to pick good places to eat? Order a certain way? 

But the truth is, it isn't even about lunch, it's about the idea of being a pleasant person. Easy to be around means easy to work with. Not "fake," but comfortable. 

The reason boils down to something more simple and primal than even just the idea of being a good lunch buddy. Because what it really means is people want to know they can rely on you in the foxhole. One of my favorite guests on this topic was Jonathan Furmanski, who has lensed tons of projects, and can't help but stay busy.  

Productions are often incredibly stressful, if you turn to your left or right and see people who are agitated, difficult, unpleasant, divisive, or challenging even in the calmest of settings (say, lunch) then what will they be like in the harsher settings you will face together? 

The answer is unpredictable. We want to work with people who take things in stride, stay positive, find the humor in things, and enjoy the moment. 

Of course, this doesn't mean to fake all of that. Being overly enthusiastic or nice is better than the alternative, but you also want to be authentic. 

The reality is talent is often a subjective determination. Being a "talented but tortured genius" works for some, but even when it works, patience runs thin, and eventually... one day... the chickens of bad behavior come home to roost. 

So even as advice for those at the top of the food chain today. Being "fun to have lunch with" could be what keeps you from facing the wrath of a million abused and disgruntled co-workers. This is not to say that a nice lunch makes up for abuse, but to say that instead of being abusive, be nice. 

Simple, right? 

Well, no, not always. The stress and strains of life turn on people and put them into uncomfortable patterns. They lash out, misbehave... do all manner of inexcusable things. 

So the real answer to what can keep you working and moving easily from one gig to the next isn't how you are at lunch at all. But how you manage stress and react to things beyond your control. 

And the key to that is something each individual has to unlock for themselves. Is it meditation? Is it exercise? More sleep? Diet? That's something you have to answer for yourself. And the idea of "self care" while trying to manage #setlife is hilarious and impossible to many. I get it. 

But it could be the difference between another job or not. Because how you stay sane, balanced, pleasant, and cool under fire is how you'll get job after job.