You’ve got a new high-profile project to complete. Maybe it’s internal, possibly the launch of a new product or the opening of a new division. Maybe it’s public, the founding of your new startup perhaps.
Either way, it is easy to get distracted by the hype that a high-profile project can bring. Instead of becoming a FIGJAM (F@#K I’m Great Just Ask Me), focus on the business in hand first.
In the famous 1980’s U.S.A. civil case against Marc Rich, the infamous “King of Oil”, U.S Attorney Rudy Giuliani got sucked into “seeking the loudest possible fanfare for his dream trial that involves ‘the biggest tax fraud in the history of the United States’”. (1)
Instead of following normal diplomatic channels to see Rich’s arrest and extradition from Switzerland Giuliani took the strategy most likely to get the case and his name onto the headlines. This subsequently torpedoed his case, resulted in a diplomatic clash between the two countries and caused the hunt for Marc to drag on for years.
Giuliani did however become Mayor of New York and later launched un unsuccessful bid for the White House. Aiming for headlines may have helped his career, but it certainly didn’t help his case. It is arguable that having Rich in court instead of at large for 17 years until he was pardoned by Bill Clinton in 2011 may have helped Giuliani more in the long run.
Once the job is done — maybe the bad guy is behind bars or the new division is profitable — you can go ahead and tell people how great you are. Or better yet, you can live in silent glory.
(1) The Secret Lives of Marc Rich, The King of Oil, by Daniel Ammann.