Career advice you never knew you needed
David Novak
Former CEO of Yum! Brands, Host of How Leaders Lead podcast, #1 NYT Bestselling Author. On a mission to make the world a better place by developing better leaders.
If you’re feeling stuck professionally, these five unexpected strategies will shake things up
We all want to advance our careers. It’s not just about climbing the corporate ladder. It’s about forging a unique path toward greater success and impact.
But when it comes to learning how to do that, the advice out there is often either predictable and trite, or it sounds scammy and inauthentic.
In my conversations with the best leaders in the world each week, I’ve uncovered some unconventional—yet deeply insightful—ways that the world’s best leaders have grown their careers.
Today, I want to share five of those insights with you.
Whether you’re just starting out, feeling stuck, or at a crossroads in your professional life, these lessons can provide the clarity and direction you need to build a satisfying career you love.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
Stand Near Closed Doors and Knock
Too often, we wait for opportunities to come to us, but some of the most transformative career shifts happen when we actively seek out those opportunities.
As Hootsuite CEO Irina Novoselsky understands, fortune favors the bold. Her advice? Reach out to people and ask for help, even the people who seem out of reach and unlikely to respond.
This is the mindset she used to find her professional footing early, propelling her to become the CEO of CareerBuilder in her thirties and a few years later, the CEO of HootSuite.
A lot of entrepreneurs and leaders feel stuck or discouraged when they see a door close. But Irina’s mindset is different. “I'm not a big believer in ‘no,’” she says. To her, that word is just a sign that “you're either asking the wrong question, or you're asking the wrong person.”
So don’t be afraid to go out there and create your own opportunities. All it takes is one “yes” from the right person to change your career trajectory.
Don’t Try to Plan Out Your Whole Career
No great leader ever drifted into the C-suite. It takes a lot of effort and intention to build a successful career.
But when you focus too much on a rigid career map, you can actually limit your potential.
That’s the caution that Dawn Hudson, the former CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America, gives aspiring leaders.
“The world is changing so quickly,” she points out. “There are so many opportunities you don’t know that will come.”
If you get too locked into one idea of your future, you may completely miss out on those unexpected opportunities that come up along the way.
Instead of obsessing over long-term plans, focus on the impact you can make today. The right opportunities will open up when you’re excelling in your current role.
Tackle the Tough Assignments
When I was named division president at PepsiCo, heading up KFC, people didn’t call to congratulate me—they called with condolences. The business had been struggling for nearly a decade, and no one wanted to touch it.
But with my incredible team, we managed to turn it around.
And because I was willing to take a tough assignment, I distinguished myself as a leader. It ultimately helped me become the CEO of Yum! Brands.
Marvin Ellison, the CEO of Lowe’s, also knows the power of taking the tough assignments. He told me: “I learned early on that the best way to move forward is sometimes to take assignments that no one else wants.”
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Challenging assignments often offer significant opportunities for growth. When you excel in tough situations, you build credibility and showcase your abilities and leadership potential.
Manage Your Own Brand
In today’s interconnected world, your reputation follows you everywhere. That’s why Chris Kempczinski, CEO of McDonald’s, stresses the importance of personal branding in your career.
His first boss at Procter & Gamble told him that the most important brand he would manage there wasn’t Crest or Tide. It was his own.
When people can easily associate your name with a key strength or characteristic, it can open up all kinds of opportunities.
So ask yourself: When others talk about your work, what do you want them to say?
Whether you want to be known for innovation, growth, reliability, creativity, or something else, it’s up to you to care for your reputation—and then deliver on it.
You Only Grow When You’re Uncomfortable
One of the hardest parts of navigating your career is knowing when it’s time for a change.
To help, former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty offers this wisdom: “Growth and comfort never coexist.”
When you start sensing there’s nothing new to learn, Ginny says that’s an important signal: “If you're feeling so comfortable in a role, you do need to change it, because you are not learning.”
The best leaders are those who constantly push themselves beyond their comfort zones. When you take on a new role or learn a new skill, you’re leaning into that discomfort—and growing as a result.
Either look for opportunities to challenge yourself within your current position, or consider whether it’s time to push yourself into a new role where that will force you out of your comfort zone and back onto a path of growth.
From knocking on closed doors to embracing discomfort, I hope these five pieces of wisdom from top leaders can help you break through stagnation and propel your career forward.
The next time you’re feeling stuck or unsure about your path, consider these insights—they just might be the key to unlocking your next opportunity.
Now, I’d love to hear from you! What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever gotten? Take two minutes and share your insights with the Insider community here. I love learning from you!
Your Next Step
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1moThe 5th step should really be the first: You really have to be uncomfortable in order to change. Because only when your well-known "comfort-zone" is scarier than doing somethin new, you will change.
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