Career Changes

I recently reconnected with a friend I lost touch with roughly ten years ago when he moved to a different state. We had a brief email exchange providing each other updates on our family and professional circumstances. When I mentioned that I was still with the same company, he replied "I would have lost that bet. I had you pegged as someone on the move." Implicit to this statement was an undercurrent of disappointment. Dan Pink writes about how we live in a "free agent nation." If you work for the same firm for too long, the inescapable conclusion is you must be on a stifling, dead-end path.

It got me thinking a bit about my personal career and experience at ZS. I've certainly had my ups and downs and on two different occasions thought of leaving. On both occasions, I asked myself what needed to change to reinvigorate my passion. Both times, I sought to redefine my career within ZS and found that the organization promptly bended to accommodate my aspirations. In fact, I feel that I was ultimately able to exert a firmwide impact on our culture and practices as a result of my new personal ambitions.

I agree with the sentiment that corporations are abstractions that can no longer command our loyalty. But hasty departures and transient commitments are also problematic. It is a lot harder to influence large scale change than it is to simply bail ship for smoother sailing. Circumstances will often warrant a move, but when done out of simple convenience may also reflect a lack of personal accountability and courage. While I have no idea what my future holds, for the time being I'm pretty energized by the excitement of influence.