The Culture of Contribution vs. a Culture of Careerism with Leah Shin

UPWARDS

Tech life often overemphasizes your career progression (esp. if you are an early in career hire). We are sold on the illustrious career before us, and quickly learn that there is an enormous amount of effort required to effectively network and shift around in the company, let alone be promoted. This focus on career, our position, and our identity defined by our roles often creates a toxic mindset that generates burnout and dissatisfaction in life. Instead, we want to introduce the idea that shifting our identity away from our role opens a more secure identity to contribute with (i.e., who are we and what do we bring to the table in our life, what are we built to do). This is not only a more effective and healthy way to advance a career, but also shifts our life focus away from just “our life and benefits” to “how our life benefits others’ lives”.