22 Nov 2016 The TV Instructor
I was seated in front of the headmaster. His piercing steely eyes looking straight at me, penetrating into the swirling thought flashing through my mind. I knew that I only had one or two seconds to respond. No time to consider the pros and cons. No time for a “what if” analysis. He was expecting just a simple answer: Yes or No.
*****
In this series of short stories, I want to share with you events that happened in my own life as well as in the lives of colleagues and coaching clients, from which I have learned career and life lessons. Some stories had positive outcomes, while others contain reflections on decisions and actions that I wish never happened. I hope that you will find them of value.
*****
Back to my story. I was 21 at the time and I have just started my engineering studies at the coveted Technion University (the MIT equivalent of Israel). I have been looking for a part-time job since my studies started and I was growing desperate. My meager savings were running out and I knew that my parents were not able to help me financially. I needed to find a job quickly, or I would have to abandon my university education. Becoming an engineer had been my childhood dream. I have been designing and building things ever since I could remember myself. So losing my dream of becoming an engineer would have been devastating.
Then one day, after weeks of scouring the papers for job ads, I saw an ad that said: “We are looking for an Electronics Instructor for our adult vocational school. Preference will be given to former Air Force Technical Academy instructors.” As I read the ad I got very excited. It looked as though it custom-tailored just for me. I have recently completed my four-year service in the air force, two of which these years I served as an instructor in the air force’s technical training academy. So I was determined to do everything I could to get the job. That afternoon I called the school and a week later I had my interview with the headmaster who was also the owner of this private school.
The first part of the interview went well, at least so I thought. And then came the crucial question: “Do you know Television?” asked the headmaster “We are looking for an instructor to teach the theory of television and practice of repairing TV sets.” The echoes of his question were ringing in my head, while his piercing eyes were watching my body language to learn as much as he could from the way I was going to respond to his question. As I was contemplating my answer, I tried to project as much confidence as I could, and show little of what was going through my mind in the two seconds I had before responding.
The truth was that although I was a very good electronics instructor at the air force, I had no knowledge of the inner workings of television sets, much less of how to fix them. In fact, I had never seen the inside of the television before. But at the same time, I knew that if I said “NO” I would lose this job opportunity and would not have the income I needed to pay for my engineering education. So after contemplating all this for two seconds, I said “YES” “I can apply my knowledge of radar electronics to television. In fact, my teaching experience at the air force will help me become one of your best instructors.” The headmaster paused for about 10 seconds, which looked like an eternity to me, and then said “OK. Be here for our practice lab workshop in two weeks on Wednesday at 6 PM. Our chief instructor will be at the lab to evaluate the three candidates we have for this job.” “Thank you, Sir,” I said. “It was a pleasure meeting you, and I’ll see you in two weeks.”
I dashed out of the headmaster’s office and went into the nearest coffee shop to think about my plan. Fifteen minutes and a cup of coffee later I knew what I had to do. First I went into the book store nearby and bought a set of six books about the theory and practice of television electronics. For the next two weeks, I would study these books every free hour I had – day and night. That second part of my plan was a bit more daring, but it was absolutely necessary. Two days later, on Friday night I went over to my then girlfriend’s house. Televisions were not as ubiquitous in those days and we did not have a television set at home. But my girlfriend had her own TV, in addition to the family TV. So as we were sitting in her room that Friday night chatting about the week that past, I said to her “You know, I think that your TV is not tuned properly, and we can get a much better picture out of it. Would you allow me to fix it for you?” “That is very kind of you, but I have to ask my parents first,” she said. Two days later she called and to my great relief she said: “I spoke to my parents about the TV and they said that you can try to tune it for me”. The next day I brought the heavy TV to my parents’ house. I opened the back cover and for the next week, I was studying the circuitry of my girlfriend’s TV with my books in hand.
Finally, the day of the practical lab arrived, and I showed up at the school just before 6 PM as instructed. I was determined to do my best and not to show the chief instructor how desperate and scared I was. “OK,” he said. “Our [adult] students have completed the six months theoretical part of the course, and now they are going through the three-month practical lab. Your objective for today is to walk around, answer any questions the student might have, and help them with their practical assignments, which are to fix the bugs we’ve inserted in the TV sets in front of them. I will observe you assess how well you are doing with the students.” For the next three hours I walked among the students from desk to desk, answering their questions as best I could, drawing on the knowledge I have gained from the six TV books and my girlfriend’s TV set. I was trying to look as confident as I could, but at the same time, I realized that some of the students knew a lot more about television electronics than me.
The following week, I received a letter from the school confirming that I have been hired as a TV instructor and that I have to report to the school the following week on Wednesday at 5:30 PM. I was elated and relieved at the same time, and I was determined to become the best TV instructor I could possibly be. When I arrived at the school the following Wednesday, the chief instructor briefed me on my responsibilities for the remainder of the practical lab portion of the current class. Just before he concluded the briefing he said “Look, Uri, we had three candidates for this position. None of you had the level of TV electronics knowledge we were hoping for. But we chose you because you conducted yourself the best with the students and I thought that you can learn quicker than the other candidates. So I hope that you will not disappoint us.” “Thank you, Sir,” I said. “I will not disappoint you.”
**********
In his book, On Becoming A Leader, the leadership guru Warren Bennis counted the ability to take prudent risks as one of the top qualities which all leaders should have. I do not consider myself a risk-taker, but as I reflected on my career in preparation for this series of posts, I realized that some of the risks I have taken produced very poor results, while others turned out very well for me. The story of my work as a TV instructor at the vocational school was one of them. I believe that when my decisions were guided by my values of learning, hard work and doing my best, they turned out well. But when I was misguided by other motives, the risks I have taken proved to lead to a poor outcome.
Learn More:
To subscribe to our Willpower Posts email us at Info@thewilltochange.com
To read our other posts go to https://www.thewilltochange.com/blog-and-tools/execu-blog/
