I had an unexpected reflection this week after interviewing for a strategic communications role. While technically I was the candidate, and honestly I should have been nervous because it was an opportunity I was ideally suited for, but it felt more like a strategy session. There was an easy exchange of ideas and thoughtful reflections by all participants. We discussed communications strategy, including crisis scenarios, executive messaging challenges, thought-leadership development, and organizational alignment. I felt energized in a way I realized I have missed in my recent roles in fund development.
What struck me afterward was how easily the answers came to me. How naturally I could name what the real issue might be and how to respond. I could connect a challenge to potential solutions without overthinking.
This was not just instinct. It was a recognition of patterns shaped by many experiences over years of marketing, PR, and most recently development work. While being new to a profession is exciting and has its own rewards, there is tremendous power in drawing from a deep reservoir of complex experiences.
My career has lived at the intersection of marketing, PR, and storytelling and, more recently, fund development. Even when communications was not the headline of my role, it was always the through-line. Messaging donors, preparing executives for key conversations, navigating board dynamics, shaping narratives around impact and vision… all of it sits squarely in the world of human behavior and communication.
And when you have spent decades in that world, you start to see patterns:
- How people respond under stress.
- What leaders need to feel prepared.
- The difference between a communication issue and a clarity issue.
- The early warning signs of a crisis.
- When a story is ready and when it is not.
- How trust is built, and how it is lost.
- What motivates action, and what creates friction or confusion.
I learned these things across thousands of interactions, across industries, and from working with many different leaders with varied strengths and styles.
Pattern recognition has sharpened my judgement and my confidence.
What I realized after that interview is that the ability to respond quickly and thoughtfully was not about preparation. It was simply that I have seen enough scenarios to make sense of complexity faster.
Pattern recognition does not make decisions for you. It helps you ask better questions.
It gives me the confidence to say, “Here is what is happening, here is what matters, and here is what we need to do next.” This is the value of experience. Not tenure, not titles, but the compounded clarity that builds over time.
This moment reminded me why I am so energized by strategic communication. I have spent years honing the craft and the patterns I have collected along the way are now one of my strongest assets.
And one day, in the middle of a really good interview, you suddenly realize something that can get lost in the day to day. The realization that you have discovered a whole new superpower.
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