Ask HR: Just how patient should I be as I wait for success?
What you need to know:
- Such development might include mentorship, coaching, and forging meaningful relationships.'
- Ambition and patience are, in fact, inextricably linked through the trait of resilience.
- Patience helps to build resilience, which allows one to cultivate the attributes and relationships necessary for progress. In this sense, patience becomes a catalyst for growth.
I am a senior sales manager aiming to become the managing director in three years. My supervisor has asked me to be patient. Just how patient should one be to achieve career goals? I feel like I have been waiting for a very long time, and I am on the verge of giving up. How can I sit still with burning ambition?
Ambition is a powerful driving force. As a sales manager aspiring to become a managing director within three years, the concept of patience may appear counterintuitive, if not contradictory to your sense of drive. While it is natural to experience inner turmoil as you attempt to reconcile ambition with patience, the latter, when understood and practiced properly, can be a powerful ally in your journey towards achieving your career aspirations. While ambition propels individuals towards their goals, patience is a guiding virtue that tempers impulsive action.
Far from implying stagnation, patience represents a steadfast commitment to long-term goals. It entails the ability to withstand apparent delay while maintaining focus on the ultimate objective. It requires one to embrace a growth mindset, viewing each day as an opportunity for personal and professional development. Such development might include mentorship, coaching, and forging meaningful relationships. Ambition and patience are, in fact, inextricably linked through the trait of resilience. Patience helps to build resilience, which allows one to cultivate the attributes and relationships necessary for progress. In this sense, patience becomes a catalyst for growth.
Lasting success is seldom instantaneous. Embrace the career journey itself, savouring the process of personal and professional growth, rather than fixating solely on the destination. Set realistic short-term goals, devise actionable plans, and celebrate minor victories along the way. Rather than view patience as passivity, harness it as capital investment for your career, aware that setbacks and obstacles are an inherent part of any journey.
Impatience can be costly. Mindfully adopt a pace that will not leave you breathless or out of depth. Consider the words of Dieter F. Uchtdorf: “Impatience is a symptom of selfishness. It is a trait of the self-absorbed. It arises from the all too prevalent condition called ‘centre of the universe’ syndrome, which leads people to believe that the world revolves around them and that all others are just supporting cast in the grand theatre of mortality in which only they have the starring role."
HR Practitioner
