10 Lessons 10 Years Post B-School

Believe it or not, I graduated from business school 10 years ago this past May. Accordingly, I was meant to commemorate our 10-year reunion in Charlottesville back in April. And, as co-chair for this milestone celebration, I was particularly vested in doing so. Alas, due to COVID, the reunion was rescheduled to 2021 (see you there, friends!).

As milestones go, they lead to introspection–on any number of topics. Combined with current events (because there’s nothing like a good ole fashioned global pandemic + civil uprising to make you ponder all that is holy), I found myself reflecting on the totality of my life. Childhood, adulthood, parenthood, service, career, et al. Contemplative would be an understatement. As I thought about my professional endeavors, I homed in on the post-business school leg of my journey. Like most, I have experienced a ton: ups, downs, and steady ground. The last 10 years have been a formative part of my personal and professional development. Fittingly, I wanted to stop, take stock, and capture key lessons from the decade.

The 10 Keys (aka The Incredibly Random Gospel According to Jackie)

At a certain level, competency is assumed. Don’t waste time trying to demonstrate it. Focus on delivering results and adding value (read: you don’t have to constantly prove yourself)
Relationships are just as important as capability. Your (and your team’s) success will be judged not only on what you deliver but also on how it was delivered (and how good of a partner you were in the process)
Prioritize people
1. 1. Take time to get to know your team. Know what’s going on in their lives, what concerns them, and how you can help them. Demonstrate that you’re genuinely committed to supporting their goals (personal and professional). It will pay dividends with respect to engagement and eliciting discretionary effort
When people show you who they are, believe them. Period.
Resolve conflict quickly
1. 1. We often make the conflict larger than it really is when we delay addressing it. Address it and get on with it
Managing your career is your responsibility and your responsibility alone. Never take your eye off of the networking ball. Never. Despite your never-ending to-do list, consistently make time to:
1. 1. Know what’s going on in the world
  2. Understand trends and current events with respect to your industry
  3. Deliberately connect with influencers and decisions makers in your organization (inside and outside of your immediate sphere of influence)
  4. Make sure people are aware of your career goals/aspirations (false humility will get you nowhere)
  5. Advocate for yourself. Always. Trust that managers and sponsors are speaking on your behalf but ensure you’re doing so as well
Balance is the key to life
1. 1. Anything done to the extreme is error
  2. Actively maintain some aspect(s) of your life that is/are independent from your job
    1. This was 1000% classic “do as I say; not as I do” for a while. I’d preach it but wouldn’t live it. However, I’ve learned the importance of this lesson the hard way. I’ve been on both sides–wholly consumed and (at least partially) whole. I dig the latter far more than the former. Most notably, others (family, friends, colleagues) dig the latter as well.
Speak up–even if your opinion is contrary to leadership and/or the group. You do no one any favors by keeping your thoughts to yourself or failing to offer a different perspective. In fact, you do yourself–and your colleagues–a great disservice by withholding your insights. I’m not advocating being a contrarian for the sake of debate. I am saying, however, that it is ok to go against the grain. Learn to be comfortable offering up a different take on a matter. Frankly, that’s the beauty of diversity–to synthesize varied experiences that should yield an optimal outcome. You–and the group–will be better off for it.
Prioritize ruthlessly
1. It’s impossible to do All The Things. All The Work Things. All The Home Things. Be maniacal about prioritizing and regularly seek alignment from all stakeholders on the same. This is applicable for both your professional and personal lives. Some of us do ok on the former, a lot of us have an opportunity to do more of this on the latter.
Blindspots–you have them. We all do. Figure out how to get visibility into your blindspots and develop tactics to manage them accordingly. One way of knowing your blindspots is to seek feedback regularly. Feedback is your friend. Be comfortable receiving it–constructive and otherwise.

While these are in no particular order, the first half were gleaned early in my career and similarly captured in a previous post; refined only slightly (they aged well). The rest are lessons I’ve learned in the latter half of the decade.

This isn’t exhaustive. I stopped at 10 because…#attentionspan (yours and mine). Also, 10 made for a catchy title. There will be others. And more on the above (I could easily write a post for each point). For now…cheers to 10 years and here’s to 10 more!