No one hands you personal growth
After getting my engineering degree I stumbled into a job at Kijiji, where I spent five years helping the site grow from basically the start to being used by 30% of Canadians each month (and tens of millions of dollars in profit). Despite its huge success, I got just a normal paycheque each week. What mattered wasn’t the money; it was what I took away from that experience.
During the time there, I decided to take on new and different jobs (hired as a developer and business analyst, then did marketing, product management, and helped stand in when we didn’t have someone running the group), I decided to to manage a team and then many teams, I decided to learn from some of the smartest people I know, and so on. The key here was that I decided to do these things; they weren’t simply given to me.
Years and a job later, a friend and former colleague Steven put what I’m trying to say best in an email he sent to the Shopify team upon his departure:
It is always hard to write the first sentences of these emails without falling into the realm of cliched metaphors. So it is with a heavy heart, melancholic regret, and many sad emoticons, that I need to inform everyone that I will be leaving Shopify on March 15th.
When I think about what I’ve taken from my time here I think about how we all know how amazing Shopify is at growth; but we don’t often often talk about how we’re also incredible for personal growth.
I know I’ve seen it all around me. No one hands you personal growth here; but it’s there for the taking. It’s being able to try hard things; that you might not succeed at every time. It’s seeing the practices of the talented people around you; practices that you’re free to steal. Or it’s the advice that others will give to you; advice that you didn’t always ask for but is usually a good idea to take.
I’ll still be here for a few more weeks if you want to chat about anything. I’ll certainly have a continued interest in Shopify success, and I’ll be working for a Shopify ally, so I’m happy to answer questions as well.
For owls, with love and squalor,
Steven H. Noble
It’s funny but we often forget that our time on the earth, in our relationships, and at work is limited. What impact we make and what we take away from our experiences is entirely up to us. Few people realize that. Even fewer take advantage of it.
