There’s rather a lot to be said about playing the part for the job you would like somewhat than the job you may have – especially when you’re young and afraid of being too young for a promotion or higher rank to act. Brian Fenty would know. While the common Fortune 500 CEO is over 57 years oldHe took over the helm of TodayTix in 2017 at just 31 years old.
Under his leadership, the theater ticketing platform partnered with Netflix for a live production of Stranger Things: The First Shadowacquired Secret Cinema and Goldstar and now reaches over 25 million users of the app.
Although Fenty says his age initially made it difficult for him to be taken seriously by peers and investors, the now 38-year-old knew to not act like he was smart beyond his years, as he had done so prior to now had backfired – and his experience offers a possibility for precious leadership lessons for young and impressive people.
“It’s a fine line between faking it until you manage to learn it and do it well,” he says Assets.
Looking back on his earlier profession at private equity firm Hamilton Investment Partners, where he later became the youngest CEO ever, Fenty recalls a time when he was tasked with a task he had never heard of.
“I was asked to do a discounted cash flow and I was too embarrassed to say, I don’t know what that is,” he says. Instead of getting advice from someone more experienced, Fenty spent all night calling in friends from other firms and attempting to teach itself the job.
Ultimately, he was exhausted and no closer to the duty at hand, which he felt needed “real-world application.”
“I burned myself out and let my team down by not asking for help,” he concluded, adding that the experience taught him early on the right way to exploit his strengths—not his weaknesses.
“My secret weapon is that I always have helium with me in every situation – and that is my code word for optimism,” he adds. “I always try to take a problem-solving perspective: How can we change this? Is it worth turning around?”
Instead of dwelling on what you may’t do, Fenty’s advice to young aspiring staff is straightforward: Surround yourself with individuals who fill your skill gaps and ask for help whenever you need it so you may give attention to that , to excel within the areas during which you excel, in fact you are already good at that.
That’s why Fenty recommends that those that wish to climb the ladder quickly do the whole lot they’ll to search out their “superpower.”
“Take advantage of this as early as possible,” he says. “And if you do something that doesn’t take advantage of it, you’re wasting time.”
“You can learn in every job,” he affirms. “If you have a job where you learn things that don’t allow you to navigate what makes you unique, then you’re going to waste a lot of time.”
Don’t sell yourself short
While Fenty doesn’t recommend lying to yourself (or others) about where your skills fall short, he does encourage you to do your best.
“Never telling myself that I can’t do it,” he says, is the key to why he did so well for his age, adding that he himself had a “vision” for his future and easily went for it Has decided.
His advice on climbing the ladder echoes that of Pret A Manger CEO Pano Christou. Like Fenty, Christou is certainly one of the few executives to achieve access to the C-suite greater than a decade sooner than the common leader (he became CEO at 40).
Now Christou runs the UK’s biggest sandwich chain – and he reiterated that he got to where he’s today by saying “yes” to opportunities he may not have been quite ready for, but to himself nonetheless believed.
“Whenever new, bigger opportunities came my way, I always took them – I never said no – even when it really upset me,” he said Assets. “I may not have been ready for a while, but I would always like to take it and give it my best chance and it worked out well.”
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon also went from unloading trailers for $6.50 an hour on the retail giant to becoming the corporate’s youngest CEO since its founding – he said he learned the trade by regularly filling in for his boss .
“One of the reasons I got the opportunities that came my way was because I raised my hand when my boss was out of town and he or she was visiting stores or something,” he recently revealed.
The CEO added that he would even offer to fill in for his boss in meetings, whether or not he was willing to reply any questions that got here up.
Instead of dismissing questions above his pay grade and waiting to listen to back from his manager, he proactively responded, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out quickly and get back to you.”
