T or F. To make it to the top is 50% what you accomplished, 30% playing the game, and 20% luck (right place right time)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s more like:


To make it to the top is 20% what you accomplished, 40% playing the game, and 20% luck, 20% personal appearance.

Personal appearance in the corporate world has little to do with natural looks. It's more that they're tidy and put together in a corporate way, not naturally attractive or beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s more like:


To make it to the top is 20% what you accomplished, 40% playing the game, and 20% luck, 20% personal appearance.

Personal appearance in the corporate world has little to do with natural looks. It's more that they're tidy and put together in a corporate way, not naturally attractive or beautiful.

I disagree completely. Nearly all of the C-suite is somewhat attractive. It definitely doesn’t hurt. And the women are generally thinner than the average woman. At the very least, these people will have a winning smile, dress exceptionally well, have charm, height, or some other distinguishing characteristic that sets them apart.

[Anonymous]

^^that I’ve worked with. And I’m not in a generally “attractive” industry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s more like:


To make it to the top is 20% what you accomplished, 40% playing the game, and 20% luck, 20% personal appearance.

Personal appearance in the corporate world has little to do with natural looks. It's more that they're tidy and put together in a corporate way, not naturally attractive or beautiful.

I disagree completely. Nearly all of the C-suite is somewhat attractive. It definitely doesn’t hurt. And the women are generally thinner than the average woman. At the very least, these people will have a winning smile, dress exceptionally well, have charm, height, or some other distinguishing characteristic that sets them apart.

You're talking about the CEO at my company. He's like something out of a movie. Grey hair, blonde wife, plays golf, speaks well, and wears a certain kind of business casual that's well put together. He looks the part. And if he met CEOs of a F500 he would fit right in and speak their language.

[Anonymous]

It's a comforting fairy tale to tell oneself that a lack of success is due to extrinsic factors, but it's not actually true. People who lack aptitude, work ethics, drive, ambition, and the good sense to behave appropriately for their professional environments are always going to be professionally disappointed, without regard to gender, race or other considerations. Plenty of white males are professionally lackluster and unaccomplished. Those who succeeded are distinguished from those who didn't by attributes other than race and gender.

[Anonymous]

The “luck” part is that the person who ultimately hires you essentially picked you because they wanted to work with you (as opposed to the other candidates).

When my employer did a major reorg, a lot of us had to reinterview for the surviving jobs. I was younger and brought no diversity (one of the publicly stated criteria), so I went into the interview with nothing to lose since I assumed two of my more senior colleagues were the natural candidates for the promotion. I was very friendly while being very candid about a lot of the issues facing the company, and long story short, I survived the reorg and ended up with a huge promotion.

Why?

The person who hired me (someone from the highest level of management who had never met me before) later told me they wanted to work with me rather than my colleagues.

I wasn’t the most outgoing. I wasn’t the best at playing the game or sucking up. But I am known to be friendly, positive, direct, and hardworking. I get stuff done without complaining, and when someone is looking for their go to guy, that matters.

But that’s the “luck” piece: the guy who hires has to like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The “luck” part is that the person who ultimately hires you essentially picked you because they wanted to work with you (as opposed to the other candidates).

When my employer did a major reorg, a lot of us had to reinterview for the surviving jobs. I was younger and brought no diversity (one of the publicly stated criteria), so I went into the interview with nothing to lose since I assumed two of my more senior colleagues were the natural candidates for the promotion. I was very friendly while being very candid about a lot of the issues facing the company, and long story short, I survived the reorg and ended up with a huge promotion.

Why?

The person who hired me (someone from the highest level of management who had never met me before) later told me they wanted to work with me rather than my colleagues.

I wasn’t the most outgoing. I wasn’t the best at playing the game or sucking up. But I am known to be friendly, positive, direct, and hardworking. I get stuff done without complaining, and when someone is looking for their go to guy, that matters.

But that’s the “luck” piece: the guy who hires has to like you.

You have EQ. You do not have to please everyone, just the person who hires you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who is worth >$15M before 40,

40% luck
40% accomplishments
20% playing the game

We’ve worked very hard, gone to the right schools, intentionally picked lucrative careers (think tech, finance, law), but sheer dumb luck really played a factor. A few anonymized examples

- getting on the PE wave of the late 00s
- pivotal, high profile roles that opened up just as we were looking to pivot
- sponsors who initially shared personal interests and therefore propelled careers

Do I enjoy every moment of my affluent lifestyle? Yes.

Do I also give back a lot because I know how differently things could have turned out? 100%

I respectfully disagree. Reaching the top 0.1% often comes down to a mix of factors: roughly 50% Emotional Intelligence (EQ), 5% hard work, and 45% simply being in the right place at the right time. I reached a net worth of $30M before turning 35, and I’m now 40. How did it happen?

I started in 2010 as an IT helpdesk support tech making $50K a year. My company hosted two corporate golf events annually, and as a former D3 golfer, I signed up without thinking much of it. I happened to play exceptionally well and was invited back—this time paired with the CIO and CEO. I used that opportunity to ask how they built their careers, and they shared invaluable advice. Before long, they invited me to play golf with them privately. A year later, I was promoted to Senior Director of Helpdesk Support—something that would not have happened without those personal connections.

When the CEO and CIO later left for another company, they brought me with them and gave me a VP role in IT Operations, along with stock options. They also introduced me to other executives across the industry. After five years, I leveraged those connections to join a startup as a VP and received substantial stock options. Four years later, the company was acquired by Apple, and those options fully vested, pushing my net worth to $30M before age 35.

Am I exceptionally talented? Absolutely not. Was I lucky? Absolutely. My point is that success often comes down to luck and relationships much more than hard work alone. It’s not always about what you know, but who you know—and who knows you.

