To become a more effective leader with a holistic business view, deliberately seek experience across various interconnected functions like operations, marketing, and sales. This strategy prevents the narrow perspective that often limits specialized leaders, even if it requires taking lateral or junior roles to learn.

A one-page slide outlining your current role, next desired role, skill gaps, and personal preferences creates an actionable career plan. Sharing this with managers and mentors turns it into a collaborative tool that can create an implicit 'contract' for promotion.

Avoid "midterm" resume-building decisions you don't enjoy (like law school for optionality). Instead, follow a U-curve: optimize for short-term fun and learning while keeping an eye on a long-term vision. This counterintuitive path often leads to better outcomes.

Career growth isn't just vertical; it can be more powerful laterally. Transferring skills from one industry to another provides a unique perspective. For example, using music industry insights on audience behavior to solve a marketing challenge for a video game launch.

A zigzag career path across diverse but adjacent roles (e.g., sales, operations, project management) provides a broader, more holistic business awareness. This cross-functional experience is more valuable for senior strategic roles than a narrow, linear progression up a single ladder.

Borrowing a concept from real estate, constantly ask yourself: 'What is the highest and best use of me today?' This framework encourages you to leverage your cumulative experience to make significant, non-linear career leaps, rather than just taking the next logical, incremental step.

True long-term career growth isn't about climbing a stable ladder. It's about intentionally leaving secure, successful positions to tackle harder, unfamiliar challenges. This process of bursting your own bubble of security forces constant learning and reinvention, keeping you relevant.

A linear career path is not required for success. Businesses ultimately value high performers who demonstrate an ownership mentality and consistently drive impact. Focusing on helping the business win creates opportunities to move across roles and industries, making your journey more valuable.

Instead of learning skills based solely on personal interest, a more strategic approach is to identify the biggest, most expensive pain points in your target industry. Then, deliberately acquire the specific skills needed to solve those problems, making yourself an invaluable asset before you even apply.