17th November 2024
Recently, I had an interesting conversation wherein someone shared an interesting idea related to professional progression.
He shared that there are three stages of your professional arc:
Get Fed:
You receive opportunities to execute on.
Feed Yourself:
You create and execute on opportunities for yourself.
Feed Others:
You create opportunities for others to execute on.
Early in your professional career, you rely on others to give you the opportunities.
You don’t know what they look like yet, and you certainly don’t know how to create them, so this is a necessary first step in building your foundation.
As you progress, you are able to create the opportunities for yourself. You’ve developed an understanding of “the game” and are able to see the patterns that allow you to win.
In the final stage, your focus shifts to creating opportunities for others. You get the most leverage by feeding others with these opportunities, rather than trying to execute on all of them yourself, which would be impossible given the sheer number that come to you at this level of mastery.
I believe the same holds true for our life outside of work:
You learn the game.
You master the game.
You coach the game.
The third step is important, because not only does it provide leverage, but also the lasting fulfillment and happiness derived from acting in the service of others.
Get fed, Feed yourself and Feed others.
Learn the game, Master the game, Coach the game & stay blessed forever.