Page 74 - Sorry, We're Not Hiring Any Visionaries Today

SORRY, WE’RE NOT HIRING ANY VISIONARIES TODAY
left the jobs that I’ve had amicably. With one exception, I’ve never been fired and even then I’ve always have left without any recriminations. I’ve always moved on with confidence because I felt that it was time for me to find new challenges. I decided, or the role just came to a natural end.
I come from a long line of entrepreneurs. My grandfather ran his own busi- ness, as did my father and mother. My daughter does. I have thought about it often, but I’ve always worked within the framework. I feel my Kolbe 1 follow through has the potential to derail working for myself. But I’ve always found, not my niche, necessarily, but a place that challenges and accepts me. I’ve al- ways taken an opportunity because some of those opportunities have given me the most exciting times of my career.
When I was training them in the IT company, I used to tell graduates that the line toward career success was never a straight line. Apollo 11 was off course 94% of the time on its journey to the moon. It just kept making corrections. I’ve approached my career in the same way and I advised them to do the same
Take, for example, my time in testing. I was good at it. In fact, I was excellent at it. It simply didn’t have enough people contact for me to commit to it. Within 18 months, the next door opened for me to move up a level. Working in that company was brilliant because I never stayed in one position too long which meant I never got bored. Boredom is my nemesis.
As a consultant, you are only ever just visiting a workplace. This felt comfort- able to me. I could do my best work when I didn’t have someone hanging over my shoulder watching my every move. I could contribute in ways that moved the project forward because I was being paid to do that. In some ways, a con- sulting role was a significantly good fit for me.
I had always said I would never work in academia because teachers are among the most challenging people to work with. Many are unwilling to learn from others. And I would stand by that, even though I know teachers who aren’t like that. My experience has been that they can be very defensive because they’re used to completely controlling a classroom. I think they find it very
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