Don’t swing at every pitch

An executive I spoke with once shared a sage piece of career advice – “Don’t swing at every pitch.”

She shared a story about an ambitious colleague who was eager to do more than their current role. In time, an opportunity presented itself. Luckily, this person went to this leader and asked for her advice. She spent a bit of time understanding what he wanted and shared that she didn’t think this was the right fit.

A couple of months later, the same person got another opportunity that completely changed the course of their career.

“Don’t swing at every pitch” is fantastic advice because career transitions are expensive. There are heavy switching costs – so it makes sense that we pay them only when we feel confident that the juice will be worth the squeeze. It pays to be discerning.

Don’t swing at every pitch.