Today's Guest Post

Suze's Nerve

by Tory Johnson
10/22/2009

I've always been impressed by no-nonsense money whiz Suze Orman when it comes to dispensing financial advice. I recently saw just how nervy she is when she thrust herself into the running in an ongoing online discussion about who should replace Diane Sawyer on ABC's Good Morning America when Diane takes over as World News anchor in January.

Let's be clear. Suze has no serious interest in the morning job: between her hit cable show, best-selling books and global speeches, I'd bet the specter of waking up at 3 a.m., five days a week has little attraction. I suppose I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

Regardless, she has been using social media to lobby for the job anyway, encouraging fans to vote for her in a reader poll by TVnewser.com. The latest results: Suze is by far the person readers want to see in the ABC anchor chair. Thanks to her pals on Twitter and other social media, she has engaged fans, had some fun and probably gotten more than a few observers thinking, “ Hey, why not Suze?” That's the kind of harmless stunt that shows she's capable of levity and doesn't take herself too seriously.

But it's also somewhat calculated: you never can tell who'll be in the market someday for someone who is web savvy, has a sense of humor and knows her stuff.

So I decided to tap into Suze's nerve. After she and I spoke at the Pennsylvania Governor's Conference for Women, I approached her with my trusty flip cam and asked her for a favor: would she shoot a video for my website in which she told fans just how serious she is? She could have blown me off but instead she readily agreed. Check it out here.

Since we posted it, the video has drawn thousands of new viewers to our website, made Suze and me friends (a girl's allowed to dream, right?) and has been a whole lot of fun. It took nerve on her part to start the stunt in the first place, and a bit of guts for me to ask her to take it to the next step too.

Was it worth it? Of course. You never know until you put yourself out there, take the risk, get your nerve.

Tory Johnson is the CEO of Women For Hire, the workplace contributor on ABC's Good Morning America, and a New York Times-bestselling author whose latest book is Fired to Hired. Talk to her at Twitter.com/ToryJohnson.