As you climb the corporate ladder with your simmering cardboard cup of Pike's Place roast in your hand, there is one thing I must ask of you: never forget where you came from.
As you look at the stairs you've succeeded behind you, remember that they alone brought you to the stairs that lie before you. You are not above those beneath you, we're all travelers and you have just potentially been on the journey a little longer. Believe that someday, they too possess the potential to stand on the very step you are right now. In fact, wish with everything within you that they surpass you.
I would prefer your confidence still be lacking, as opposed to your ego growing. I hope you don't forget how to use a fax machine, or a copier simply because there's someone there you can delegate that task to. This will keep you up to date on the basics. This will help your staff maintain their sanity. This will keep you humble. Let it be a reminder that those who are faithful with the small things, will one day be trusted with the big things. You are successful at achieving your dream, because you once were just the uncredited assistant to someone else's dream.
Remember your love for people, no matter their status. It's not about whose got their MBA, or who went to the most pristine university. Know that if you are not a leader with admirable attributes, none of this matters.
Respect your staff. I don't care if it's the person cleaning your office, the one sitting at the desk answering the phone, or even your fellow leader. I know you're busy, but so are they. Remember, your needs are not more important than theirs. If the phone rings all day long, offer to pick up your own line. Always help, never hinder.
In hustle and bustle of running between meetings, responding to the surplus of emails, and delivering presentations, know that none of that is as important as your staff. Without them, you do not have a team. You are an individual, incapable of possessing all the unique qualities your staff do.
You set the tone of the staff around you. If you cop an attitude, do not be surprised when they in turn do the same. A leader leads by example, they do not follow the status quo. So while your new staff may anticipate you to somehow channel your inner "Devil Wear Prada," prove them wrong. Aim to be the best boss they will have in their lifetime. Be the manager they wish could follow them to every job that awaits them in their future.
May the number of business suits hanging in your closet never out number the sets of pajamas folded up in your drawer. You love sleep, always have and always will. Despite that, you need sleep. It's human nature. If a job causes you to have less fleece pj pants and more ironed button down's, it is not worth it. Maybe you opt to wear heels, but I hope you still own a pair of fuzzy slippers. If your head feels less like hitting a pillow at night, and more like hitting the keys on the keyboard of the numerous email you have yet to send, it's not worth it.
I should hope you still love to read books about business, and that your humble hunger to learn always outweighs your hunger to be powerful. If you think you know it all, all you really know is nothing.
If there are days when stress is abounding, and I'm sure there will be, may you always respond and never react.
May you laugh outside of work, and at it. May you potentially carry a briefcase, and still carry no pride. May your passion for people always be so much greater than your passion for money. May you never stop appreciating the girl you once were, never stop admiring the woman you have become, and never stop anticipating the person you have yet to be.
