strong

Career

Video

Standard Article

Hearst Editorial

- I am a full on Shonda Rhimes fan girl, Shonda is an award-winning writer, producer, and author but she is so much more than any specific title. I have cried and laughed out loud, reading her words. I sweat to her Peloton inspired rides. And then most recently, I spent a weekend devouring Bridgerton, and my kids were definitely wondering where I had disappeared to. So, Shonda is very much a part of my life, uh, and beyond her many outstanding accomplishments, what always impacts me the most is Shonda's humanity, her perspective and the reflection she brings into everything she does. Shonda, thank you so much for being here with us today. - Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. - Awesome. We're so thrilled. This conversation is a timely gift for so many of us when we're challenged to keep going, to keep track of our humanity, and to not lose sight of the things that matter most. And so with that, we're going to dive in. Over the years, you have traveled just an incredibly amazing road. From screenwriting Dorothy Dandridge, to creating Grey's Anatomys, and now to producing Bridgerton. You're incredibly well-educated, and you've worked incredibly hard, but what was the inspiration for your writing and creating the stories and characters that you brought to life? And did you always know that you would be successful? - Um, I definitely didn't always know I would be successful. I think for me, you know, I always knew I wanted to tell stories. And I think the big part of that for me was trying to figure out how to take the thing I loved: storytelling, and turn it into a job, a career something I could make a living at. And that part wasn't easy. And I think I, you know thought of doing a million different things. I thought maybe advertising, I thought I'd be a novelist. I wasn't sure, like how to make a living at doing the thing I wanted to do. And until, sort of hitting upon this idea of, it felt really good to tell stories in this medium on television and, and the way I have been. But even that wasn't really, um, end game of being successful. I mean I think, having the idea is one thing, putting it into action and turning it into something is quite another thing. There's a lot that goes into getting, you know, getting from, "oh, this is what I want to do" to actually making it happen. And so, yeah, you know, going to film school working hard there, but just every day, figuring out what that next step is, um, is the hard part. And the, and the part to getting successful. And frankly, I don't think I felt successful until about, maybe two years ago, even though maybe other people would define success that way. I, I think for me, I, I was still pushing and thinking, you know, "I haven't done it yet." - So, we're talking today because thousands of people are trying to navigate a new normal. Um, this is a world we're all on video, all the time and we all know it can be incredibly difficult. Um, and we're discovering new things about ourselves and the way that we work. You've probably had to change your style, your approach with your staff and various partners, numerous times. How have you adjusted to this change and what have you learned along the way? - I think for, you know, oftentimes we look at other people and we think that they've sort of made it look easy and we always think that other, other people have figured out a way to do it. And I know that I'm guilty of that myself, but, you know I think part of it is in how you look at things, you know I'm a person who I've always sort of said, you know there's no such thing as a challenge. It's just another hill to be climbed and, you know, there's you know, just keep going one of those things. And so that's been part of the resiliency of getting through this kind of crazy, incredible time. But some really practical things have helped me. I think probably the most important thing I've learned is that, you know, we're not in a normal phase of anything that we've learned. So, things like meetings don't matter, you know you, you can't make them, well not, "meetings don't matter," most meetings don't matter. In the way that you sort of think, "okay we're now not in the office together. We're all doing stuff online. We've got to get together and talk about all of these things all the time," the way you would if you were passing one another in the hallway or, or just having impromptu chats. You can't sit online all day. So most meetings don't matter. And so I had to institute a rule at our office that it, you know, that says "if there's no agenda, there's no meeting." And that really helped cut down on people like being forced to sit online which I think was very important and, and made everybody feel more efficient. A couple of the other things that this whole "new normal" has forced me to realize is that, you know you really have to cut everyone, some slack. I mean, if we really think about it this is not just a new normal, there's been a pandemic. There's been a social justice reckoning. There's been a political uprising. People have had their lives upended. Most, some of us are homeschoolings. People have had changes in caregiving. We're all working from home. Like it's not just a small, new normal our entire lives have changed. And so if none of this is normal we can't expect the people who we're working with and working for, and who are working for us to be 100% all the time, or the people they were before. I mean, everyone's year has been a complete game changer. So if that's true, you have to really expect that