On January 11, 1982, I started my first corporate job for a Fortune 100 Company. I had no idea at the time that the job would be the start of a corporate career that would stretch over 35 years.
I was focused on one objective when I started the job search that landed that job, to work a corporate schedule of Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. I did not have visions beyond being able to work the same schedule as my other friends and to have weekends off. It seems like a humble start to a wild ride on a career that gave me massive opportunities to grow and develop as a leader.
Before I get to the three lessons learned that I found in reflecting on my corporate career, I want to share some background and context.
First and foremost, I came out as a gay man within the first 16 weeks of being at my first corporate job. In 1982, this was a bold move that could have ended in tragedy with me losing my job. At that time, those of us in the LGBTQ community were the targets of discrimination in both the workplace and in our everyday lives.
I am grateful to share that my coming out and staying out as a gay man did not result in me losing that job or any other job throughout my career. I realize now that I was ahead of the game and a trailblazer when it comes to living authentically.
My career was focused on operations and human resources leadership roles with an obsession with transformation and change. I found my niche in working with organizations that needed the turnarounds that required being adept with people, process, and technology. I was skilled in the first two and relied on the experts for the last component. I developed my skills set as a change agent and change champion way before it was in.
My corporate career gave me massive opportunities that I had only dreamed of as a young person, my work took me to five continents and some 20 countries. I was comfortable in board rooms and training rooms in Shanghai, Mexico City, Curitiba, Tokyo, and Bangalore in the same ways I was in the rooms in Houston, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and San Antonio.
I gained my business acumen and leadership style while working on some of the most challenging initiatives and projects in the USA and around the globe. It has given me perspectives and viewpoints that few people get to develop during their corporate careers.
One of the best skills that I learned from my business coaches, who I worked with for more than half of my career was taking time after an experience or event to reflect and learn from it.
I have had the habit of reflecting for over 20 years and it is a great way to enhance my learnings and understandings of my experiences and events. As I reflected on my corporate career on its 39th anniversary, I came to realize that the following three themes supported me from day one until the last day of my corporate career.
- Reach: I can see now where each time an opportunity to grow and develop was presented to me, I reached out and grabbed ahold of it. I was willing to reach beyond and learn things about business and myself that would not have been possible by staying passive or stationary. My reach enabled me to go beyond the borders of countries and the limitations of self-doubt, all the while developing my unique leadership style and self-confidence.
- Risk: I appreciate that part of me that discerned the best risks to take during my corporate career, I accepted jobs that others through were setups for failure only to come out of the experience with more developed skills, new-found knowledge, and supporting competencies. Most every risk brought with it a reward, both tangible and intangible. The risks that I took framed my career adventures more than any other component.
- Reflect: I am grateful for the habit of learning more from my experiences than what is presented on the surface. Each time I am able to ask myself questions about an event or experience, I go deeper into the learning and understanding of it. The countless reflections that I have made over the past 20 years have supported me in developing a growth mindset centered on developing my unique leadership style.
Now might be the time for you to reflect on your professional or personal life in order to find your three themes. As we start a new year, many of us become more reflective and insightful than at other times of the year.
Could reflecting on your experiences and events be the resolution that you keep beyond the first 90 days of 2021?
With much gratitude.
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