Editor's Note: We've been asking Enterprisers to share what they wish they'd known early in their careers. Below is Arbella Insurance CIO Paul Brady’s reply.
Call me an optimist, but I see everything that I’ve learned throughout my career as a positive building block. I’m glad I didn’t know beforehand about many things, because learning experiences are important. I always joke that if the CIO thing doesn’t work out I can join the circus and walk the tightrope. Did I know early in my career that I’d be constantly juggling multiple competing priorities, competing personalities, and competing business drivers? No. But I never would have learned that except by experiencing it.
One thing I’ve always stayed true to is a belief that if you work hard, treat people right, and have some good ideas, good things will happen to you. I also don’t ever want to achieve anything to the detriment of anybody else. I want to win but I don’t ever want to win by someone losing.
