Hepburn Was Right

It’s not enough to be talented. I mean there’s a lot of talent out there, but it’s owned by lazy, stupid or essentially boring people. You can’t just be talented. You have to be terribly smart and energetic. You also have to become necessary to people, by working hard and bringing more than your bones and your skin to the project. Don’t just show up. Transform the work, yourself and everybody around you. Be needed. Be interesting. Be something no one else can be – and be it consistently....

This hangs from a tack board on the third floor on Hereford Street in a classroom building where Sophia sang "Anything Goes" at the Boston Conservatory of Music. Most of the parents and kids just ambled by the sign, but I fell back along with this guy Fred Hallen from NYC. His granddaughter was singing too and there he and I were, total strangers, staring at this Katherine Hepburn classic. Fred turned to me and said – “You know I’m pretty smart and I work hard and bring a lot to projects….but I don’t have a lick of talent….” Then he laughed like a bear probably laughs. Talent is probably overrated, I said, but sometimes it sure can’t hurt. In healthcare, I imagine the most talented are those behind the curtain creating diagnostic and treatment advances, or cardiologists and anesthesiologists and oncologists who need a steady hand and calming presence. I might argue that talent is less important for many on the frontlines – that the singing nurse who shows up every day to care for the older lady alone at home is being exactly what Hepburn called for. Needed. Interesting. Consistent.