By Wade G. Morgan.
A series from Wade’s LinkedIn campaign, #HowIGotHere, to share tips centered on principles he believes has helped him advance in his career. His hope is that someone else finds them valuable, or knows someone to share them with. He recognizes that not all of these tips will apply to all people, and some may feel uncomfortable. That said, these are all tactics he’s employed at various times throughout his career.
Principle: Specify your goals
Tactic: Find examples of people you’d like to emulate who do NOT have CXO titles
Reason: Figuring out your professional identity is challenging. We are ambitious and look for others that exemplify who we aspire to be. That said, too often we lack examples of people we admire who are not in the highest, most public positions. As a result, we limit our thinking to things like “I have to be a CEO”. Why? Is that literally the only job that will bring you joy?
As someone who used to think that way, I’ve found that those modes of thinking are often shorthand for underlying goals like “I aspire to lead people” or “I aspire to provide opportunities to others”.
If those are your actual goals, do those. Finding examples of others forces you to clarify your goals, and allows you to feel more accomplishment along the way. Most of all, it also doesn’t mean you’re thinking smaller of yourself; rather, you develop a deeper sense of identity rooted in self-discovery.
Ultimately, you may discover the best way to achieve your goals is to become that CXO. The difference now would be that your reasoning behind why that’s your North Star is more substantial.
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Wade G. Morgan is a writer, speaker, Account Executive at Airtable, and former member of LinkedIn’s Business Leadership Program, a rotational program for early-in-career talent. He is passionate about leadership, athletics, entrepreneurship, and tech, and loves helping people and organizations reach their potential.
For more info, check out his LinkedIn profile, previous articles, follow him on Twitter at @wadegmorgan, or visit his website, www.wadegmorgan.com.
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