Surprises (Part II)
It’s a huge surprise to me how slowly career moves. Advancement happens after being in a place, learning the right way to do things (often after doing it the wrong way first), and then a lot of timing and luck.
It’s not how I expected it to happen at all. Not because I didn’t expect to work hard for the advancement, but because I didn’t appreciate everything else that gets in the way.
Flat organizations make it hard to move.
Staying and not hopping around makes it hard to move.
Changing functions makes it hard to move.
And it was really hard. Friends moved faster. Other opportunities kept showing up.
But when it happened damn did I feel like I’d earned it. I was wrong 🙂 but it felt so good.
I guess the real lesson is that a 1000 step journey may take longer than it first appears, but getting there is wonderful.