What I Wish
A young guy named Brendan, who is starting a career in private equity, reached out to have a conversation and after inadvertently ghosting him for six months (email me! I don’t check my X nee Twitter DMs), we finally made that happen. He asked some about my career trajectory and about how Permanent Equity approaches our space. Then he concluded with the classic what do I know now that I wish I knew when I was younger.
I thought about that because one answer is “lots of things,” but that’s also not a great answer because learning those things along the way is what makes giving this all a go such fun. That said, “Nothing” or “I wouldn’t change anything” also isn’t a good answer because it’s definitely not true!
So I said, and this might have been recency bias at work because earlier that afternoon Jeremie Kubicek (who, along with his friend and business partner Steve Cockram, you’ve met) had stopped by our office to talk personal and professional relationships, that I wish I had known more about myself. For example, it probably wasn’t until five-plus years into my career that I knew I was an ENTJ and what that meant. And it wasn’t until I got to Permanent Equity that I found out I was a Pioneer-Guardian and what that meant.
Looking back, when I first started working, I figured that the way I approached work was the way everyone should approach work, and that if they didn’t approach work that way, well, they were wrong. This probably led to more conflict and competitiveness that was necessary…or even healthy. But I didn’t understand why.
I think I have always had high standards, but I don’t think I’ve always provided others with high support. And as Jeremie and Steve point out, you need both in order to be an effective leader.
Jeremie concluded his talk that afternoon with a metaphor I hadn’t heard before and that’s that to be influential, one has to be like a fountain. Apparently his mentor used to ask him, “Jeremie, does a fountain move?” And Jeremie would say no. But the point was that despite it being immobile, by projecting beauty and calm, fountains come to be surrounded by people in public spaces. So if you can be like a fountain, and project beauty and calm, people will come to you and you will become an influential leader without having to interject yourself into anything.
Now, that’s aspirational to be sure and even a step beyond my advice to be entertaining and likable. But we are all works in progress and that’s what I told Brendan I know now that I wish I knew when I was younger.
– Tim
