The Pursuit of Excellence: The Uncommon Behaviors of the World's Most Productive Achievers

by Ryan Hawk

I remember the moment when I called Dustyn to tell her that I was leaving my job as a director in a general management role to become VP of sales at our sister company. I was nervous and felt bad because I loved working with her. She made me so much better. I told her the news and she said, “Wow, I’m excited for you. But I didn’t know you wanted to go back into sales. Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you get a VP of sales role in my organization, and we could continue working together.” At that point, I realized that I had made the mistake of not being clear about what I wanted. I wanted to progress. I wanted to get promoted. I wanted to be a vice president. But I never told her. It was a learning moment for me: I needed to be open about what I wanted, and it would have helped me to tell her long before that phone call informing her that I would be leaving.