One Cynical Thing...Lesson Nine

Lesson #9:?If your greatest strength is “knowledge of the company” – run and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

A senior executive once said the first part to me, in a complimentary manner. In reality, it was just another nail being pushed into my corporate coffin.?New skills and different experiences are always needed or are in vogue.?Luck helps.?Having the right company or resume word can get you past the bots. Better than luck? A career full of service – creating contacts who trust you given the breadth of your experiences.?

Diana Taylor, the former New York Superintendent of Banks, First Lady of New York City, and all-around badass businesswoman, once commented to a room full of government regulators (and me), that having experience in the private sector, consulting world, and the government was incredibly more valuable than being at just one.?The truth of her statement requires having moved companies at least three times – not just knowledge of one.??

Having spent many years at the same company did develop a level of personal equity and stake in the company’s success. But working alongside friends, as mentioned before, didn’t stop me from topping out, which bred resentment. Looking back, I should have recognized the point where contributing to the company meant allowing someone else to grow in my role and giving myself permission to pursue other paths.???

Sharing my reality, warts, and all is my way to not only pay forward the help I received but also move forward the conversation of how a woman can succeed in whatever way she wants.

Holding space for the past, acknowledging the present, changing the future. All the while increasing self-awareness, compassion, and service for others.

What was the?#onecynicalthing?you wished you knew, did, or did not do?