Continual Career Renewal: Up and to the right
Continual Career Renewal: Up and to the right
At a recent industry conference, I was deeply honored to be inducted into the FINSECA Management Hall of Fame, a moment that felt like a milestone in my career journey. As I prepared my acceptance speech, I kept circling back to the S Curve, or Sigmoid Curve, a concept from management thinker Charles Handy that has shaped how I view growth in careers, relationships, and organizations. This simple yet profound model captures the cyclical nature of progress, and it’s been a guiding light through my own professional life. Below is a visual of the S Curve:
The S Curve maps a career’s path. It starts with a humbling "learning curve," where progress is slow, and you might even feel like you’re moving backward as you wrestle with new skills. With time, competence and confidence build, leading to a steep growth phase often triggered by a pivotal moment. As you approach the curve’s peak, growth slows, and without intervention, decline looms. Handy’s insight is that to avoid stagnation, you must spark a new S Curve before the current one flattens. Ideally, you plant the seeds for renewal while still thriving, as shown here:
The trick is to launch your next chapter while you’re still in the sweet spot of success, dodging the lure of a "comfort zone" that can lead to stagnation. Done right, a career becomes a series of S Curves, each pushing you higher and to the right, as illustrated below:
"Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change"
We often assume growth is linear, but the S Curve reveals its cyclical, nuanced nature. The challenge lies in timing—starting a new curve feels counterintuitive when things are going well. Imagine if companies like Blackberry, Polaroid, or Blockbuster had reinvented themselves at their peak. Or consider how relationships can stagnate without renewal. The S Curve’s logic applies broadly.
My career has been a series of these S Curves, each lasting about 3-5 years before I craved a new challenge. I spent my first 25 years at Equitable Advisors and one of my early S Curves was transitioning from advisor to manager. I was terrified—I loved working with clients, but leading a team felt like a different beast. Yet, that leap taught me how to inspire others, and over multiple S Curves, I climbed to President and CEO. By then, I was comfortable, but I felt the itch for something new. That led me to Private Equity, where I helped launch Lion Street's broker-dealer and RIA platforms. I’ll never forget the late nights brainstorming with the team, fueled by coffee and the thrill of building something from scratch.
After Lion Street took off, I jumped into Fintech with Ensight, a move that felt like starting over. I was surrounded by coders and tech wizards, and at first, I felt out of my depth—like I was back in that early learning curve. But diving into the tech world opened my eyes to new possibilities, and three years later, I returned to Equitable Advisors to revamp their Southern California operations. That role was personal for me—Southern California is home, and turning around a struggling region felt like giving back. Three years after that, I carved out a new role as Managing Director and National Head of Business Development, where I got to travel the country, mentoring managers and advisors while sharing lessons from my own journey. Now, three years in, I’m staring up at my next S Curve, feeling that familiar mix of excitement and nerves as I ponder what’s next…stay tuned…
"Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up"
Many professionals cling to unfulfilling roles out of fear of the unknown. Having leapt into new S Curves multiple times, I understand the difficulty of leaving the familiar. Yet each move brought fresh growth and experiences I wouldn’t trade. Staying in a stagnant role or embracing the challenge of a new S Curve? My experience tells me that continuous renewal is the key to a vibrant and rewarding career.
As I closed my FINSECA speech, I wished the audience S Curves that always rise upward and to the right. It’s a wish I’ve lived, one leap at a time
“The world keeps changing. The things that got you where you are rarely keep you there.” - Charles Handy
Comments