There’s an old saying: “It’s not what you know, it’s who.” How true is that in terms of career success?
It doesn’t matter how true it is. You just cannot let yourself believe it. Oh, sure, sometimes a person gets ahead because his father used to work with so-and-so or his college roommate was part of this or that family. Connections happen, and when they do, mediocre people can leap forward faster than they deserve. That’s discouraging. But the minute you start thinking connections are more important to advancement than brains, positive energy, and hard work, you are signing up for a bad attitude, or worse, our favorite nemesis: self-inflicted victimhood. You start thinking: “It doesn’t matter what I do. Some dope out there with a better pedigree has the edge.” Not only is that self-defeating, it’s just not true. The world is filled with people who started with nothing and used brains and passion to create their own connections. Put your head in that place and keep it there. The victimhood vortex takes you only one place: down!
This question and answer originally appeared in Business Week magazine on January 15, 2007.
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