Episode 52 - The 4 Levels of Careerist Part 1: The Hustler
Hey Rebels! Welcome back to the podcast, and Part 2 of our 4 part series. To give you a quick recap, we’re talking about the 4 Levels of Careerist and how that impacts your career, leadership, and how you make choices in your career.
In the last episode we talked about the Drifter Level, what keeps women them there, and what it takes to move off of that level. Today we’re talking about the next level which is the Hustler level. Now the structural, inequitable, patriarchal and sexist systems and conditioning I spoke of in the last episode don’t magically disappear at the Hustler level or any of the levels for that matter. So just because I’m not talking about that doesn’t mean it doesn’t remain a factor. What does change, however at each of these levels is the narrative and belief system held by the women on their respective level and how prevalent those narratives are that guide them. What’s also important is gaining an understanding of they’re willing to shift their thoughts, perspectives, and beliefs to ones that are more useful and productive for their lives and careers.
So let’s get into it.
For the Drifter one of their challenging narratives is that it’s hard to believe it’s possible to do work you love AND get paid for it. There’s more of a practicality and realism (and survival) at this level, which guides how they take on their career path and any career challenges the come their way. The Hustler, however, believes that there is a possibility for more. Their challenge, however here, is that the work they “love” is often defined by family, societal messages, or well meaning colleagues and friends.
The Hustler has bought into the societal blueprint you’ve heard me mention before: attend a 4-year university (preferably a well-established reputable school), get your degree in something practical like engineering, accounting, medicine/nursing, teaching, law, computer science, or a major that will position you for a career in academia. Then you land a great job in your field, which means it’s offering a great salary with good benefits, and there you stay and begin the upward climb on that proverbial ladder of success. Now, it’s important to note that these levels speak to the midlife woman (Baby Boomers and Gen X). The younger generations, including Millennials and Gen Z, were raised in a different time with a different set of guiding principals when it comes to their career and the “stay to play” concept is rather foreign to them. This is reflected by the average length of time each generation spends in the same role. For example, Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) stay on average 8-9 and Gen X (born between 1965 - 1985) stay on average 5-6 years. But Millennials and Gen Z won’t stay much longer than 2 years in role before they’re ready to move on.
This is an important distinction because for the midlife Hustler it’s about loyalty to job and for the younger generation it’s about loyalty to self. We were taught that work is an obligation and expectation, while the younger generation were taught work is an expression of yourself, talents and gifts. Hustler, on the other hand, are carefully placing and firmly cementing their career ladder within their new industry or organization.
In the 80’s, when I graduated from college, it felt like every TV show and movie out there was giving me a roadmap to climb that ladder of success. Movies like Working Girl, Baby Boom, and Wall Street were some of my most memorable examples; and of course TV shows like LA Law and St. Elsewhere all talked about the hustle required to be the best and make it to the top and what it would mean if you “couldn’t cut it” and were out. What they represented was that there was no coming back from that, particularly if you were a woman.
I definitely bought into that beautifully laid out prescription of success for the first decade or so of my career. In fact, now that I look back on it, it’s funny to me how I was so focused and motivated to land that job and climb that ladder and honestly, it never really mattered what the job was or where the ladder leaned, as long as I could start climbing! Crazy right? But how true is that statement for you? I mean, I had the attitude that whatever I got, I’d make it work. So I dutifully went along and denied my dreams, desires, or even interests to be one of the chosen. In fact, I remember the summer after my second year of law school I took an internship in the securities and regulatory law department of a major corporation (because the labor and employment department had accepted all of their interns). Now initially, my thought was if I can get in the company, maybe I can connect to some of the attorneys in the labor and employment department and they’ll want to transfer me other. But after a month when that didn’t happen and I was stuck in securities (which I absolutely hated by the way), I beginning to try and convince myself that maybe this could be the path for me? Why, because I was enticed with all of the bells and whistles that went along with a job as a securities attorney in that company. I mean, not too many lawyers were graduating and making $275k right out of law school in the 80s. Luckily it was just an internship and not a permanent job, so it allowed me to snap back to my senses THANK GOD! But that’s what happens at the Hustle level.
At this stage you are fully motivated by external rewards and validation, because you don’t really know yourself or worse, trust yourself to make the best possible choices for yourself. After my first year, I interned at the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights, which is a highly prestigious and coveted internship, but the pay was about $10 bucks above minimum wage at the time and the offices were beyond old and dismal. The attorneys who worked there did so because of the work and impact they were making in the world, but Hustlers are often more attracted to the bright lights and shiny objects. Because they don’t know who they are because they haven’t really taken the time to explore their identity, or they’ve ignored or denied their deepest desires, the sway of luxury often sends Hustler down a road that becomes really challenging to get off of. Also, our society celebrates the rich and successful. Today the idea of success has not really changed, it’s been broadened. But for the midlife professional absorbing these ideals in the 80s and 90s, from movies like Boomerang, the hustle was on.
