Welcome back to the Look and Sound of Leadership, an ongoing series of

executive coaching tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the way

you want to be perceived. I'm Tom Henschel, your executive coach, and today

we're talking about choosing persistence. Last fall, in the middle of our coaching engagement, Gavin got laid off. I told him I'd be

happy to re-engage with him any time it would be helpful, and a few weeks ago he got back in

touch. He was still unemployed. I've been on a bunch of interviews,

he told me. What's freaking me out is the anxiety I'm getting before each one. I didn't

used to be anxious, but since I'm not landing any jobs. I'm beginning to stress about

whether I'm as good at interviewing as I think I am. And you know another worry?

He continued. I worry that all my worrying is following me into the interview like some storm cloud I can't shake.

I told him I completely empathized with that concern, and I asked him if I could tell him two stories.

He said sure. Here's the first one I told him.

After years of acting in Hollywood I came to believe that my real job wasn't

working in front of the cameras rather my real job was auditioning, but like Gavin, worrying about getting the job often affected my ability to perform well during the audition.

Finally, I developed an image that was

transformative. I imagined I was standing at the edge of a big pond, at my feet was a

pile of pebbles. My task was to pick up one pebble at a time and pitch it into the center of

the bond. The goal was to throw enough pebbles to the exact same spot so they

would pile up underwater until one would finally break the surface.

I never knew how deep the pond was or how big the pile was under the water.

My job was just to keep pitching.

Any pebble that broke the surface of the water was a job I landed.

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