Thasunda Brown Duckett has some urgent career advice for people who don’t love their jobs: “Don’t run from challenges, embrace them.”
“Embrace the challenge,” Duckett, president and CEO of insurance giant TIAA, said recently on the LinkedIn podcast “This Is Working.” “Especially now, there are so many opportunities where you can click and apply and still be in the job market.”
Duckett’s advice may seem counterintuitive: Most people don’t look around, see a toxic workplace, and actively decide to stay in a situation they don’t enjoy. And job-hopping is in vogue right now: 83% of Gen Z workers consider themselves job-hoppers, according to a 2023 ResumeLab survey of more than 1,000 workers born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s.
But tough work environments can also be opportunities to learn and grow, said Duckett, who joined TIAA in 2021 and became just the third Black woman to serve as full-time CEO of a Fortune 500 company and was named to CNBC’s inaugural Changemakers list in February.
“Throughout your career, especially early on, take a stand — ask yourself, ‘Maybe I don’t have a great boss. Are there lessons I can take away from that before I decide to just quit?'” she said. “Take a stand — ask yourself, ‘Maybe I have a colleague I don’t get along with. Do I want to just quit or do I want to take a stand and hone my skills in managing through influence?'”
“Putting yourself in tough situations doesn’t mean you shouldn’t protect your mental (health),” Duckett added, “but I believe that if you put yourself in tough situations early in your career and walk an uncomfortable path, you can learn to be comfortable.”
Career coach Joyce Guan West agrees: “Challenge yourself, but don’t put up with a work environment that’s damaging to you. If you’re constantly being micromanaged or unfairly expected to work around the clock, there may be good reasons to explore other work opportunities,” she says.
“I’ve seen many employees put their emotional and mental health at risk when they put up with a toxic or abusive boss,” West told CNBC Make It, advising employees to “try to work through the challenges, but if your efforts ultimately get you into a situation that’s not healthy for you, then you need to either quit or make a change.”
If you want to succeed in your career, West says building professional relationships and developing skills is the fastest way to get there.
“Find a mentor to guide you, put yourself in an environment where you can learn as much as possible, and try to get promoted as quickly as possible,” she says. “Getting your first managerial role is essential to accelerating your career growth.”
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