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Rubbing shoulders

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A few annoying pieces of conventional wisdom blossomed about work coming out of the pandemic. None was more under the radar than this fact.

👉 The idea that you can’t grow in your career outside an office. Without ‘rubbing shoulders’ with those you could learn from.

I know this to be true based on many articles written. You’ve probably seen them. Early in my career amazing talent was blocked from promotions simply because they worked at a satellite office – not the mothership HQ. I also fielded several questions about this from anxious colleague students recently on a panel.

The fact remains, however, if an organization is not good at growth & development, they will not be good regardless the physical location of employees.

Growth and development is much more than scheduled seminars once a year and more than being in the physical presence of senior leadership. It takes intentionality to craft a culture of growth at the organizational and team level.

I can say with 100% certainty that growth and development is possible in an all-remote environment. If, and only if, the company truly cares to create it. Not just do it lip service.

Here are a few (no budget) ways you can advocate for growth if your company culture isn’t quite there.

• Ask to take on a stretch project
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• Ask if you can shadow your boss or somebody on the team about an area they are interested in.

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• Related, see if the person who does a review of a document or plan you put together is comfortable with you watching them review on the other end of the Google Doc (no meeting required). I’ve learned a ton watching mentors review my work. Where do they press into? How do they position things? What polish do they add? It’s made me a better leader and clarified my thinking.
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• Ask for as much context as you can get. On decisions. On why things are how they are. Information unlocks so many things.
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• Understand how and where decisions get made.
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• Develop deeper relationships with people. You do have to work harder at this in a remote environment since there’s no desk chatter. Be diligent about following up with people and keeping them informed. Don't shy away from human-level small talk at the start of calls. Invite people you want to learn from to informal ‘coffee chat’ calls.

In my first few months at a remote-first company, I have been so impressed by the intentionality when it comes to culture building and creating an environment where people can learn.

Again, growth is possible. But you need leaders who care enough to intentionally design it. And you may have to push on the areas where you want it most.
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Grant Gurewitz Full-time corporate type and School of Logging Off Founder

Good vibes only ✌️

Working hard or hardly working? Doesn't matter. Step into nature for a brief moment of awe to escape the crazy at work 😵‍💫