The advice you wish you'd had at the start of your career

Published: December 3, 2024

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Global leaders share career advice: what would they tell their younger selves?

The final question we ask all of our podcast guests is 'what advice would you give yourself if you were to start your career again?' These are the responses from guests #031 – #040.

Jamais Cascio

You don't know everything. When I started out, I had a perception of myself as knowing more than I really did. That may be true for a lot of us! What has done well for me over the years is a recognition that I don't know everything here – I want to listen. That willingness to listen to what other people have to say is something that we should encourage in ourselves and in our communities. And I certainly wish I could have encouraged it in myself 20 years ago.

Jamais Cascio is the creator of BANI, he introduced his framework and discusses where it can be used in organisational challenges. Listen again.

Dr Jenn Gandhi

I've given this some thought and honestly, slow down. You've got more time than you think. Slow down.

Dr Jenn Gandhi is Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager at The Football Association who spoke about mental health and performance.

Isabella Echeverri

Enjoy the moments. When I was in the biggest stages of my life, I was so focused on the competition and so focused on the pressure of performing well that I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. So, I would say enjoy the moment and be present and realise what you're doing right now. Another one would be make more friends, meet more people. Networking is so big, and the world is not as big as we think it is, especially in the sports world. Realise how much power networking has – get your seat at the table and be able to speak up and live by your values.

Isabella Echeverri a former Olympic and World Cup football player brought insights on diversity, change and empowerment.

William Lankston

My advice would be don't rush. It’s OK to enjoy the thing that you're doing now instead of always looking to the next thing and the next thing. I've only really developed that skill in probably the last three or four years, as before that I was always looking to the next challenge, the next big thing. And so enjoy what you're doing now, make sure that you're taking the experience in and learning from it because it's only going to serve you well into the future.

Will Lankston is Managing Director of Timpson Direct. He joined us to speak about building organisational culture and once you’ve built it, how to sustain it.

Sarah Brammeier

The phrase that comes to mind right here and now is, hang in there. Hang in there because you have no idea what's next. It's all cool.

Sarah Brammeier is Head of Executive Coaching Practice at Impact who discussed the coaching advantage.

Andy MacGovern

Take risks and have fun. We're not around for a very long time on this planet and work is such a big part of your life. If you're working in an organisation and you're waking up in the morning and you don't want to go in or you're not enjoying the work, then you need to go and try something new. Follow your passions, stick your hand up, take a few risks and have fun.

Andy MacGovern is a Global Talent Leader. Listen again to his podcast on talent management.

Dr Kate Simpson

Do you know what, I'm not sure I would give myself any advice. I think I’d just say ‘thank you for what you're about to go through, because it will all layer up’.

Dr Kate Simpson, Director of the Systemcraft Institute joined us to talk about navigating the complexities and mastering system leadership.

Sue Hunt

I think the best piece of advice is believe in yourself. Because if you don't believe in yourself, other people won't. And I’d also say, don't be put off by people telling you not to do things or saying the challenge is too big, just go for it. You will be surprised at what you can achieve.

Sue Hunt was Director of Strategic Programmes at the London 2012 Olympics and as we approached Paris 2024 she reflected on what leaders can learn from the Olympics.

Michael Molinaro

What I've learned as I got older and to this stage of my career is to remember that this too shall pass, that whatever it is, if something's going great, this too shall pass. If I'm having a lousy day and I'm beating myself up about a small mistake or a terrible interaction or a course that didn't go well, this too shall pass. I would tell myself to think about your career in terms of big arcs rather than individual instances of triumph or failure. Because that's how I've looked at it retrospectively, and it's worked out. I'm sort of happy with where things have come up. Because otherwise you can get yourself really tied into knots and create a lot of anxiety and stress, which I probably did in the early parts of my career.

Michael Molinaro is a Leadership and Learning & Development Consultant. Listen again to his podcast on Leading with AI: transforming organisational culture.

Kay Woodburn

I think it would be the same piece of advice that I give my clients, which is trust the process. Trust the process even at the messy bit in the middle.

Kay Woodburn is Founder and CEO of Gritty People. She joined us to talk about VUCA and whether this framework is still relevant. Listen again.