When I was a child, it never once occurred to me that my parents didn’t know everything. I mean, sure, they didn’t understand what it was like to be in high school (because they were “so old”), but they obviously knew how to handle car repairs, when to see the doctor, and how to handle my rebellious siblings. (I, of course, was perfect.)
Then I became an adult—and learned that most of adulthood is just winging it.
Children have a whole group of people assigned to them to help them succeed—parents, teachers, older siblings, cousins—but adults either need to figure it out themselves or seek out their own mentors. The working world reflects this progression: Companies have all sorts of mentoring programs and succession planning programs for entry-level to middle management employees, but once you make the senior team, everyone kind of abandons you.
It’s the equivalent of saying, “Hey, you’re an adult now! You’re on your own.”
To keep reading, click here: Your Executives Don’t Know Everything