Growing up, I loved watching old black and white monster movies on TV. My favorites were any of the old Universal horror films. The actors were all the same. Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, and of course the most famous: Boris Karloff. It was Karloff that made Frankenstein’s monster famous (yeah, the monster’s name wasn’t Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein was his creator).
When Boris Karloff was offered the role, he wasn’t sure he should take it. Up to this point, Karloff starred in a few westerns and crime dramas. One day while waiting for a bus in the rain, was offered a ride by legendary horror movie actor Lon Chaney Sr. (who starred in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera). He asked Chaney his thoughts on the movie. Chaney’s response was simple.
“Find a character nobody wants to play and do it better than anyone else could.”
It was good advice. The role helped springboard Karloff to fame, and he continued to make films until his death in 1969. Imagine if he had turned that role down?
17 years after Karloff rode Frankenstein to fame, newly graduated lawyer Joe Flom was having a hard time finding a job. Most law firms in the 1940s wanted to hire white lawyers with a country club pedigree. Flom was Jewish. He eventually found a position litigating corporate mergers. He wasn’t that busy as hostile takeovers were rare. Not only that, corporate merger law was seen as dirty and undesirable as a practice. It didn’t matter to Flom. He owned that space. By the 1970s and 1980s, when hostile takeovers were common, Flom was the expert. His law firm is one of the largest in the United States, and while he passed away in 2011, his impact is still felt today.
Both Karloff and Flom became experts in an area that wasn’t popular or desirable. Rather than complain and quit, both made the decision to be the absolute best. They perfected their roles, built their skills, and collected experiences. The very thing they saw as a barrier became their vehicle for success.
We’ve all had experiences like Karloff and Flom haven’t we? Put into a dead-end job or given a project that looks like a boring loser. If that happens, we have two choices:
- Bitch and complain. Give the project a half-assed effort.
- Treat that assignment like it’s as important as national security. Own it. Embrace it. Give 110% to it. Promote it. Brag about it. Ride it to success.
Karloff and Flom could have given up. But if they did, their career trajectory would have been much different. They might still have success, but I doubt their names would be synonymous with horror films and corporate takeover litigation.
Your dead-end assignment might just be your ticket to success and fame. What have you got to lose?