Driven Professionals: Aren't All of Us Elvis ...

 "The only thing that matters is that that man [Elvis] gets up on that stage tonight." - Colonel Parker, quoted in the Baz Luhrmann biopic "Elvis."

The suffering we experience when taking in the new film "Elvis" is mostly our own. At least those of us who had allowed ourselves to become performance machines. Of course, employers, clients, and even nobodies on our networks exploited us.  There are plenty of Colonel Parkers around. 

Then we became clinically depressed with a side dish of anxiety.

Or we burned out.

Or worse. 

An example of the worse might be a high achiever like Sidley Austin partner Gabe MacConaill who had committed suicide. In this open letter to Law.com, his widow Joannna Litt blames Big Law. But, isn't it bigger than that? Isn't it about being caught up in a culture and in our own neediness that drive us to keep the performance machine going. Capitalism doesn't forgive if it sputters. 

In all that we're not victims. Like Elvis, we are volunteers. That has been a takeaway from the Metamorphosis Spiritual Center I am a part of here in Sierra Vista, Arizona. 

It's obvious: We want what talent and relentless hard work can potentially bring us. So, we sign up for the deal. Those who achieve in that way are the stars.

How good it feels to twinkle. 

The tragedy begins to play out when our wattage fades. It usually does, doesn't it. Most success isn't sustainable.

Elvis degenerates into a bloated addict.

Those fading such as Madonna come across as desperate.

Co-founder of law firm Boies Schiller David Boies has become a media target. Legal journalists pounce on every announcement that yet another partner has left what was once a litigation powerhouse. 

And financial genius Leon Black. He seems to have worsened a bad situation by ill-thought-out moves. 

For a while during the time of rethinking during COVID there seemed to be a breaking away from volunteering to be exploited in our professional lives. And maybe there will be parts of that that will be permanent for some professionals. Points of light include:

There are lawyers who will only operate WFH, even if that entails trading off "getting ahead" at the firm. 

Seeking balance, paternal leave lawsuits are up. Getting plenty of media attention is the litigation filed by married couple and former SCOTUS clerks Mark Savignac and Julia Shekeloff against law firm Jones Day. 

Among the self-employed I talk with, a growing number will only work for those they "like." No, there is no law which mandates that profit be maximized. 

Even needy me exited from the almost mystical force field of being associated with a prestigious organization. Get this: I resigned a retainer agreement at law firm Paul Weiss. I perceived I wasn't getting assigned "real work" by the middlemen. Chairperson Brad Karp was not in the loop on this. To me, he's one of the good guys. So, there I was: not knowing what was expected, where I really stood or would the arrangement go poof and I wouldn't be able to bounce back from the shame. No contract was designed. No NDA was given to me to sign.  The pain was over-the-top. 

That's where some of us are. We did reset our professional lives. 

I have a bad feeling, though, that the majority of professionals will continue "Doing an Elvis." That's just the way careers in America are configured.

The reality is that "Elvis" starts before our first "real job."

In the book "Excellent Sheep," former Yale instructor William Deresiewicz chronicles how the best and brightest at that elite institution of higher education make it their business to align with what they have been told will bring professional success. Most else is excluded.

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