I joined as the 6th employee of a small, ambitious startup called Privia Health, with an entry level title. 12 years later, I left as an executive of a $2B public company. [Work in Progress: Part 01]
Hey Rick, thanks for sharing, I enjoyed hearing more about your personal journey at Privia, and the multiple evolutions you went through to continue advancing your career. For me the IC to First Time Manager shift was the hardest. And totally resonate with your ending paragraphs about work being both the answer and the enemy. Work truly is a paradox, and a mix of loves/hates, joys/frustrations, personal wins/anxieties. It's no wonder there is such a growing interest in career coaches, books, etc on how to manage one's career, it's never a clean straight line. I also saw you posted a note about your latest edition being one of your worst performing, were you referring to this one? If people unsubbed because of this I chalk it up to "can't please all the people all the time". I had the same thing happen with my Social Media post, I think it rubbed some people the wrong way. Personally I like getting to know the person behind the posts, it feels somewhat cold when people are just writing facts but you have no idea who they are. Keep writing your truth!
Hey Rick, ok I just read that other one, I still don’t see why people would bail because of that post, in the context of your series it’s a legit entry. It is a slightly different style but no reason to leave. Just can’t make some people happy.
Thank you for this open-hearted approach to work. I can feel your readiness to be both vulnerable and honest about what you learned in what sounds like a demanding career.
I'm curious. Which is a great sign.
"First, I wrote everything down about every aspect of my work - guides, playbooks, and processes. It was an ongoing joke how most of the shared drive had my name as the owner. Writing it down not only made it easier to hand work off, but the act of writing helped me deconstruct a process from something abstract to something we could deliver on repeatedly." This is very encouraging to me, as I have this tendency. You're giving me a vision for how writing my processes down prepares me to hand them off.
Hey Rick, thanks for sharing, I enjoyed hearing more about your personal journey at Privia, and the multiple evolutions you went through to continue advancing your career. For me the IC to First Time Manager shift was the hardest. And totally resonate with your ending paragraphs about work being both the answer and the enemy. Work truly is a paradox, and a mix of loves/hates, joys/frustrations, personal wins/anxieties. It's no wonder there is such a growing interest in career coaches, books, etc on how to manage one's career, it's never a clean straight line. I also saw you posted a note about your latest edition being one of your worst performing, were you referring to this one? If people unsubbed because of this I chalk it up to "can't please all the people all the time". I had the same thing happen with my Social Media post, I think it rubbed some people the wrong way. Personally I like getting to know the person behind the posts, it feels somewhat cold when people are just writing facts but you have no idea who they are. Keep writing your truth!
No, this was my first post and has been very well received! (I published it before I moved to SubStack)
This was the post that generated a bunch of unsubscribes: https://newsletter.thewayofwork.com/p/career-change
Hey Rick, ok I just read that other one, I still don’t see why people would bail because of that post, in the context of your series it’s a legit entry. It is a slightly different style but no reason to leave. Just can’t make some people happy.
Thank you for this open-hearted approach to work. I can feel your readiness to be both vulnerable and honest about what you learned in what sounds like a demanding career.
I'm curious. Which is a great sign.
"First, I wrote everything down about every aspect of my work - guides, playbooks, and processes. It was an ongoing joke how most of the shared drive had my name as the owner. Writing it down not only made it easier to hand work off, but the act of writing helped me deconstruct a process from something abstract to something we could deliver on repeatedly." This is very encouraging to me, as I have this tendency. You're giving me a vision for how writing my processes down prepares me to hand them off.
Thank you for your feedback, Rebecca!
Outstanding management advice: both organization-centered and people-centered.