Miranda Priestly Wouldn't Like These 7 Career Tips

Contrary to what Miranda Priestly believes, you don't have to be cold to get ahead. Editor-in-Chief of Glamour Magazine Cindi Leive's career advice includes not only praising her team, but also getting to know them. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Leive, discusses her connection to the magazine world from a young age and shares advice she's learned from leading an international women's publication. The best part? Her friendlier approach to fashion disproves many generalizations portrayed in The Devil Wears Prada. Turns out working at a magazine isn't so scary after all.

Each week, The New York Times offers a column called "Corner Office," which features interviews about leadership and management with author and NYT Columnist and Deputy Science Editor Adam Bryant. In this week's Corner Office column, Leive also offered some words of wisdom to recent college graduates as well as tips to seasoned professionals.

The movie, starring Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, an entry-level assistant to editor-in-chief of Runway Magazine, Miranda Priestley (played by Meryl Streep) offered a glimpse into the supposedly cut-throat world of the fashion magazine industry. Thankfully, here are seven ways Leive proved that those who work beneath her don't have to "gird their loins" each time she walks into the office.

1. Have Confidence

While Priestly practically oozed confidence, which helped her become so respected in the fashion world, Emily and Andy could have used a healthy dose of the stuff when interacting with their boss.

Leive urged woman in the industry to be assertive. "You cannot, when you're pitching an idea, proceed it with 'well this is probably a bad idea, but... you might think I'm crazy... I'm sure someone else has already proposed this...' I have never heard a man say any of those things to me," Leive told Bryant.

2. Ask Questions

Although she didn't exactly offer this as advice, Leive confessed to not "asking many questions in the beginning as I should have" when it came to management.

3. Soup To Nuts

Unlike Sachs, read the publication you're interview for before the interview, then come with ideas for your potential new job. Leive said, "People who can come up with a great idea and execute it, soup to nuts, are really valuable."

"There’s not one right answer, but I want to see that there is a reason." Leive told Bryant. Know why you want the position and what great things you can bring to the table. "Convince" the interviewer why you would be great at the job. This advice is useful for entry-level candidates as well as veteran professionals interviewing for a new role.

4. Don't Expect Your Heart to Sing Everyday

Leive acknowledged that everyone does better when they like some aspect of his or her job, but "the idea that your job is going to make your heart sing on a daily basis is just not true." But she encouraged graduating college students to aim for a good singing-to-bummed ratio.

Sachs had it pretty rough at Runway Magazine, but she enjoyed where the job could lead her. Priestly's other assistant, Emily (played by Emily Blunt) had it rough as well, but she used the old "tell yourself you love it until it's true" trick.

5. Dole Out The Praise

Priestly was hard-pressed to offer a compliment, but Leive lives by a piece of advice an executive editor once gave her: "You should count the number of times you praise somebody and then double that." Everyone can take a compliment every once in awhile. It's a great reminder of why they are valuable to a company.

6. You Don't Have to "Juggle" It All

The metaphor of "juggling it all" is not an appealing one to Leive. As a recent graduate, it's easy for me to think I need to have impeccable style, write the best words, maintain a blog, and apply for 348974 jobs per day, all while maintaining a real life. But juggling a lot of balls makes it that much easier for them all to come crashing down.

7. Get To Know Your Team

Priestly and Emily did not care about the details of Andy's life. Conversely, Leive told Bryant that being interested in your team member's lives gives you good will.

Images: The Devil Wears Prada/Twentieth Century Fox; Giphy(8)