Ummm...retired probably! Easy answer at this stage of my career. But when I was about six years into my career, I once answered that question by saying I wanted to be VP, EHS (Environment, Health & Safety). It wasn't really well thought out; it's just that in the EHS profession, VP is generally the top slot, so I figured that was the thing to aspire to.
With considerably more seasoning, I came to understand both myself and the nature of "top" jobs better. There is a cost to every move up the ladder. You may have to give up work you really liked. You may suddenly have to lead people who were peers yesterday. Your scope changes. You were Mayor of the city and you advocated with every breath for the good of the city and now, you're Governor. The city still matters, but you have a bigger picture to consider and more constituents to hear and manage. The other significant cost is quality of life. My new VP has two children under age 10. She's travelling constantly and doing calls at all hours. When you've been around a while you observe these things and ask, "Am I really suited for that?" I'm not married and I have no kids -- but life balance matters a lot to me. I assess that as part of any change I consider.
What makes us want promotions? Glory? Ambition? Contribution? For myself, it's never been about title or money. It's been about staying challenged and interested and learning -- and knowing that I can contribute something good. I no longer aspire to be VP -- at least not at my current company. Johnson & Johnson's EHS programs are world class; we make small incremental changes to stuff that's already benchmark. There is challenge in that, yes. But I think it could be incredibly fun to go to a smaller company with still immature programs. I have even often thought a great post-job job would be to go back to the beginning -- back to a small manufacturing plant -- and take everything I've learned over 30 years and have a do-over. I could build a kick-ass EHS program knowing what I know today about influencing people and making programs rock. So it's still hard to say where I want to be, or will be, five years from now. I will go with the flow.
With considerably more seasoning, I came to understand both myself and the nature of "top" jobs better. There is a cost to every move up the ladder. You may have to give up work you really liked. You may suddenly have to lead people who were peers yesterday. Your scope changes. You were Mayor of the city and you advocated with every breath for the good of the city and now, you're Governor. The city still matters, but you have a bigger picture to consider and more constituents to hear and manage. The other significant cost is quality of life. My new VP has two children under age 10. She's travelling constantly and doing calls at all hours. When you've been around a while you observe these things and ask, "Am I really suited for that?" I'm not married and I have no kids -- but life balance matters a lot to me. I assess that as part of any change I consider.
What makes us want promotions? Glory? Ambition? Contribution? For myself, it's never been about title or money. It's been about staying challenged and interested and learning -- and knowing that I can contribute something good. I no longer aspire to be VP -- at least not at my current company. Johnson & Johnson's EHS programs are world class; we make small incremental changes to stuff that's already benchmark. There is challenge in that, yes. But I think it could be incredibly fun to go to a smaller company with still immature programs. I have even often thought a great post-job job would be to go back to the beginning -- back to a small manufacturing plant -- and take everything I've learned over 30 years and have a do-over. I could build a kick-ass EHS program knowing what I know today about influencing people and making programs rock. So it's still hard to say where I want to be, or will be, five years from now. I will go with the flow.