SUBTEXTCorporation. According to an article in The New York Times, Mr-
Dale discovered that his company was going to be acquired by
MGM, and he worried about his future in spite of the company's
reassurance that there would be no mass dismissal. "They kept
telling us not to worry, that everything would stay the same after
the merger, that everybody would stay in New York at their same
jobs," Mr. Dale remembered.
However, a perceptible, ongoing subtext contradicted the compa-
ny's overt reassurance and could have clued him in to reality.
"We were suddenly using European and other foreign banks for
financing, and our budgets for film production costs were starting
to dwindle," Mr. Dale said. He also recalled that money in general
was getting tight and that employees didn't know who their leaders
were, "the UA guys in New York or the MGM people in L.A."
Within a year, Mr. Dale, along with other directors, was out of a
job. Had he read the situation correctly, Mr. Dale noted, he would
have started job hunting at once.
Mr. Dale's case is not unusual. According to a Manhattan execu-
tive recruiter, most people like to take the "ostrich approach"
and ignore the signals. However, there is no question that if you
are willing to attend to them, there are usually perceptible subtex-
tual signals that can help you manage your career. Among the
obvious, but too often ignored, signals, this recruiter says, "are
things like, you suddenly don't get the same signals that others
get; you don't get invited to certain important meetings or social
events in the company, or you have to suddenly share your private
secretary." These signals, combined with the subtext behind your
boss's manner, can give you a clue that it's time to "jump." The
important thing is to read them and understand the subtext behind
them.
There are times when the subtext lies not in incidents but in