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228 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 5 Jul \ on: Flounder Mode mostly_harmless

I started to take pride in this ‘cool girl’ approach to work. I joked about having never been promoted, but could feel my scope, impact, and relationships with colleagues growing. I remember rejecting a (well-meaning) manager’s suggestion to build out a five-year career plan. I scoffed at people who cared about titles, did things for money, and had professional headshots on their LinkedIn.

And then, I’m not sure when the switch flipped, but I started to have a sinking feeling that I had it all wrong the whole time. I looked around and felt I was being outpaced by my colleagues—specifically by the MBAs and the people who chased titles, promotions, money, and building teams. And it wasn’t just a vanity thing. They genuinely seemed to be focused on bigger, more interesting problems. And they were having more impact. They were mentoring young talent, influencing top lines and bottom lines, and had their fingerprints on all kinds of cool industry-recognized work.

Wow, this really resonates with me. I feel like it mirrors my own path within academia.

I tended to be very focused on the work itself. I eschewed the networking and self promotion required to become more well known and have a more prestigious placement. I am respected in the community for my contributions, but I don't actually have much influence because I don't control much money or have a prestigious title.

Now, I am feeling the bite of not having said influence. It limits my more ambitious ideas because by not being at a prestigious university, I don't have access to as many resources, like talented graduate assistants and money for travel. I have to do a lot of the work myself, still. While this is great for keeping me technically competent, it limits my ability to execute on bigger plans. Even if I have a good idea, other teams who come up with the idea later than me can still execute faster because they have larger and more talented teams.

That being said, I think I'm happy where I'm at. The amount of my time and energy (including travel) to become more influential within the community was a price I wasn't quite willing to pay. Plus, I like being able to spend time expanding my horizons to other interests like Bitcoin. I think if I poured myself more wholeheartedly into my career, I wouldn't have as much time for these side interests.

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