Staring Down The Wolf Pdf

[Andrew Schiavo]

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The best stories can end in triumph, but along the way they have setbacks. They have false starts. They have pain. And in between those moments of defeat and victory, there are flashes of renewal. Times when we are forced to start with a clean sheet of paper, shuffle the deck, or hit F5 to refresh our browser. Doing so doesn't change who we are, but it does change our circumstances. It gives us a fresh chance at success. That idea is the cornerstone of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's new book, Hit Refresh.

I've had the privilege to help prepare for the book's launch on September 26 and read an advance copy. It follows his own journey, beginning with his upbringing in India, through a career that led him to become only the 3rd CEO in our company's 42 year history, and looks forward to some technologies and trends that will shape our society in the years to come. Along the way, he weaves in stories of the challenges he's faced, both personally and professionally; how he and the company he leads found renewal in the face of those setbacks. At the end of the book, Satya challenges readers to share our own Hit Refresh moment--a time in our lives when the chips were down and we needed the fresh start.

The year was 2010. I had a 6 and an 8 year old, a mortgage, and a minivan. I was unemployed and staring down the barrel of my 40th birthday less than a year away. Three years earlier, I left a full-time job at Microsoft to pursue what was formerly a side business as a full time endeavor. While working at Microsoft, I started what the kids today call a "side hustle." My wife and I created a series of children's DVDs and CDs that had found some success and our product line was growing. I wanted to take a shot at growing that business full time. Long story short, the economy crashed in 2008, people stopped buying CDs and DVDs, and I quickly learned that what was a great second income wasn't a very good primary income.

Despite what seemed on the surface like a failure, my time running this business planted the seeds for much of what I do today. As I was marketing my DVDs and CDs, I started a Facebook page for the business. I joined a new social network called Twitter. I made connections on LinkedIn. I got interested in social media, and that interest made me want to devour everything I could learn on the topic. I listened to podcasts by Mitch Joel, Shel Holtz, and C.C. Chapman. After three years of learning and practicing on my own business, I got pretty damn good at this still-new phenomenon called social media.

I always loved working at Microsoft, despite having left it twice (the first time was back in 1998, when the siren call of the dotcom boom lured me to a startup). Was I ready to try and get back there for a third tour of duty? And if so, why the hell would they hire me? Would I look like damaged goods who couldn't hack it the first two times around? Would people see through my entrepreneurial pitch and know that my fun-to-talk-about business wasn't exactly thriving?

One day, while pouring through the job listings on the Microsoft Career Center, I saw a job posting for a Social Media Manager. "That's what I want to be when I grow up," I said, to the bewilderment of the woman at the next table at Starbucks. And, in a stroke of dumb luck, I also knew the hiring manager, Craig Beilinson. Craig and I had been friends for years--the guy was at my bachelor party in Vegas in '99--deep bonds are formed in those kind of moments. But my friendship with Craig by no means made me a shoe-in for the job. In fact, it created some obstacles. When we first sat down for our informational interview, he asked me "if this thing happens, how are we going to do it without ruining our friendship?" Also, Craig told me he received 250 resumes for this position.

Two hundred and fifty! Surely there were some duds among them, but there were probably some superstars, too. What was I going to do to set myself apart? Over the next few days, probably on a jog, where I do my best thinking, I came up with a mantra that would guide me in my pursuit of this role.

I decided that I was going to throw everything I had at this interview, doubts be damned. My training regimen was like the second act of a Rocky movie, but with more internet. I went for long runs. I deconstructed the job description, carefully crafting answers to questions that I thought would come up. I researched the people who would be on my interview loop, checking for common connections on LinkedIn and reading their tweets. I fired up Photoshop and created a rather unconventional resume:

I thought about what I'd do in the job, and wrote down some notes. Those notes grew to be several pages long, and then I got an idea: What if I created something that others wouldn't have the time, or energy, or perceived permission to do. What if I turned my notes into something to bring with me to the interview?

