Why you shouldn’t be in a rush to climb the corporate ladder
Most jobs are going somewhere. There is a career trajectory and a promotion line in which to follow in order to keep a career moving forward. This is often referred to as the corporate ladder, or by the more sceptical, the rat race.
The competitive nature of humans means this kind of incentive scheme works. We thrive off praise (even if only subconsciously) and feel a greater sense of purpose when we can see the end goal.
By and large, this sort of system is a good thing.
However, there is a downside.
Sometimes we are so preoccupied with where we are going that we forget to take stock of where we are. We can become romanticised by the idea of a promotion that we don’t see the opportunities that exist within our current position.
Personally, I think our years as juniors are underrated. While I’m not exactly decades into my career, I still look back on the earlier years with a sense of retrospective appreciation. They were easily the most fun.
One of the main things I noticed as I became more senior was a distancing from the day to day doing which allows you to be creative.
In junior roles it’s easy to feel like you’re on the receiving end of briefs and hard deadlines all the time; it can seem like a slog. In a way, this probably feeds into our desire to move up to the next stage.
However, if we look at this for the opportunity, it’s an incredible position to be in simply because it is the doing. The creation of work, ideas or solutions is completely in our hands. What we come up with may not always be right, but we are given power to control, or at least contribute to, an overall outcome. And when it’s not right, we learn because we are given direction feedback and constructive criticism on how to make it better.
Rightly or wrongly, the more senior we become the more distanced we sometimes are from all this doing. We find ourselves delegating more because we are pulled into meetings, other projects, signs offs etc which eat into our time. It’s hard to have the head space or attention required to do a lot of the work, instead we become managers of work streams.
There’s also a wonderful naivety early on in a career. We haven’t been conditioned to think in a certain way; everything is new and open for interpretation.
There is obviously validity in wisdom. People who have spent years working in a certain field have both depth and breadth of knowledge which is invaluable for helping lead projects. However, fresh perspective can be so powerful. Having a point of view that is different challenges others to think in ways they’re not used to.
And lastly, while we never want to make mistakes, there is a certain amount of leeway that exists in the junior years of our career. As we get more senior, the accountability for what we do increases. This is a good thing but it can come with a bit more stress and angst. Often this is what makes us less likely to take risks; it’s almost like the start of the aforementioned conditioning to think a particular way.
When we operate at a junior level, the expectations of us getting it right all the time simply aren’t there. We can be a lot more ‘test and learn’ with the approach we take to our work.
There are many great things about career growth, but climbing the ladder shouldn’t be the sole focus. If we are only ever looking at how we can get over the next hurdle, we not only lose the ability to take stock of where we are at. We may also miss out on enjoying aspects that are unique to the current stage of our career.
Setting our sights forward is positive, but we have to remember the saying about the grass being greener. Promotions mean new challenges, but they also mean leaving behind certain things we may come to miss. As such, it’s important to search for and appreciate the opportunities that exist within the now.
