Where does growth come from?

I'm writing this one for myself, to look back and remember a feeling.

I was trying to answer the question "where does growth come from?" in the context of the best way to drive one's career forward. From these years in advertising, marketing, and business analytics, I've seen the problem from many angles. I've seen people jump company-to-company for incremental gains. I've felt pressure when seeing my peers post new roles and higher titles faster than me, especially earlier in my career. I've seen people stick it out, and eventually blossom. I've seen people stagnate. I've seen negotiations happen in many forms of the "stick and the carrot," from both sides (employers and employees), and held empathy for the trials of growth for both. How we approach growth is the all-important journey, because after a moment of growth, we're still growing, and we're still together. Even after we change groups, those we used to work for or with are still with us in many ways, we're together. And if we hire someone or we join someone, we're together. We're inextricably interconnected and interdependent. You can never excise your past. Even if it is mud, it is the mud from which we may grow new lotus blossoms out of.

True growth comes from leaning into hope.

That's the thesis I need to document for my future self when I need it. Where does growth come from? It comes from leaning into hope. The carrot is not just more powerful than the stick, it is the necessity in the bigger picture. Horses can't run on sticks, they just get used to them. I recently heard an inspiring story that ended with the motto “Hoy por ti, ma?ana por mí,” reminding me that we are not only connected, we are karmically the same -- practically what I do unto others is what I am doing unto myself. In order to thrive, you need hope in doing good work together, hope that we will thrive, a vision of thriving together. That's both the person I want on my team and that's the person I want to be for my team.

The instinct of fear causes people to lead with the stick, but it's a weak argument at any stage, and a threat of that inevitably fails. Even when it seemingly works, it's backfiring. Asking for the right workload (or hours or scope) or growth (or payoff or benefits or title) in the spirit of hope, however, is all good. That opens everyone more to look for solutions instead of pitfalls. If there is hope, then there is thriving. Growth comes from thriving together. It's true of employers, it's true of employees.

So when growth gets tough, future me, lean into hope. You're OK.