It’s a rite of passage for any young professional: You’re trying so hard to impress your boss that you inevitably make a misstep that you remember for the rest of your career.
My faux pas happened more than 20 years ago when I was an assistant account executive at Trahan, Burden & Charles, a venerable Baltimore ad agency. One of my duties was to help answer the boss’ phone when her secretary had to step away – even to go to the bathroom.
“Sandy Hillman’s office,” I said as I picked up the phone that fateful day. Sandy asked us to hold her calls while she took an important meeting in her office. When I told the caller (without asking who was on the line) that Sandy was unavailable and asked if I could take a message, the tone of her voice changed dramatically. She barked at me, “You go tell Sandy that SENATOR Barbara Mikulski is on the phone.” I did (albeit sheepishly) and Sandy took the call.
I remember thinking that if I ever rose to a position of power, I would never treat anyone the way Senator Mikulski treated me that day. But that wasn’t the lesson I was supposed to learn. I came to realize over the last two decades that Senator Mikulski is a rare specimen among legislators in that she favors action over niceties.
Yesterday, Senator Mikulski held a press conference in her beloved Fell’s Point to announce she will not seek re-election next year. As Yahoo! News reported, “The pugnacious Mikulski, who stands less than five feet tall, has for years been a force to be reckoned with on Capitol Hill, barreling through the halls while gruffly ordering people aside en route to committee hearings and news conferences.”
Elected to the House of Representatives in 1976 when I was in kindergarten, Senator Mikulski became the longest-serving woman in Congress in 2012. Her shoes will be hard to fill. We seem to be running low on leaders who are more concerned about passing important legislation that matters to their constituents than they are about what people think of them or which relationships they can leverage.
At her press conference, Senator Mikulski said she asked herself one question as she weighed a sixth term, “Do I spend my time raising money, or do I spend my time raising hell?” I’d argue she’s been raising hell all along.
Do you have a memorable misstep from your early career? Share it in the comments.