????明迪?格羅斯曼是一位冉冉上升的零售業明星高管。她在轉戰電視領域、成功改造HSN（家庭購物網絡）之前，曾先后執掌過著名服飾品牌拉夫?勞倫（Ralph Lauren）旗下的Polo Jeans 事業部和耐克公司（Nike）全球服飾業務。格羅斯曼為這個一度沉悶的家庭購物頻道增添了令人眩目的明星效應和數碼元素，打造了一家快速增長的媒體和零售混合型公司。經歷了黑暗的2008年之后，HSN的股價已經出現了10倍的增幅。由于她令人意想不到的成功軌跡，格羅斯曼本周被授予旨在表彰通訊領域杰出女性的“矩陣獎”（Matrix Awards）。就如同美國國家廣播環球公司（NBC Universal）的邦妮?海默（上個月，我曾撰寫過一篇關于她的文章）一樣，格羅斯曼發表了一段激動人心，充滿職業感悟的獲獎感言。謝謝明迪允許我向大家分享她在矩陣獎頒獎儀式上的精彩演講。

????2006年5月份，我正舒舒服服地安坐在耐克公司的辦公室里。這時候，我接到了一位獵頭的電話。他說：“想迎接新的挑戰嗎？我建議你見一下巴里?迪勒，接下IAC零售公司（IAC Retail）的運營重任。”

????IAC零售公司是一家年營收額高達30億美元、面向消費者的直銷商。這家公司由HSN頻道、HSN網站和基石系列品牌（Cornerstone Brands）組成，涉及產品銷售和電子商務領域。

????聽起來蠻有意思的。但有幾個問題：

????我沒有零售經驗。

????我沒有電視或媒體經驗。

????而且我也從來沒有看過HSN頻道。

????這位獵頭隨后還對我說了一句：“哦，順便說一下，你將是這家公司10年內的第8位CEO。”

????沒錯，問題大了。

????但我當時尋思著：又有誰愿意錯過與巴里?迪勒共進午餐的機會呢？

????對于我來說，加盟HSNi公司顯然并不是我在接下來的職業生涯中應該邁出的一步。“你要離開耐克公司，去經營一個電視購物頻道？”我的朋友和時裝界震驚萬分，錯愕不已。

????但那時，我已經有了一項切身體會——職業生涯中看似顯而易見的下一步并不總是最好的一步。實際上，我過去35年來的歷程全然不是線性的。

????1977年，當時20歲的我還是華盛頓特區一位主修英國文學和哲學的大四學生，一門心思想考上法學院，還已經跟即將成為醫生的高中男友訂婚了。

????聽起來就像是一位猶太裔母親為女兒編織的夢想，對吧？

????但后來發生了一件事。在學期中段的一個早晨，我醒過來后，突然意識到我一直在按照別人的想法生活。我一直是一位本本分分的乖乖女，是我們家走出的第一位大學生。我一直過著安安穩穩、可預見甚至令人艷羨的生活。

????但內心深處的我充滿激情，擁有一種強烈的使命感，十分渴望對這個世界產生影響。我對父母說，我想看看我的人生是否還存在另外一種可能性。

????你可以想象，當我透露出這種想法時，電話那端頓時鴉雀無聲的情景。

????剎那間，我中斷了結婚安排，離開學校，搬到了紐約市。

????Mindy Grossman was a rising-star retail executive, heading Ralph Lauren's (RL) Polo Jeans business and Nike's (NKE) global apparel, before she switched to TV and transformed HSN. By adding celebrity spark and digital dazzle to the once-dreary home-shopping channel, Grossman built a high-growth media-retail hybrid and multiplied HSN's stock price 10-fold from the dark days of 2008. For her unlikely success, she was honored this week at the Matrix Awards that go to top women in communications. Like NBC Universal's (CMCSA) Bonnie Hammer, whom I wrote about on Tuesday, Grossman gave an inspiring acceptance speech full of career lessons. Thanks, Mindy, for letting me share what the Matrix crowd heard:

????In May 2006, while comfortably ensconced in my office at Nike (NKE), I received a call from a recruiter who said: "I have your next challenge. You need to meet Barry Diller and run IAC Retail."

????IAC (IACI) Retail was a $3 billion direct-to-consumer business that included HSN, HSN.com, and Cornerstone Brands, a catalog and e-commerce portfolio.

????Sounded interesting. But there were a few issues:

????I had NO retail experience.

????I had NO television or media experience.

????And I had NEVER watched HSN.

????The recruiter then told me, "Oh, and by the way, you would be the business's eighth CEO in 10 years."

????So, YES, there were issues.

????But I figured: Who would pass on lunch with Barry Diller?

????For me, the path to HSNi wasn't the obvious next step in a career. "You're leaving Nike to run a TV shopping channel?" My friends and the fashion industry were in shock and disbelief.

????But by then, I already knew from experience that the obvious next step isn't always the best.

????Indeed, my journey over the past 35 years has been anything but linear.

????In 1977, I was a 20-year-old college senior in Washington, D.C., majoring in English literature and philosophy, fully intent on going to Law School and engaged to be married to my high school boyfriend who was about to become a doctor

????Sounds like a Jewish mother's dream for her daughter, right?

????But something happened. One morning, in the middle of the semester, I woke up and realized that I was living someone else's life. I had always been the dutiful adopted daughter -- the first generation in my family to go to college. I had a life that had been safe, predictable, and even enviable.

????But inside me, I had a sense of passion, a feeling of purpose, and the desire to make an impact. I told my parents that I wanted to see what else life had to offer.

????You can imagine the silence on the other end of the phone when I made that call!

????In one fell swoop, I broke off my engagement, left school, and moved to New York City.