Going to Federal Prison Doesn't Automatically Make You an Expert

A retired guard just called. He said he wants to join our team.

I asked him why.

He said, well, I was a guard.

Well, I've been to federal prison. And that doesn't mean I'm qualified to give advice about federal prison.

What our industry skips

I think our industry totally skips over that part.

You serve six months, 12 months, 18 months, two years, five years, and suddenly you're an expert.

Or you're a former guard. Maybe you sent prisoners to the hole (the Special Housing Unit) for taking an apple out of the chow hall. You were there, so you're qualified to advise prisoners?

I've known too many people who come home and blame the judge, their lawyer, everyone but themselves for this experience. That doesn't mean they're qualified.

Failure doesn't automatically make you wiser

I had total failure. That doesn't automatically make me wiser or put me in a position to offer you advice.

You can go to prison, as I did, and lose your reputation, your money, and your career. You can still miss the takeaway because you didn't stop to examine what the hell happened.

Study what happened

I think the experience only becomes useful when you study it:

• What did I do?
• What did I miss?
• What did I learn?
• How will this never happen again?
• How can somebody actually benefit from what I went through?

Going through hell doesn't suddenly make you qualified to give advice to someone. It's what you learned while you were there.

When I talk with someone thinking about hiring us, I share my screen and show the first blog I wrote by hand at Taft. It's dated 10/12/2008.

Questions to ask someone offering you federal prison advice

If you're facing prison and someone wants to advise you, whether they served time or worked inside, here are a few questions I'd ask:

1. What did you learn while you were there? Ask for specifics.
2. Can you show me what you documented? Writing or a plan they built at the time, with a date on it.
3. Who do you blame for your case? Notice how much of the answer is about the judge, the lawyer, or the prosecutor.
4. What did you miss? Ask them to walk you through it.
5. Who has benefited from what you learned? Ask for an example.

You can start that kind of record yourself. A free Prison Professors profile is one place to put what you write and what you plan to do when you come home.

If you document it and build it and share it, that could actually be of value.

Watch the short HERE.