A founder turned down a management offer in their mid-20s but accepted anyway, made mistakes that nearly cost them their job, and now regrets the rush. At 37, running their own company, they say there's plenty of time to climb. Learn from mentors in different roles first.
Chapters
If I'm being honest, I could go back to when I was offered my very first manager role, I would've turned it down. At the time, I was super ambitious. I was in my mid-20s. I just wanted to be at the top. What I didn't realize is that sometimes when you accelerate too quickly, you don't take the time you need to learn the foundations of what's gonna make you as successful as possible. I had the personality, I knew how to influence those around me, so I was given those manager opportunities, but I didn't do very well at them. I made a lot of mistakes. I almost lost my job over one of them. I moved too quickly. for where I was at. So when people come to me in their early 20s and they wanna be a boss straight away, I'm always gonna say, take your time. You have time. I'm now 37, I'm running my own company, and I would say now is the time that I feel that I could really confidently go into a manager role and do it really well. Don't feel that you need to be a manager straight away. Take your time to work your way through all the other roles and opportunities and learn as much as possible from those around you. And from the people that inspire you so that when you do get to that manager role, you're the best that you can possibly be because there really is no rush. You don't need to get to the top straight away.