Supply Chain Saturday

I was coaching someone recently who had a lot going for him. Bilingual. Sharp. International experience. He had been connecting Fortune 500 executives with consulting clients at firms like McKinsey and BCG, and through that work, he got a front-row seat to how important supply chain and procurement are to the biggest companies in the world. That experience sparked a real interest in building a career in the field.

He had interviews lined up. Companies were interested. One opportunity in particular was with a well-known firm in the semiconductor space, which is one of the fastest growing industries out there. The role was solid. The trajectory was real.

But when we started talking, I could tell something was holding him back.

It wasn't his skills. It wasn't his resume. It was the move itself. Taking the role would mean relocating to a completely new environment. Leaving behind everything familiar. Starting over in a place where he didn't have a built-in support system. He was thinking about all the things that could go wrong. The cultural adjustment. The uncertainty. The risk of it not working out.

So I asked him one question: what's the worst case scenario?

He paused. And then he said it out loud. If it doesn't work out, he goes back to what he was doing before. That's it.

And that's when the shift happened. Because once you name the worst case and realize it's survivable, the fear loses its grip.

Early in your career, you need to learn about yourself. What motivates you. What kind of environment brings out your best. And the only way to figure that out is by getting outside of your comfort zone. You don't learn that by staying where it's safe.

Here's what I want you to think about.

If you've been going back and forth on a career move, an application, a relocation, a conversation you've been avoiding, ask yourself the same question. What's the worst case scenario? And then ask the one most people skip: what can go right?

Maybe you land in an industry that's growing for the next 20 years. Maybe you build skills that compound over time. Maybe you meet someone who changes the trajectory of your career entirely. Maybe the thing you're most afraid of turns out to be the thing that teaches you the most about yourself.

You're going to work for the next 40 or 45 years. There's time to figure it out. There's time to take a chance that doesn't pan out and still recover. But there's no way to get that time back if you spend it standing still because you were afraid to move.

Give yourself some grace. You don't need to have it all figured out. You just need to take the next step.

Until next Saturday,
– Mark