TAKE ADVICE, JUST DON’T BE PATIENT
Some career advice is always wise to follow. But sometimes what used to be the best advice should now be ignored. Ambitious professionals need to hear good advice. But they also have to remember, take advice with a grain of salt. It’s a fine line to walk. Kevin Scott is currently the CTO of Microsoft. He has some idea about what works, and what doesn’t. Scott says the worst piece of advice he’s gotten the last 20 years is to be patient. So, if someone says patience is the best way to advance your career, think twice about being patient. The competition won’t be.
SUCCESS MEANS KNOWING WHEN NOT TO BE PATIENT
Scott’s advice is that patience should be used differently for each situation. He says it’s because “sometimes, things just can’t go faster than they are.” In particular, younger professionals to carefully consider if the advice is right for them. “There are all sorts of situations where people tell you to be patient, and you need to wait for this, or you’re not ready for that,” Scott said. But Scott asks, who is the advice really for? Be smart about how you take advice, and from whom.
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THE COMPETITION WON’T WAIT FOR YOU
“You have to understand if the advice they are giving you is to help you manage a situation about them, or if the advice to be patient is about you,” Scott says. It’s not always easy to know which is which. One example is a fellow colleague tells you to be patient. But they are also looking to climb up the ladder. If they are the competition, it’s clearly better for them that you “be patient.” Scott asks, “Who is the advice best serving?”
AMBITIOUS PROFESSIONALS LEAVE THE COMPETITION BEHIND
If the best advice is not the age-old patience, how should young, ambitious professionals be strategic? Relentlessness makes success in business. Steve Siebold, the author of “How Rich People Think,” wrote extensively about the “fierce ambition” that is common among millionaires. “Champions don’t wait for things to happen,” wrote Siebold. “They make things happen.” So, take advice where and when you can. But ambitious professionals do better when the competition is patient.
