Editor's Note: The Enterprisers Project asked PrimeLending CIO Tim Elkins to share what he wished he had known earlier in his career.
During the first ten years in my working life, my mentality was to work hard, meaning really long hours. There were even periods when I would spend the entire night at the office working on things, getting it done, and deploying to customers. It was almost an insecurity for me that being the hardest worker was how you climbed up the ladder and got promoted.
There’s a certain amount of truth to that. But I now know that climbing up the ladder is much more around thought leadership, leading people, and listening to people. I didn’t realize then how important it is to motivate others.
I also didn’t do a good job of selling myself early on. I thought that everyone would see how hard I was working, and they would just know. But I didn’t always share what I knew, or why I was doing what I was doing. Yes, I’ve progressed pretty quickly in my career, but I think I could have moved even faster. Yes, hard work is important, but it’s not everything. Hard work is expected, but there is so much more to a career than that. That wasn’t even on my radar back then, but that’s a lesson that I share today, not only with my coworkers, but my kids as well.