Hustlers are constantly following and working within the, “formula." Their eyes are keenly focused on achieving the NEXT position outlined on their particular ladder. So if you’re a manager, the next step is Director. Why? You don’t know, or can’t really articulate why other than reaching that level signifies some type of career success in your mind and not ascending to the next level somehow signifies that you’ve failed. This happens more times than I can count now when women tell me they want to promote and when I ask why, their either can’t really articulate their reason, or the reasoning isn’t really aligned to the promotion. Meaning they’ll say things like, “I want to make an impact,” even though they’re already making a significant impact where they are now. So if you’re already doing what you think a promotion will get you, now what?
Hustlers have experienced success, often have a good income, and a pretty good title, and are seemingly doing everything right. And while they’re not miserable, they’re definitely not overly ecstatic or doing cartwheels because your career. And because of this steady level of inspiration and lack of enthusiasm, there’s a focus and belief that changing their circumstances will change their energy and lackluster emotions. So you think the answer maybe making a move to a new department or job. You boss is moving to a new company and wants to take you with them so you say Hell YES, then you move and still nothing. Or you bestie tells you she just relocated or moved to a new company and you’ve GOT to make that move, so you do and then after a way you begin to curse the day you met her. And all of that is because you haven’t realized yet, that it’s not the external rewards, validation and accolades that bring joy or success, it’s YOU.
You're starting to realize that the compromises you made to climb that latter more important than you thought. That more money and titles actually buys you longer hours and an inability to take a real vacation. And your career/life alignment is completely off. Now, It’s a tricky place to be because you’ve believed for so long that you were on the right path. At one point on that journey up your career ladder you DID love your work. You thought you found the “perfect one” when it comes to careers. But now something starts to feel a bit off. Things are not quite right. And the thought of exploring that feeling a little deeper or pulling on that string scares the shit out of you. Why? Because you of that faint voice you hear in the back of your head that’s saying, “what if I chose wrong?”
And you begin to think, if I chose wrong after all of these years how do I know how to make the right decision for myself. So you dangerously ignore that voice and chalk it up to a bad year or just some shit you’r going through or that it’s the "price you have to pay" to achieve the success you believe you want. You tell yourself it’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows…all of which may very well be true.
But the reason I said “dangerously ignore” is because most women at the Hustler level try to outwork that voice in side their heads. They either take on more projects or make slight shifts in the work they’re doing and continue to overwork, overcommit, and ultimately burnout. They become a bit bitter with their employer, blaming them for their circumstances and why they feel stuck and frustrated, because it’s easier to believe external circumstances are the cause then the possibility that they put themselves in that circumstance. As a result, Hustlers become highly skeptical about alternative moves that will take you off their path and will try and “wait it out” because the fear of what’s on the other side that keeps building and building inside.
It’s definitely a precarious position to be in because on the one had you’ve invested so much of your time, energy, as well as, your hopes and dreams in that ladder you’ve climbed and on the other you’ve eroded your self-trust in making the right decisions for your career. At this point, it usually takes a significant act or incident to snap them out of the sadness or disappointment they feel which will enable them to take a new and unchartered path.
So if you can identify with the Hustler, your work here is to learn how to regain your self-trust, stay out of regret, and to reconnect to what matters to you. While your initial thought may be to just find something new, that’s the worst thing you can do right now because you’ll simply be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, and will continue to erode your self-trust.
Spend time reconnecting with you. You’ve been on auto-pilot for so long you may even be wondering how you got to where you are. So now is the time to slow down, take your foot off the gas, get off of auto-pilot and start paying attention to not only where you are, but where YOU would like to go. Not where you think you should, but what feels right for you. Through this process you’ll start building a deeper level of self-awareness, start connecting to your personal identity, not your professional identity, connecting to who you are now in midlife, not the 20 or 30 something you that’s been guiding you all these years.
Now, more than ever, in the future of work, this work is imperative. And now more than ever, for women in midlife, this work is imperative.
If you’re ready, I invited you to join me in Fearless: the Career Rebel Academy and let the healing and transformation begin! We’re accepting members for our February cohort so click on the link in the show notes and submit your application today!!
That’s all I have for you today Rebels. Join us next time when I dissect what it means to be at the Established level.
See you next time and until then…have an amazingly rebellious week.
