Extraordinary Career Advice
Scott Galloway, the CEO and founder of L2Inc., churns out some of the most informative and entertaining videos on the internet.
A few months ago, he provided this short video with career advice that I have been meaning to share for some time because it is so accurate and entertaining.
If you are under 35, please soak in the advice. If you are over 35, share it with your kids, or just enjoy it.
Short Summary of Scott Galloway’s Career Advice
1. Get Certified
College degree, class 3 driver’s license, scuba certification – anything. College grads earn 2x more on average than non-college grads, per Galloway.
2. Be Remarkable
Don’t just be great at one thing. Be truly great at two or more things that are not always congruent.
Galloway’s example: the creative director who is also an Excel expert.
I love this one because we have young Mortgage Analysts who are not only mortgage experts, but also marketing, training, and technology experts.
3. Find a Variance
Look for the five or six keys to your firm’s success, and become the best at one or two of them. Is writing important? Become the best writer. Digital ads? Become a digital ad expert.
4. Be in a Big City
Big Cities hold all the brains, the innovation, and the competition. Galloway says it is like tennis – if you volley with someone better than you, you will get better; if you don’t, you’ll stagnate. Volley with the best.
5. Boring is Sexy
Writing for movies, working for Vogue, etc. is not where the money is. The money is in dull areas of expertise like software for healthcare providers, or closing mortgage loans better than anyone else :).
6. Delay Gratification
Every day invest in something for which the payoff will not come for several years; something that aggregates over time.
7. Demonstrate Strength and Grit
What do Fortune 500 CEOs have in common? It’s not Ivy League degrees or family money; it is that they exercise every day. We have athletes in our office who demonstrate the effectiveness of this trait time and again.
8. Don’t Follow Your Passion
Be passionate about being great at something boring, e.g. a successful attorney. People who tell others to follow their passions are already rich, per Galloway.
9. Ignore the Myth of Balance (When You Are Young)
“Work your ass off” in your twenties, and you will have a lot more balance in your fifties.
10. Fight Unfair
Do something that nobody else is willing to do, like write your own blog every day or build a mortgage company with no loan officers :).
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