One day, you'll be cool

“One day, you’ll be cool.”

One of the first great lines from the classic Cameron Crowe film “Almost Famous” sets everything in motion. For the film, for the filmmaker, for me, and maybe for you as well.

If you aren’t familiar with this movie (I count it #1 on my own list), the basic premise is that a young high school student named William Miller dreams of becoming a music journalist in order to have a seat at the table during 1970s rock’s heyday. Through various serendipitous events — as well as Miller’s own Jiminy Cricket in the form of music critic Lester Bangs — he finds himself on a summer tour with an up-and-coming band, Stillwater, to tell the story as well as become part of the story.

“Almost Famous” provides a fantastical musical “Pilgrim’s Progress” about a fan’s journey to become part of the industry he loves. I experienced it a bit myself when I grew up as a basketball fan, worked for a decade covering the NBA while at Vox Media, and in the process had some small influence on the sport I loved. I talked to players and coaches, attended the NBA draft, and even became Facebook friends with NBA commissioner, 27Adam Silver. The NBA even has its own William Miller of sorts in the form of 30Erik Spoelstra, who started as a video coordinator for the Miami Heat in the 90’s, worked his way up the ladder, and eventually became a widely admired head coach, winning championships with LeBron James.

All this to say, reporter Adam Zaki’s conversation with Boston Red Sox CFO Tim Zue resonated with me on several levels. First and foremost, Zue oversees financial operations for a $4.5B franchise (293rd in MLB overall). But also, because he was previously an 8th grade math teacher who could not have been farther from the dream of being an executive for a storied baseball franchise. But he took a shot on himself, landed an unpaid summer internship with the Sox, and eventually ascended to the leadership role of finance chief in 2017, celebrating a World Series win in 2018. 

We hope you’ve been reading CFO long enough to know that there are many pathways to the top of the class. But now, maybe more than ever, there are opportunities for people to pursue their dream job. Zue, and many others, have demonstrated that is not only possible, but with added “38range” (© 30David Epstein), leaders like Zue have even greater capacity for problem–solving, precisely because of those varied pathways. 

“Don’t let those swill merchants rewrite you,” Bangs says to the impressionable Miller. Zue certainly didn’t. He wrote his own story.