What your career path eventually comes down to
I've spent the most part of the last 6 years trying to find the answer. Along the way, I've seen a pretty clear difference between the low and the top performers.
Low performers:
- Bootlick their way into most things. It's really evident after a point.
- Optimize for money and hacking interviews and gamifying career ladders.
- Have no love for their craft.
- And the worst - have no curiosity.
Top performers:
- Curiosity above and beyond what they're doing.
- Craft before paychecks
- Some of the hardest people to hire
- Some of the hardest people to command respect from
- Lone wolves
- Say no to opportunities if it doesn't serve them - even if it comes from top management.
If you want an infinite "shelf life" at work, or want to master pivots, or in general want to command premium pay - here's what the career ladder to becoming a top performer comes down to:
- you get told what to do and how to do it
- you get told what to do
- you get asked how to do it
- you get asked what to do and how to do it
- no one tells you anything
- no one asks you anything
The sooner you can get to no. 6 - not for a paycheck or for anything else, but to be worth your salt - the sooner you'll start scratching the surface, in any field. So, there's a direct correlation between curiosity + hustle and career success.
- Don't job hop for money. Gauge and bet on opportunities. Know when to exit.
- Don't job hop for title and salary. Arrogance has never gotten anyone far. Pick a job that has the best manager you can learn from.
- Don't job hop because of what your peers are doing. You will regress to the mean and eventually be forgotten.
- Think 3-5 years ahead, minimum. It's not a one time thing - clarity comes from staring at the abstract problem of not knowing what clarity is. Stare at the wall, follow your gut.
- And last of all, really - I mean really, put in the work. You can almost always out-work anyone. Build resilience and tenacity of being able to sit at your desk for hours without interruptions. Taking the bold decisions to learn something new on most weekends. Truly earn your bread and be worth the salt. Don't forget to also shamelessly broadcast it to the world.