Two months into my first General Counsel position, my company announced an acquisition that would double the size of the organization and vault it into the Fortune 500. It wasn’t clear that I would be the GC of the combined company. I knew that because the CEO told me so. The start of my tenure had been a whirlwind, and despite working 18+ hour days I was struggling to keep up with the demands of the role, which clearly was much bigger than either of us had anticipated.
It brought to mind the old adage: “what got you here, won’t get you there.”
I did a lot of things first to survive and ultimately thrive in that job. But the one that had the most immediate and lasting impact was to reach out to David Allen and attend his live Getting Things Done workshop.
Taking two full days out of my schedule to attend when I was drowning in work might have seemed foolish, but it changed everything for me. It was a classic case of sharpening the saw. In terms of productivity, I thought I was at an 8 or 9 out of 10 but was really at a 2. It was an inflection point in my career. And although I’ve continued to refine my system, so many of the things I learned in that course twenty years ago I still apply today.
Have you ever had to level up your game in a short amount of time to succeed in a new job? If so, what made the difference for you?