people that they are now, might not be the people that they would be always. I think that's important, you know, to me. I also think that you have to figure out ways to enjoy it any way you can. And I think that becomes a whole new thing. You have to figure out, you know, how to how do you get through all of this and find the good stuff you know about it? Like I've discovered there's something lovely about never having to put your shoes on to go to work. And I've discovered that there's something great about saying to myself, "well, at three o'clock every day I'm going to stop and maybe I'll pick up again at five o'clock," and just creating a way to make those hours work. I've also discovered that when I go back to the office, I won't be, you know, be suggesting that every single person go back to the office. I figured out that there are some jobs that you don't need to go back to the office for. - I think that's, I think that's so, so profound on so many levels. And I love this idea of, continuing to give each other slack and grace, and finding the, the silver linings and, and the humor in the situation. So thank you for that. I think a lot of people wanted to hear that. So one of the most fascinating things to me, just watching you, is how many times you've channeled your talent throughout your career. You've made your way as a powerful storyteller, producer, to the CEO of a global media company, that's creating content across multiple verticals. How have you fueled those transformations and changed time and time again so successfully? - The important part I think at our company and, and this is not just me, this is everyone who works there, is I'm always saying to everybody, and we're always asking ourselves, "what's next?" The only way to innovate, is to never get comfortable. You know, I keep saying to people, you know, "great we made, we made Grey's Anatomy and everybody loves that television show and it might still be on the air now, but we can't rest on those laurels because that's a little bit like you know, a quarterback, you know, who was, who was the game winning quarterback 20 years ago going back to high school and saying like, see what I did." We have to keep moving forward. You can be proud of your accomplishments before, but we have to figure out what the next thing is. And that sense of constantly needing to innovate is important. So if I say we're storytellers, what are all the different ways we can be telling stories? You know, for me it was not just, writing television shows. Then it was can I write a book? Then it was can we do podcasts? Can we, you know, have a website? It became about what else are we doing? You know, one of the things I'm proudest of is getting, getting the sense of looking forward and figuring out what's next in television, you know, and looking towards streaming and thinking, well, maybe that's what's really next for where showrunners are going for television and going there. So, increasingly being a person who doesn't just rest and sit and think, "okay, I'm comfortable now we've done it," is important. I, I also think that if I was a person who thought we've done it and then just rested, I probably would, I don't know die of boredom, but I think it's important to really constantly be looking forward to never assume that you've hit a finish line. There are no finish lines. If there are, then there's, there's nothing to strive for. So we're always striving to figure out what's next. Even if it's in the smallest way, you know we made season one of Bridgerton. How are going to make season two better? It's not just, oh, everybody liked it. That's great. How are we going to make that better? How are we going to innovate that in a better way? Every day I think that's important to all of us. - I think that's really profound. And this idea of just continuing to ask ourselves how we could do it different, better, and that's I think it keeps things interesting, as well. And as one of the Bridgerton fans I can't wait to see what you do with season two, as well. So looking forward to that. You said, "happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you're supposed to be, and being traditional is not traditional anymore." And you've advised people to live as themselves. How much of challenging our own scripts is really part of changing the story of the future? - I think a lot of it is. I mean, think about who you, you know you make yourself believe these ideas about yourself and what you're capable of, and that limits you completely. You know, the idea that we can tell ourselves, you know to push harder, to go further, to try different things, to, to redefine ourselves is important. It allows you to sort of believe in yourself and stand in your power. And I know that, you know, those sound like words a lot when you hear people say them, but the reality of the situation is, is, is really getting a sense of like what you believe in and getting to know yourself, what your skills are, what your, what your skillset is what your gifts are, what you're good at, allows you to be a much more confident person and allows you to challenge yourself in those areas and move forward. And then look at the things that you're not so great at and figure out how you're going to shore those up. How you're going to learn, how you're going to get better. And being confident in those areas and working on the areas you're not so good at. Challenging yourself is important. I mean, I think that's that's entirely what my book "Year of Yes" was about was literally about the fact that there were I was a terrified introvert who