Printed in color and professionally bound, my plan weighed in at about 16 pages. It included an analysis of Microsoft's existing social media properties (they weren't much at the time), an analysis of other companies' social footprints, and recommendations for how I'd tackle things if I got the job. I mocked up this Facebook screen shot for the cover (click the image and you can read the whole damn thing):

Fast forward to my interview loop and I'm getting grilled by Steve Clayton. He asked me some question about how we should run our Twitter account, and I said "well that's a really interesting question. I've given that some thought--" then I reached into my bag, pulled out the manifesto, and THUMP! down on the table it went.

Here's the thing about my little gambit: Nobody asked me to do it, but nobody told me I couldn't, either. It was my way of showing the team that I did my homework, I knew my stuff, and I was different than those other 249 candidates.

WildSides is an award-winning 501c3 non-profit multimedia and documentary organization that films and produces stories, provides information, creates multimedia interactive products that drive educational awareness, and offers a means for collaboration and understanding regarding human-wildlife interaction and conflict. Projects include wildlife topics like the North Atlantic Right Whale and the endangered Red Wolf.

We are honored and ecstatic that Chris' story received the "Best Feature Film" award at the Sunrise 45 Film Festival and the prestigious "Atman Award for Diversity in Film" at the Southern States Indie FanFilmFest! A heartfelt thank you to the audiences!

Chris Lucash received the final verdict in June of 2015: He has a "terminal disease" - ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, aka "Lou Gehrig's Disease"). ALS affects the nerve cells (motor neurons) responsible for movement such as walking, talking, chewing and more. It gets worse over time until a person is no longer able to breathe and swallow. Heartbroken and angry he starts his journey to find meaning in life and in dying. How does a person who depends so deeply on his physicality, working with wolves in the wild, deal with this debilitating disease? This is a transcendent story about a person searching for meaning in mortality, while watching the future of his life's work challenged and fall into doubt.

Staring Down Fate is a painfully heartwarming story about a man who dedicated himself to bringing red wolves back from extinction in the wild, but who's life takes a drastic turn when he is diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease).

But throughout this inspirational tragedy, Chris provides us with warm and light-hearted moments. We learn from him and his team working with red wolves in the wild and learn with him and his family as his health declines.

Even with dying on the horizon, Chris finds meaning in the hope that his story will contribute to bringing people closer to nature and each other. He inspires us to find comfort and passion in living lives of purpose to continually make this world a better place.

This film features unparalleled access to the red wolf recovery program over six years of filming and provides never-before-seen footage as Chris and his colleagues work with wild endangered red wolves. Chris spent 29 years on a team that reintroduced the endangered red wolf into the wild in northeastern North Carolina. In 1986 zero red wolves existed outside of captivity. The wild population grew to an estimated 110 to 130 individuals, but recently declined dramatically to fewer than 45 in the wild. The entire program in northeastern North Carolina is under review and potentially faces its demise. Chris stares down fate along with the red wolf, as they fight for their space and time.

In Staring Down Fate we will experience Chris' work with red wolves, learn about the importance he places on humans connecting with nature, and witness the extreme physical effects of a disease correlated with many potential factors ranging from genetics to pollution. We will explore these potential causes of ALS, experience the struggle of knowing your life has changed and your days are numbered, and search for how to feel fulfilled even when your career work is in jeopardy of being cut.

This film came about because Chris wanted his young children to see what he did in life and in his career. But the film progressed because it is about all of us: our relationship to nature, our search to find purpose in life and our struggle to find meaning in mortality. Most of us have had a loved one deal with imminent death and many know people with neurodegenerative diseases. Staring Down Fate will serve to fulfill Chris' dream for more people to learn about the plight of the elusive red wolf and for his kids to learn about nature, wildlife and how their father spent his life. The depth of this story and dissemination of the film will further increase awareness of the correlations between environmental issues and neurodegenerative diseases, like ALS. It illustrates the need for more ALS research into causes and treatments. But most of all, it inspires all of us to live our lives with purpose to make this world a better place.

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