The Hollywood Unicorn

Sign in Subscribe

Christine G Birch

Stop Bouncing Back

Stop Bouncing Back

The Case For Antifragility Resilience gets a lot of praise. Bounce back. Stay strong. Handle it gracefully. In the real world, corporate, creative, political, bouncing back often just puts you right where the hit landed. Same room. Same dynamics. Same hit, slightly different angle, coming again. That's the

The Art of Leverage

The Art of Leverage

The org chart said I was in charge. The politics said otherwise. Head of Marketing, Columbia Pictures. Post-Sony hack. The company was still reeling from one of the most public corporate disasters in Hollywood history. I was the first and only woman of color ever to hold that job

What the Oscars Can Teach You About Getting Promoted

What the Oscars Can Teach You About Getting Promoted

Every February, the most talented people in Hollywood sit in expensive outfits in uncomfortable seats and watch someone who is not them win. The film that wins Best Picture is only sometimes the best film. The actress who wins Best Actress is only sometimes the best performance of the year.

The Performance Review Trap

The Performance Review Trap

You did your homework. But you still got screwed. You spent hours preparing. You documented your wins. You quantified your impact. You built the deck, pulled the numbers, practiced your talking points. You came in ready. And it still didn't go the way you expected. Here's

Do You Secretly Have Loser Energy?

Do You Secretly Have Loser Energy?

You can have a good title, a solid salary, and a reputation for hard work and still be running on it. Loser energy is not about losing. Loser energy is a set of patterns. The way you position yourself in rooms. The way you respond to setbacks. The story you

The Loyalty Tax

The Loyalty Tax

You show up. You deliver. You don't complain. You handle the extra project, absorb the last minute change, cover when someone else drops the ball, fix the thing that wasn't your problem to fix, stay late, come in early, and send the comprehensive recap email that

How to Tell If You're Being Managed Out (Before They Tell You)

How to Tell If You're Being Managed Out (Before They Tell You)

Organizations don't fire people abruptly. That's messy and expensive, and HR doesn't love it. What they do instead is manufacture conditions that make you leave or fail.