The Best Advice I Never Followed

The best piece of advice I’m glad I never followed was “You need to have an old soul.” Following it would have helped my career. It also would have robbed me of my authenticity.

I was in a senior role, regularly presenting internally to our C-Suite, and was knocking on the door of cracking a major promotion. I spoke with a recently promoted colleague from HQ at a regional meeting while most of the sales leadership was inside enjoying the pub.

“You need to be more relatable to our leadership. Start drinking whiskey and enjoying cigars. Wear nice suits and get an expensive watch. Act more like them, not like you.”

In other words, sell my soul for a promotion, and be someone I’m not.

I don’t drink whiskey, I enjoy tropical cocktails on a beach or a pitcher of margaritas at @chimichanga. I don’t smoke cigars, I’ve never even smoked a cigarette in my life. I prefer my loud shirts to suits, and the fanciest watch I’ve ever owned is a hand-me-down from my dad that probably cost around $100, but in sentimental value, it is priceless.

I looked inside. The CSO was hanging from the pub rafters doing pull-ups to flex his muscles and demonstrate his masculinity.

When the promotion didn’t come, I was hurt, but proud. I took the next chance to exit and soon after leaned more into being me.

The other guy still wears suits, is now a very senior executive, and has had a better career than I have by almost any measure. As for me, I’m doing what I love, being me, and having the time of my life. I kept my young soul because that’s what makes me me.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, leadership gets much easier when you stop pretending and start showing up as yourself. That’s what I try to help teams rediscover every day on how to lead, connect, and perform without losing who they are. Connect with us today to talk about your company needs!