47 and working in Startups_Scaleups
LinkedIn Post
47 and Counting: How I become a Startup Swiss Army Knife 🌟
(Unlock your edge!)
Imagine thriving in startups at 47. It’s my reality. 🚀
Since 2009, I’ve embraced the startup/scaleup journey. Here’s what I’ve learned:
✪ I never stop learning. From coding, coaching, leading, developing products to AI, I approach every role with curiosity. It’s about value, not titles. 💡
✪ I flex my skills. Like a Swiss Army Knife, my generalist background paired with acquired deep expertise means I solve a wide range of problems. 🛠️
✪ Soft skills are my key to connect. My Systemic Coach training honed my empathetic, patient, and respectful yet assertive approach. This unlocks potential in myself and others. 🗝️
✪ Comfort zone? I constantly explore new territories. It’s about the extra mile. 🧭 I avoid equilibrium!
✪ Health is my foundation. My 99.62% availability proves investment in well-being means peak performance. 🏆
Age brings wisdom and a unique perspective. Sometimes I guide; other times, I learn. Understanding how to influence and interact effectively is crucial.
I stay youthful by surrounding myself with fresh perspectives. My younger colleagues inspire me daily. It’s a two-way street of knowledge! 🔄
To sum it up: Embrace continuous learning, stay mentally nimble, invest in your interpersonal skills, keep pushing your boundaries, prioritize your health, embrace diverse viewpoints. Avoid the equilibrium!
How do you adapt in a fast-paced world? Share your best tips below!
👉 FOLLOW ME for more insights on building compound knowledge
Content preparation
I’m 47 now and work since 2009 in startups/scaleups. Fast pacing environments. And I reached a top contributor role several times.
Special incredients that pay off in such environments were for me:
- Always learning and stay mentally fluid with were I can bring in the most values. I worked in roles as Software Developer, Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Team Lead, Chapter Lead, Lead for Agile Coaching, Product Coach, Product Operations and now Group Coaching Course Designer, AI specialist and automation expert.
- I’m a generalist with deep dive expertise in certain fields now. That make me a Swiss Knife companies can leverage in several fields. This is especially helpful in environments with rapid changes, where flexibility in approaches and a wider solution spectrum is beneficial.
- I invest in my soft skills heavily over the years. I took my Systemic Coach eduction, that taught me a lot about enabling others and myself to tap into our capacities more fully. Working with empathy, being patients, being polite but also demanding are keys.
- I avoid equilibrium and push myself to tap into new fields, go the extra mile and don’t just manage my status quo. I guess especially with higher age and also seniority level a challenge.
- I invest in my health and being able to perform every day on high level. This investment shows - with a my availability of 99,62% - I guess bringing me in the top 0.1 percent in my age group.
At the same time I can now leverage my compound knowledge and the fact of being physically older than most of my colleagues. I’m aware that my voice is weighing differently. Sometime it has a heavy weight (maybe also just because I have a gray beard). Sometimes it is not considered, because I’m not longer on the same experience level and don’t share the same moments. Being aware of this extra context of age is super important to interpret behaviors better.
One great effect for myself is staying young by being together with younger people. I can learn everyday from approaches, challenges and just interesting different ways of thinking.
To summarize - invest in always learning, mental flexibility, social skills, context awareness, being healthy and curiosity in in individuals and generation specifics. Avoid equilibrium.
Posted on LINKEDIN on 2024-03-27_Wed
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