Book Bites recently posted an excerpt from ENRICH by Todd Miller. Part of Scribe Media, Book Bites is one way that they share some of the incredible books that authors are publishing.
The following is adapted from ENRICH, by Todd Miller.
If you could do anything in the world right now, what would you do? More importantly, would you continue doing the work you currently do?
Charles Scott wrestled with these questions. His problem was not that he didn’t know how he wanted to spend his time — that was clear to him. The challenge lay in reconciling that ideal with the career ladder he felt compelled to climb.
In his career prime at age 43, Scott walked away from a fourteen-year tenure with Intel Corporation. He’d done well at the world’s largest semiconductor chipmaker. But the multi-week international business trips had taken a toll on his family life.
He wanted more time with his then-young kids and more adventures outside the office. Scott shifted gears and walked away.
However, he realized that he still had to sustain his family financially. So he dug deep to identify his strengths, his interests, and how he could make a meaningful professional Impact. That process of self-discovery led him to a career as an executive mentor.
He now spends his time speaking and running workshops, in person and virtually. He conducts web sessions with groups of executives. This structure allows him to maximize free time and maximize his earnings per hour of work. Helping other executives also gives Scott tremendous professional satisfaction.
I know Scott well; we were roommates at Vanderbilt, and we both jumped off the corporate ladder around the same time a decade ago. Scott stayed off the ladder; I later climbed back on. These days he is hard to track down, because he is all over the map doing the things that light him up, from scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro to running across the Grand Canyon. I once asked Scott about his proudest achievement at Intel. He paused, looked upward, and then, after some reflection, replied, “The courage to leave.”
The courage to leave. Charles Scott exemplifies the one who rejects the default setting.
You can read the excerpt in full here.