Other People's Perspectives

Just read a blog from a friend of a friend... as if I had time to be roaming around blogs on the internet... I don't know why I tracked this one down and gave it a glance, but I was struck by what his friend Patricia said. I find it to be true, too. I get what he's saying and where he's coming from and I've never met him...

But lately I’ve been feeling a professional stress that rivals the personal stress I felt three years ago today. I haven’t had my $100mm exit from a business yet. It’s not the money I’m concerned about - it is the execution record that I want to acheive. I have high expectations for myself, and there have been many days in the past few months that I’ve been in a bit of despair about my professional trajectory. Is it time to give up the small business game and get a job as an investment banker?

A number of people whose advice I highly value have weighed in on the subject, but the most comforting piece of advice came last night from an unexpected source. My new acquaintance Patricia called me out for what I am - a generalist - someone who is pretty good at many things but not specialized in any particular field. Specialists begin to peak in their late twenties, she shared. In my experience, I’ve found this to be very true. After five or six years of being in a field, people are developing their comeptencies and, if they’re worth their salt, have begun to have very real successes.

But generalists, she reminded me, don’t begin to peak until their late thirties or early forties - after they’ve had enough experience, mentorship, and screw-ups to be effective leaders and decision makers.

http://turnseven.com/