🔥 Ladder or jungle gym? In Community #84

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“You are perfectly cast in your life. I can't imagine anyone but you in the role. Go play.” – Lin-Manuel Miranda

Has anyone ever told you that you should think less about climbing the corporate ladder and more about moving laterally? Have they conjured the image of a jungle gym instead of the ladder so many of us grew up with? 

Last week, when I wrote about slicing through the ceiling for career growth and access, I shared one founder’s journey from corporate to entrepreneurship.

Today, I’m sharing a bit about my own journey.

I didn’t go from corporate to creator overnight, and I’d be lying if I said it was something I ever planned.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m definitely not one of those people who just happened to fall into success. Maybe you know the type I’m talking about – someone who managed to land a high-paying job with a fancy title without any real prior experience, but because they had a friend or acquaintance who brought them into their company just because they could.

Those stories drive me crazy – and they’re a key reason I founded Hue, to help build and strengthen networks for those of us who don’t typically have those connections. Even though we often work twice as hard to get what feels like half as far.

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I didn’t plan to be where I am, but it is absolutely the result of hard work and dedicated efforts, while intentionally building meaningful relationships. Throughout my career, I’ve often been able to hit my goals, but most of the time it wasn’t in the way I’d expected at first.

The path from point A to B was hardly ever a straight line. And when point B was atop a ladder, I saw that ladder turn into a jungle gym.

But here’s the thing: I was never great with jungle gyms either – not as a kid and not as a professional. As leaders at my company encouraged me to make lateral moves, from one department to another, from one category to another, from local to national to global roles, none of it made me feel better about my trajectory.

👉🏽 What was it that made things better?

Lin-Manuel Miranda – the award-winning composer, writer, actor, and filmmaker behind Hamilton, In the Heights, and more – captured it well with the statement that opened today’s newsletter.

Who else but me could be in this role?

I found myself gravitating toward certain types of roles, where I was the one originating that role at that company. It happened time and again.

Newly created roles that either were filled by me or designed by me because I was perfectly cast just for them.

Ultimately, I found that for me the best role was one I fully shaped on my own – it’s the one I’m in now. It’s the one where more than ever, I get to play.

Not on a jungle gym. Not on a stage. But in the way that lets me be me.

👉🏽 So tell me: what is it that you’re perfectly cast for? What’s the role that you – and only you – can play?

Let me know by replying here – and make sure to forward ♻️ this onward to the people in your life who can use a reminder to be who only they can be – and to go play.

In community,

Fahad