The telltale sign of leaders with non-linear career growth

A telltale sign that you’re not mediocre:

I’ve noticed a consistent theme in all leaders who have non-linear growth in their careers. They achieve a major feat, and then they replace themselves with another leader.

You either work in the business or on the business. One will enable you to grow, and another will keep you trapped doing the same thing.

Growth comes when you ask for it

I’ve never seen top performers hoping that some day someone will realize their value and promote them. Or someday, some position will open up in their current org.

Growth while sticking to the same org happens when the org grows at the rate that you’d like to grow AND when you ask for it.

If they can’t give you the growth that you desire, then you’ve got to move out.

From builder to maintainer

If you wait around in a stagnant org, you’ll downgrade yourself from a builder to a maintainer. It takes much fewer people to maintain, and that’s when these positions get culled.

By being in maintenance mode, you also make your skills obsolete in the market. And that is a very hard spot to get out of.

So be selfish, and keep your skills sharp. Because no one cares about your career more than you do.

If you are stagnating, use this as a wake-up call.