Reynold Levy - Start Now: Because That Meaningful Job Is Out There, Just Waiting For You

Praise for
START NOW

I hope that all of my professional colleaguesas well as friends and family membersread Start Now. Reynold Levy not only encourages you to build relationships that are enduring, to remain intellectually curious, and to dive into richly rewarding professional experiences and public service endeavors, he shows you precisely how to do so. Reynolds practical advice and personal accounts compel action, optimism, personal growth, and fulfillment. Start Now will leave you shaping your professional future more energetically and creatively. Whats more, it will cause you to reconsider what really gives life meaning.

Kara Medoff Barnett , executive
director, American Ballet Theatre

Add to Reynold Levys many professional rolesCEO, salesman, teacher, author, consultant, trustee, and directorthat of career counselor. Start Now is chock-full of useful suggestions and advice on how to go about finding the right job and advancing your career, at any stage of life. Im putting some of these ideas into practice right now.

Timothy J. McClimon , president,
American Express Foundation

Managing and leading really well is rare. Writing clearly about these same subjects is almost as unusual. Reynold Levy has done both throughout his richly diverse career in public service. Start Now offers excellent advice on how to find that fulfilling job and to realize a meaningful life.

Indra Nooyi , former chairman and CEO, PepsiCo

From the International Rescue Committee to Lincoln Center, Reynold Levy has successfully led some of the worlds most influential nonprofit institutions and also worked as an advisor and board member to major corporations. Drawing on his extraordinary experiences, Levy has written a must-read guide for anyone seeking to build a meaningful career.

Steven Swartz , president and CEO,
Hearst Communications

As Reynold Levy knows from his multifaceted experience in leading first-class institutions, human talent is the single best indicator of excellence. In Start Now , he brilliantly offers his perspective on how to prepare for a rewarding career. Whether you are a newcomer to the workplace, or seeking a different position, this source of value-added advice is a must-read.

Tracy R. Wolstencroft , former president and CEO,
National Geographic Society, and president,
CEO, and chairman, Heidrick & Struggles

ALSO BY REYNOLD LEVY

NEARING THE CROSSROADS
Contending Approaches to American Foreign Policy

GIVE AND TAKE
A Candid Account of Corporate Philanthropy

YOURS FOR THE ASKING
An Indispensable Guide to Fundraising and Management

THEY TOLD ME NOT TO TAKE THAT JOB
Tumult, Betrayal, Heroics, and the Transformation of Lincoln Center

Start Now: Because That Meaningful Job Is Out There, Just Waiting For You

Copyright 2020 by Reynold Levy

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without permission
in writing from the publisher. For information, please contact
RosettaBooks at , or by mail
at 125 Park Ave., 25th Floor, New York, NY 10017

First edition published 2020 by RosettaBooks

Cover design by Mimi Bark
Interior design by Jay McNair

ISBN-13 (print): 978-1-9481-2254-2
ISBN-13 (ebook): 978-0-7953-5278-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Levy, Reynold, author.
Title: Start now : because that meaningful job
is out there, just waiting for you / Reynold Levy.
Description: First edition. | New York : RosettaBooks, 2020. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019035945 (print) | LCCN 2019035946 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781948122542 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780795352782 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Vocational guidance. | Career development. |
Job hunting. | Job satisfaction.
Classification: LCC HF5381 .L3567 2020 (print) |
LCC HF5381 (ebook) | DDC 650.14dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019035945

www.RosettaBooks.com

For Elizabeth and Justin with love and gratitude

Acknowledgments

S tart Now originated with two questions.

If hundreds of friends, acquaintances, business associates, clients, and students seem to benefit from my advice about shaping their professional future, then why not capture the lessons learned in writing?

If dozens of employers ask me to help guide them in their quest to recruit, retain, and motivate key personnel, then why not revert to the printed page, distilling the advice I readily offered?

Between the many thin-lined white and yellow legal pads filled with ideas, references, research, and case examples, to the book now in your hands, friends appeared, offering their help.

Some of those volunteer assistants are themselves accomplished writers and editors. Each reviewed the manuscript in various stages of development. Each provided perspectives and critiques, willingly and generously. I am very grateful to them, one and all.

Kara Medoff Barnett, Ed Bligh, Shilla Kim-Parker, Dick Martin, Nessa Rapoport, Henry Wainhouse, and Sabrina Yudelson are not just able readers and critics possessed of high standards. They provided what every author also needs: encouragement and cheerleading.

Ken Auletta, Lee Bollinger, Jennifer Homans, Tim McClimon, Indra Nooyi, David Rubenstein, Steven Swartz, and Tracy Wolstencroft were also discerning reviewers of the manuscript. They cheerfully interrupted the rhythm of very busy lives to spend dedicated time with my work. I am the beneficiary of their caring and insightful views.

My lifelong best friend, Bart Friedman, offered a thorough and thoughtful assessment. The care of his commentary is illustrative of how generous he has been to me over the course of the six decades we have known one another.

It is no wonder, then, that Start Now is a better book for their thoughtful suggestions and motivational messages. It is no wonder, then, that I decided to answer those two questions affirmatively.

My wife, Elizabeth, and my son, Justin, did not hesitate to tell me how this book might improve. If you like what you are about to read, credit their benevolent intervention. If you harbor reservations, rest assured, they and their critical companions whom I have named are to be held blameless.

My literary agent, Jim Levine, knows his way around books and authors. He is a peerless coach. I am delighted that we could reunite to collaborate on this project.

Arthur Klebanoff is a rare creature in publishing and a new figure in my life. In a sometimes insular, thin-skinned, self-satisfied profession, he is an exception. Arthur actually advocates for his authors. He believes the books they generate should reflect their points of view and not his own. No writer could ask for a more reliable, supportive ally. I am fortunate to have found my way to him.

Arthurs colleague, Brian Skulnik, was an adept, adroit, and versatile managing editor. He rendered what is often a very tedious process into an enjoyable, collaborative experience. Working together with his colleague, Michelle Weyenberg, I was reminded of all that it takes to transform 55,000 words of copy into something magical, otherwise known as a handsome book.