Get career advice from some of the world’s most successful leaders
Whether you’re a recent grad entering the workforce or at a place in your career where you’re wondering what’s next, you might be asking questions like:
How do I stand out? What should I focus on? How do I know if I’m making the right moves?
I’ve interviewed nearly 300 of the world’s best leaders on How Leaders Lead, and while their career paths vary wildly, certain themes show up again and again.
So as we head into graduation season, here are five career insights—each with a 60-second video clip—that can help you carve out a fulfilling career path.
1. Don’t plan your career too far in advance
Dawn Hudson, Former President & CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America; former CMO of the NFL
Dawn’s had an incredible career across advertising, sports, and consumer brands. Here’s her advice for your career: Stop trying to map out the next decade.
The world is changing too fast. There are opportunities in your future that you can’t imagine yet. But if you work hard to excel in whatever you’re doing now, you’ll give yourself new, better pathways in the future.
The takeaway: Don’t worry if you don’t have a 10-year plan. In fact, having one might hurt you. When you’re locked into a specific path, you stop seeing the opportunities that don’t fit that plan—even when they’re better than what you mapped out.
Focus on being excellent right where you are. Stay curious. Stay open. Having goals is a good thing, but the best opportunities often come from being ready when something unexpected shows up.
2. Your inexperience can be an advantage
Blake Mycoskie, Founder, TOMS Shoes and ENOUGH
Blake Mycoskie built TOMS into a billion-dollar brand and pioneered the “one-for-one” business model that’s been copied across industries. But when he started, he didn’t know much about shoes. In fact, in every business he started—laundry services, billboards, driver’s ed—he went in as an outsider.
My co-host Koula Callahan and I talked more about his unique career path here:
He didn’t know the “rules,” so he wasn’t afraid to break them. That fresh perspective, combined with voracious learning, is one of the many things that makes Blake a special leader.
The takeaway: It’s okay to step into something even if you don’t have a ton of experience. Use your outsider status to ask what no one else is—the “dumb” questions that challenge assumptions everyone else has stopped questioning.
Then combine that curiosity with relentless learning. That’s how you get breakthrough thinking.
3. Crush it where you’re at
Pat Kelsey, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at University of Louisville
Early in his career, Pat was doing well—winning games and getting a reputation as a guy who knew how to build a great program. As a result, he started looking around for the next opportunity. And it was hurting him.
As he told me: when you’re looking right and left for what’s next, you become a less effective leader. You’re not fully present. You’re a lesser version of yourself.
But he took some advice from an old mentor, who told him to “crush it where you’re at,” and he started treating his current job like it was his next one. He explains here:
Pat stopped looking around and poured everything into doing great where he was. And sure enough, that’s when the big opportunities started opening up.
The takeaway: When you’re constantly looking around for what’s next, you underperform where you are. Instead, pour everything you’ve got into the role you have right now, even if it’s not exactly where you want to be. That’s how you earn what’s next—by crushing it where you’re at now.
4. Results matter
Alwyn Lewis, Former Chairman & CEO of Potbelly; former CEO of Sears Holdings
In Alwyn’s first management job, he was trying to be everyone’s friend, running it like—in his words— “a country club.”
Then, his boss showed him the P&L, and it wasn’t pretty. Alwyn had been so focused on making people happy that he’d lost sight of the business fundamentals. He wasn’t holding people accountable. Standards had slipped. And the numbers showed it.
That’s when he realized: results matter. They’re the currency that keeps your career on track.
The takeaway: Being likable is important. So is being a good teammate. But those things can only get you so far if you’re not delivering measurable results.
Keep outcomes top of mind: Did revenue grow? Did costs go down? Did the project ship on time? Strong results are how you earn trust, promotions, and bigger opportunities.
5. Lead before you get the promotion
Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco
I love asking successful leaders about their career paths. And I especially love what Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins had to say when I asked him how he moved up the ladder.
He told me he always tried to show up as a leader long before the org chart said he was one—helping others, delivering results, and solving problems.
If you’re already viewed as a leader among your peers, that eventual promotion you get feels natural.
The takeaway: You don’t need a title to help your teammates succeed, to take initiative on hard problems, or to step up when something needs doing. Do those things regardless of how the org chart labels you. Your teammates will see you as a leader—because you act like one. By the time the title comes, it’ll be a natural fit.
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There’s no perfect career plan. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
But there is a way to show up that opens doors: with presence, curiosity, excellence, and a commitment to helping others succeed.
That approach and mindset has helped some of the most successful people in the world navigate their careers, and I hope it helps you, too.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received? Tag a new grad in your life who needs to hear it!
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Your Next Step
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