'Cool' Is One Thing Money Can't Buy

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Feb 1, 2003 by Cable Neuhaus

Byline: CABLE NEUHAUS Editor-in-Chief cneuhaus@mediacentral.com

Have you noticed that many of our best magazines each year produce a "Most Powerful People" issue, while some of our most powerful magazine brands annually put out one or more "Best of" issues? I always enjoy reading these. When they're based on a collection of hard data, great. And when they're openly, boastfully subjective about who is powerful or what is best, even better. I want a magazine's experts to tell me what they think. As a reader, I figure that's what I'm paying for.

So, now it's FOLIO:'s turn to produce one of these (I hope) entertaining packages. We're focusing on jobs. Not the Most Powerful Jobs, not the so-called Best Jobs. We're talking about the Coolest Jobs. How do we define them? Well, let's begin by acknowledging a widely known truth: Pure, unalloyed power is easy to detect, because it remains largely in the hands of those who sign the big checks (CEOs, publishers, and the like). The Most Powerful People in Magazine Publishing would be an easy list to assemble, and a totally predictable one. As I see it, there's nothing inherently cool about sitting in a corner office and calling the shots. Besides, FOLIO:'s staff determined that there should be no link - none - between Coolest Jobs and fattest salaries. Cool had to stand on its own.

How, then, do you know if your job is cool?

* Some of your colleagues would forgo salary to do what you do. * You'd forgo a higher salary and a promotion in order to continue doing what you do. * Your nieces and nephews all want to have your job one day. * You never calculate how many hours you spend at work. * You're not recruitable - that is, you can't be lured to another company - unless it has the same job and offers you more dough. * You'd rather be at work than on vacation. * No neckties, no fancy threads are required. * You can listen to music through your MP3 player while you work. * You get no bullshit from your bosses. * When you tell people what you do for a living, they invariably respond, "Oh, wow! Cool."

My own job is pretty great, it seems to me, although I'm not sure, technically speaking, if it's cool. One of the nicest things about it is that I'm surrounded by colleagues who've sniffed the FOLIO: glue pot. They know exactly what to do, even when I'm down. The last couple of weeks, while I've been home recuperating from a bout of pneumonia, the team has barely missed a beat. (Thanks, guys. In my book, you're all cool.)