The Power of Avoiding the Career Treadmill — Meet Gail Ball
What a whirlwind week! At the tail end of the week, I was in 4 states in 36 hours and had meetings from sun up to sundown. With that, I bring you the “TK’s Interesting Person of the Week”:
Gail Ball, a trailblazing woman who is taking on a new challenge
It is so easy for most of us to define ourselves by what we have always been. We wake up in the morning and we go to a job that we have done for a long time. Falling into this career treadmill trap is even easier when you are amazingly accomplished in your chosen career path. That is why Gail Ball is my most interesting person in of the week. Gail has been a banker her entire professional career. She has held senior positions for years at some of the largest banks in the U.S. In an industry dominated by men, Gail has reached the highest levels of accomplishment. Her career would be the envy of almost any professional in the banking world. But what Gail has decided to do recently is what makes her extra special.
Having recently left her latest banking position, she decided to take a completely new tact with her life. Gail joined a brand new venture capital firm as a managing partner. Gail has no background in private equity, venture capital, or the startup world. But this didn’t deter her. She saw this as a new opportunity to blaze a path and deploy her considerable emotional and natural intelligence. She has been a lifelong learner and was confident that her appetite to digest new challenges would serve her well. Taking this challenge was not an easy path for Gail. The easy choice would have been to choose another senior banking job (she had plenty of those offers) and the assured payday that would come with it. Gail taking the risk makes her interesting and admirable.
So many times we choose a path because we are afraid of failure. Our trepidation of taking any risk in our career leaves us always wondering what could have been. This is why it is a rare occasion that you can find anyone who has something to lose willing to risk that for something better. Watching Gail plot a new path and rolling the dice is something that I find so special. It makes me challenge myself to plot new courses and sail new seas. We all should be explorers and not leave any regrets of fear on the table.
May your weekend be filled with fast horses, lots of smiles, and a touch of bourbon.