Your case is almost 100% luck, because you were lucky enough to be born into an existence to be a D3 golfer. So few people even have that chance.

Are the countless hours of practice on the driving range, putting green, and golf course required to become a D3 golfer not considered hard work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s more like:


To make it to the top is 20% what you accomplished, 40% playing the game, and 20% luck, 20% personal appearance.

Personal appearance in the corporate world has little to do with natural looks. It's more that they're tidy and put together in a corporate way, not naturally attractive or beautiful.

Yeah there are a ton of short men in C suite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who is worth >$15M before 40,

40% luck
40% accomplishments
20% playing the game

We’ve worked very hard, gone to the right schools, intentionally picked lucrative careers (think tech, finance, law), but sheer dumb luck really played a factor. A few anonymized examples

- getting on the PE wave of the late 00s
- pivotal, high profile roles that opened up just as we were looking to pivot
- sponsors who initially shared personal interests and therefore propelled careers

Do I enjoy every moment of my affluent lifestyle? Yes.

Do I also give back a lot because I know how differently things could have turned out? 100%

I respectfully disagree. Reaching the top 0.1% often comes down to a mix of factors: roughly 50% Emotional Intelligence (EQ), 5% hard work, and 45% simply being in the right place at the right time. I reached a net worth of $30M before turning 35, and I’m now 40. How did it happen?

I started in 2010 as an IT helpdesk support tech making $50K a year. My company hosted two corporate golf events annually, and as a former D3 golfer, I signed up without thinking much of it. I happened to play exceptionally well and was invited back—this time paired with the CIO and CEO. I used that opportunity to ask how they built their careers, and they shared invaluable advice. Before long, they invited me to play golf with them privately. A year later, I was promoted to Senior Director of Helpdesk Support—something that would not have happened without those personal connections.

When the CEO and CIO later left for another company, they brought me with them and gave me a VP role in IT Operations, along with stock options. They also introduced me to other executives across the industry. After five years, I leveraged those connections to join a startup as a VP and received substantial stock options. Four years later, the company was acquired by Apple, and those options fully vested, pushing my net worth to $30M before age 35.

Am I exceptionally talented? Absolutely not. Was I lucky? Absolutely. My point is that success often comes down to luck and relationships much more than hard work alone. It’s not always about what you know, but who you know—and who knows you.

Your case is almost 100% luck, because you were lucky enough to be born into an existence to be a D3 golfer. So few people even have that chance.

Are the countless hours of practice on the driving range, putting green, and golf course required to become a D3 golfer not considered hard work?

You are just a dog with a bone. Is this your new hobby? Did you hurt your knee and can’t golf anymore?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s more like:


To make it to the top is 20% what you accomplished, 40% playing the game, and 20% luck, 20% personal appearance.

Personal appearance in the corporate world has little to do with natural looks. It's more that they're tidy and put together in a corporate way, not naturally attractive or beautiful.

I disagree completely. Nearly all of the C-suite is somewhat attractive. It definitely doesn’t hurt. And the women are generally thinner than the average woman. At the very least, these people will have a winning smile, dress exceptionally well, have charm, height, or some other distinguishing characteristic that sets them apart.

You can work to improve these: ozempic, designer clothing, hair stylist, nutrition and heels.

We are not talking about being naturally stunning enough to star on a CW show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s more like:


To make it to the top is 20% what you accomplished, 40% playing the game, and 20% luck, 20% personal appearance.

Personal appearance in the corporate world has little to do with natural looks. It's more that they're tidy and put together in a corporate way, not naturally attractive or beautiful.

I disagree completely. Nearly all of the C-suite is somewhat attractive. It definitely doesn’t hurt. And the women are generally thinner than the average woman. At the very least, these people will have a winning smile, dress exceptionally well, have charm, height, or some other distinguishing characteristic that sets them apart.

You can work to improve these: ozempic, designer clothing, hair stylist, nutrition and heels.

We are not talking about being naturally stunning enough to star on a CW show.

All you need with regard to appearance is to to fit within generally accepted norms for the roles to which you aspire. Excessive weight, inattention to grooming, slovenly attire, and being inarticulate will naturally lead to conclusions that those personal traits are symptomatic of cluelessness, at the very least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s more like:


To make it to the top is 20% what you accomplished, 40% playing the game, and 20% luck, 20% personal appearance.

Personal appearance in the corporate world has little to do with natural looks. It's more that they're tidy and put together in a corporate way, not naturally attractive or beautiful.

Yeah there are a ton of short men in C suite.

Short man energy is a thing. It’s why so many actors are actually short: the charisma and attitude propel them forward.

But I digress. Yes, so many short men in c-suite jobs, big law, doctors, etc.

But I also know a lot of tall, tan, fit golfers in big careers (mostly accounting/numbers or consulting) who seemingly manage the relationships rather than the heavy work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s more like:


To make it to the top is 20% what you accomplished, 40% playing the game, and 20% luck, 20% personal appearance.

Personal appearance in the corporate world has little to do with natural looks. It's more that they're tidy and put together in a corporate way, not naturally attractive or beautiful.

Yeah there are a ton of short men in C suite.

Short man energy is a thing. It’s why so many actors are actually short: the charisma and attitude propel them forward.

But I digress. Yes, so many short men in c-suite jobs, big law, doctors, etc.

But I also know a lot of tall, tan, fit golfers in big careers (mostly accounting/numbers or consulting) who seemingly manage the relationships rather than the heavy work.

There are more such tall, tan, etc. people in lower level jobs, proving the point that those characteristics are largely irrelevant to professional success.