Winners are never satisfied
I’ve been truly inspired recently by the events that have transpired for a coworker. (I’ve chosen not to mention names or link to pages, in case there’s anything he doesn’t want to be public yet.) The excitement and the passion that this guy brought to the workplace are what really convinced me to take this job, and it has been the most exciting and most rewarding job so far in my career.
He was already a senior manager at an international corporation before he was 30 years old, and this wasn’t his first prestigious job title. By many people’s standards, he’s already a winner. But instead of resting on his laurels, this guy still wanted more. He invested every spare moment into another project, working into the morning hours for his own successful venture whenever he wasn’t in the office, working for someone else’s.
Recently he was contacted by a major player in the industry related to his project, wanting to buy it out. But instead of settling for the easy pay day, he took what was behind door #2: an even bigger position (vice president) at the company in question, where he will oversee all their new efforts as they integrate his product into their line.
Most of us realize that if we want more we have to work for more, but few of us ever accept that we do, in fact, want more. It’s so easy to take the new position, or the new title, or the new pay raise, and then sit back with our feet up, feeling like we’ve lived the good life. If you want to get to the top, you have to keep climbing.
I consider myself fortunate to have seen someone set an example of what that looks like.
Tags: self improvement
March 7th, 2008 at 11:10 am
What’s really commendable about your co-worker is that he was able to balance his desire to achieve bigger and better with the responsibilities (and joys) of having a family. Kudos to him.
March 7th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Actually… I think we should give kudos to his wife, for supporting his goals and dreams and all the hard work he had to do in order to reach this big accomplishment.
March 7th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I absolutely agree. They’re both people who realize that it takes sacrifice, support, patience and compromise on both parts.
March 7th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Since the person I referred to is likely to read this, I think it’s really disrespectful to turn this into a proxy for what appears to be some other hidden discussion of relationships.
This was written as a salute to a guy I really respect for accomplishing big things. Please try to keep your comments on the topic.