Speaking Up

I distinctly remember when I returned to One Life to Live as an AD after having worked at Cosby for four years (this is not idle name-dropping, there's a purpose here). At Cosby, I was called upon to do things I'd never done before and to coordinate people who were, in some ways, far more experienced than I. If I was to survive, I needed to speak up, to own my position and my choices. I needed to go out on a limb and see that I wouldn't fall. On the contrary, I saw that going out on that limb enabled me to notice things I hadn't before.
 
So, when I went back to One Life to Live, I went back as a far more vocal AD than I had been when I left. Those survival skills that I'd developed served me well as an AD and then as a director. I had learned to have an opinion and to feel comfortable expressing it. I had learned to speak up.
 
As I navigate a freelance world, speaking up may not always be quite as easy. When you are constantly walking into new situations and working with new people, it is harder to know how your opinions will be received. Yet, in the end, the lessons from Cosby and beyond have stayed with me. While I do a great deal of listening and observing (because that's just who I am), I speak up when I need to. I have opinions, and I own them. I learned a long time ago that my survival--and my success--depended on being able to speak up. And what good would life experience be if it didn't help you in new situations?
 
These days, you don't have four years (Cosby) or 20 (One Life) to make an impression. You have about three days. Which makes me really glad that along the way, I learned that it's okay--more than okay--to say, "this is what I think." To speak up.