To Climb the Career Ladder, Start Saying No
If you find that you’re going nowhere fast, it might just be your own fault
The day I took control of my future was the day I started saying no. I remember it vividly, because it was scary as hell.
I had built a strong consulting practice of my own. It was a good gig, but I had the same problem most solo consultants have: I had one huge client who took up the bulk of my time, and a couple of smaller clients who were way more satisfying to work with. But since all my time was going to the big client, I couldn’t give the smaller clients the focus they needed.
The big client was a total backbreaker — extremely demanding attitude and boring work — but they had a lot of budget and needed a lot of boring work done. They could easily absorb more than 40 hours a week from me and just about anyone I could beg to help out. Soon, I started hiring.
It wasn’t long before everyone on my team was feeling the same pain I had been feeling on my own. We were all at the mercy of the big client, with 40 hours a week routinely turning into 50 hours a week or more. It was a good problem to have, but the work for the smaller, more rewarding clients got squeezed out and started drying up. Then I lost an employee who loved her job, but couldn’t work for the big client…
