His backstory
For the last 30 years, Dave has helped leaders at some of the finest companies in the world recognize and capitalize on opportunity. He provides professional guidance to young teams helping them build a solid foundation and establish process and metrics to provide stability as they pursue aggressive growth strategies.
Read his full bio here.
What is the best advice a mentor or someone you admired gave you early in your career?
One of the best pieces of advice ever given to me was from a senior executive I worked with long ago. I was young and eager to move up in the company. There was an opportunity for me to advance, but I was overlooked. I was frustrated and he could see it. He said: “Dave, you need to understand promotions are driven from below not from above.”
I looked at him befuddled and he explained that if I wanted to advance in the company, then I needed to have someone ready to take my place. He told me to always have someone ready to take on the job I was currently doing so I would be available for the next job role. He also said: “You can get whatever you want if you help people get what they want first.”
It was great advice and it has helped me in many ways throughout my career. Not only has it helped me to advance professionally, more importantly it made me a better mentor.
I spend a lot of time helping people improve their job performance, which in turn helps me meet my professional objectives. I share this advice with the people I work with and they share it with their work colleagues. Following this advice helps build a solid team of performers and a deep bench of talent. So I’m sharing this with the hope it helps you as you navigate your own career path.
Connect with Dave on LinkedIn.
