Breaking news: The Divine Miss S has alerted us to a post on Indystar.com titled "IRL Offers CEO Position to Randy Bernard." If you are brave, you can also see the comment I just couldn't keep myself from making. As my friend Sandy in St. Louis used to say whenever she found herself in the midst of a knock-down drag-out fight, "I was in my glory."
Although Randy has as yet neglected to call me for my opinion, I just want to go on the record to say that if the IRL offers him a good deal and he likes the idea, he should have no qualms about taking the job. The most valuable piece of advice I ever got about working was this: You are working for yourself. In other words, you should never forget that your personal satisfaction with what you do for a living trumps everything else. This is something that many women I've known have particular trouble grasping; they think they are working for all kinds of reasons that, in the end, are beside the point.
Randy Bernard has been CEO of the PBR since 1995. He was just 28, a kid by my lights, when he took the job. That is a long haul by any standard, particularly in this day and age, when people seem to job-hop like frogs on a hot sidewalk. Bernard has taken the organization from its scrappy beginnings to its present level of prominence. It would not surprise me one bit to find out that he feels like he's done all he can do. Everyone who has ever worked a job at one place knows that after a while, resistance to your ways and means tends to stiffen. Plus, he might be really tired of living in Pueblo, CO. Indianapolis is not my ideal city, but I've been there quite a lot, because one of my most important clients is there, and it's a town with quite a lot to offer.
So, Randy--whether you go or stay, you have my blessing, for what that's worth. If you decide to stay, maybe you can pry some concessions (and, with a little luck, a bigger paycheck) out of the PBR Powers That Be. If you go, I have good friends in Indianapolis who will be pleased to show you around. Just give me a call, I'll be happy to set it up.
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2 comments:
I have been browsing some IRL forums (oh, the things I do for you, PBR), and it sounds like that's an organization with some issues... Whether Bernard is interested in building up another perhaps troubled organization is an open question, and of course I'm sure there are a lot of factors I know nothing about. I'm sure the fact that he apparently has a good relationship with VS would speak in his favor if he wants to make this move.
I honestly don't understand the hate-on people have for the guy. He's been in there, building up the sport to what it is today. Of course it's different than it was then-- you can't have a professional sport with national sponsors if your board is getting into fisticuffs and the like. He may not be a cowboy but he seems to care and has done a lot to make the PBR what it is today.
I just read a rumor that IRL stated on Friday that Randy Bernard accepted the position. I do not, as of yet, have a link to that announcement, so I can't confirm it.
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