couldn't speak in public. So, challenging that area of myself really changed my life. And so for all of us, I think having that mindset of moving forward and challenging yourself is important. - I definitely took that away from your book and stand in your power, such a strong call to people, to believe in themselves and just push, push themselves forward, and your book was a great reminder, and a great inspiration in that way for all of us. So even as a self-proclaimed bad-ass, there are hard days. And you've talked about the importance of gratitude especially in the midst of this pandemic. A lot of us and a lot of people are feeling these difficult times. What are the moments of gratitude, hope and reflection that we can tap into as we go into 2021? - You know, I recently wrote about this too. And it was because I had this realization. That it is so hard to stay positive and stay focused and stay upbeat about everything that's gone on. It's, it's not easy and it's not easy for anybody, I don't think. No matter what your problems are or where you are, or what you've been dealing with. Everybody's had a hard time right now. For me, I think what became really powerful was realizing that figuring out what good things happened last year or what the good things were that you could be grateful for or proud of was important. And at first I started thinking like what are the good things that happened to everybody? And it's great to think about what are the good things that happened sort of collectively for the world, but those are everybody's you know what I mean? And they're important but they don't hit as personally as they should. And it's nice to think about the great things that happened to people, you know and love. But those also, it's easy to cheer on other people. It's much easier to cheer on other people than it is to cheer yourself on. I find for most people. So I sat down and I tried to make a list of like just 10 good things that had happened in my life that mattered to me personally, in some way. And I had a really hard time doing it but when I started doing it, they were tiny little things. And I mean, my daughter learned how to ride a bike. You know, she, she overcame her fears of things, and finding those tiny things that were accomplishments that were things I was grateful for in the year was really powerful because it allowed me to look at the year in an entirely different way to look at what the year was and then to see how in such a year, you know, I had found ways to grow and to change and to make things better for the people that I loved and for the people who were important to me and for myself. And I think that that is powerful for all of us. It's powerful when you're at work, even. I looked at work differently. I mean, I found a completely new way to work, which, I mean I am a very habit driven person. An incredibly habit driven person, so for me to find a completely new way to be creative and work and, and be a part of my company and build things was powerful as well, because I figured out what worked, what, what made me feel good what I was grateful for in that area. And it made me appreciate the people that I worked with even more because their gifts became much more visible because you're only working with them in a certain capacity and a certain small little pieces of pie. You're not sort of seeing them all day every day. It's a really powerful thing to sort of really take a moment, to be grateful for what you've accomplished, what the people around you have accomplished and what you have. I think, I don't know, I don't think we do it enough. And I think, we do it a lot for other people. We do it a lot when we think about the world. But we don't do it enough for ourselves in a way that, um, really allows you to examine where you're going and how you've grown. And I think that might be, probably, the greatest thing I've learned this year, is that taking the time to figure out where I've grown and where I still need to go is that's not something that you stop doing. You know, giving yourself a little bit of a report card every year is not something that you stop doing. That's something that you should continue to do year after year after year. It's what keeps you going. It's what keeps you growing. - I think that notion of "if we can find those things to be grateful for and inspired by in 2020, then we can find them in any year going forward," So what a great message, - Absolutely. - to send to this team and, and everyone listening in 2021, it's a great, a great one. So Shonda, just a huge, enormous amount of thanks for all of us. Your story inspires us. Your vision inspires us, and we just look forward to what else you bring to us in the world in the months and years to come. So thank you for spending time with us. - Oh, thank you so much. It's so wonderful to sit down and talk to you.

The pandemic has disrupted the workplace for so many of us, and Shonda Rhimes is no exception. In this video with LinkedIn’s Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Selcher, Rhimes talks about transforming the challenges of the pandemic into opportunities for personal and professional growth. She also reminds us of the importance of giving ourselves grace. From taking added breaks and cutting herself and her employees extra slack to finding gratitude for the little joys and accomplishments she’s experienced over the past year, here are some words of encouragement and wisdom to help you navigate what we hope is the home stretch of the pandemic.

Shonda Rhimes on Finding Resilience During the Pandemic

Career & Money