Career Advice

If I can get to where I am now, you can do it too.

I remember a leader saying this in an all-hands meeting a few years ago just after them being promoted to VP. It was delivered with a smile, as a bit of humble bragging and a bit of encouragement for the rest of us.

It didn’t feel encouraging to me.

My circumstances are different. The opportunities are different. The skill sets, the career goals, and motivations are different. Even the definition of success is different.

If you started your career wanting to lead a large organization, and eventually got there, that’s great.

But what if some of the rest of the folks want to become really good at something without managing people? Some of us can’t get to where you are. And some of us don’t want to.

We’re pursuing different things.

One of the most useful things we can do for people early in their careers is to share our experiences without presenting our path as the path.

Your career can be an example, and lessons valuable. But the destination? That should be theirs to choose.