Okay, so let me say out loud what most of you are probably thinking. The economy is brutal. Wages, they're not keeping up with inflation. Companies are laying people off by email, and then they post on LinkedIn about their values and a great place to work. The housing market, well, it's a joke right now. And the people who made it, most of them either had a head start, they know the right people, or they just got lucky, or they come from great resources from the beginning. So, the common question that I hear with all of these things is what's the point of even trying? And I get it. I really do. I I get it. But, I want to show you something because see, right now, two the largest companies on the planet, companies that you shop at, they're being run by guys who started at the bottom. I'm not talking about they started in middle management. I'm not talking about they started with a finance degree and a network of people. I'm talking about a guy who drove a forklift. A guy who stocked shelves in a garden center. And neither of these guys had plans to become the CEO. They just did something that most people today simply won't do. And it compounded over 40 years into something that's pretty amazing. So, stick with me for just a second because I want to talk about three principles that we can learn from both of these stories. And no, I'm not talking about hustle bro clichés. I'm not talking about just believe in yourself. I'm not talking about just work harder. Of course, some of these things are true, but I want to be specific. I want to give you some counterintuitive ideas that actually explains how these guys kept climbing while a lot of other people around them just plateaued. These are principles that you can actually apply this week, today, at your job or at the job that you're working to achieve. So, let's go. So, number one, here's what I want you to know. Here's Here's a principle is just don't chase a title. Chase a company. That's right. Don't chase a title, chase a company. So, let me let me paint the picture. Let me introduce you to Ron Vacaas. He's the CEO of a company called Costco. Many of you've probably shopped or have a membership at a Costco. But, back in 1982, Ron was a college kid. He lived in Arizona and he was attending Glendale Community College studying business, a generic business degree. And like a lot of college students, he had to have a part-time job. So, he got one at a place called Price Club. It was a warehouse store and he was driving a forklift. Not exactly a job that most of us would be fighting over, but he took a job driving a forklift. He had to make his way through school. But, here's what Ron noticed. He noticed that the company actually took care of its employees. The culture was real. It was a great place to work. He felt like he had opportunity to grow. He thought that there was opportunities that were spoken about that he could actually achieve. So, he lived by a piece of advice that he said his dad gave him. Now, his dad was also a hard-working person who built a career working with his hands and this is what Ron lived by that his dad said. He said, "Find a company that stands for what you stand for and then the rest is up to you." And the second part of that advice was, "Don't chase a title." So, he didn't. See, he got promoted to assistant warehouse manager and he never went back to even finish his degree. He left college and then he took roles in operations, merchandising, real estate. See, he stayed in one place and he just kept getting better and better and better. Eventually, he became the regional VP in 1999 and then the COO in 2016. And then in January of 2024, uh just a little over 2 years ago at this recording, he became the CEO of Costco. I mean, think about it. It's amazing. Not only did he climb from the bottom all the way to the top, he's only the third person in the company to hold that role. Uh he now leads, think about this, a $254 billion company. And he said something recently that I think is really the key to it all. This is what he said. "10 years ago, if you asked me if I'd be sitting here today, I would tell you that I doubt it very much." See, when he was driving that forklift, trying to get through school, he didn't have some just master plan. He was just showing up, he was doing good work, and he was trusting that the right place would reward the right behavior. And again, I said counterintuitive ideas because that's different from what we hear a lot about today. But this is the thing that I really want us to see, because I know it goes against a lot of the career advice that you're getting right now. But the dominant narrative here is job hop, get your 15 to 20% salary bump every 18 months, and then never get comfortable. And people are doing this over and over and over in the marketplace right now. And look, sometimes that advice it's right. Uh if you're in a toxic work environment, if you know that they're not going to reward you or promote you, or the things that they talk about aren't really attainable, then get out. Don't stay. If the company doesn't actually reward loyalty, then don't give them loyalty. But let me ask you this question. I want you to think about all the people that you know, or maybe even yourself, who's been job hopping for 4 or 5 years, and they actually feel like they're building something meaningful. I mean, are they making real progress building a career, a life, or are they just restarting every 18 months? See, there's something that gets lost in constant restarting, and it's the power of compounding. See, Ron spent 42 years in one company. In that time, in 42 years, he learned every part of that business. He built trust with people, he built relationships with people, he became someone inside of that organization that they couldn't imagine not promoting because he'd become too valuable to them. He knew too much for them to let him go. And that doesn't happen in 18-month stints in just starting and then quitting and moving. So, the question isn't how do I get a better title? The question is, am I in a room that's worth staying in? Am I in a company that I believe in? Are there opportunities here? And many times we're so focused on what's out there, honestly, that we don't realize what's right here. And if you answer that as no, well, then maybe you need to move to where you can plant some roots. But if the answer is yes, stop looking for the exit and just commit. And then the second principle here is is just to be comfortable with change. Now, we talked about Ron, who is now the CEO of um Costco, and his story was really about staying. But the second story is about something different. It's about moving. And there's a special kind of movement, though, that separates people who plateau from people who just keep uh progressing, people who keep climbing. So, in order to understand this, I want you to go back in time with me. Now, we're 1993, we're in Bentonville, Arkansas, and a teenager walks into store 100. Now, that's Walmart's home store in the company's hometown. And this kid takes a job as a part-time hourly associate. He's out in the garden center. He's pushing carts. He's pulling weeds. He's doing whatever they tell him to do. Now, that teenager that I'm talking about, he is now the global CEO of Walmart. Most all of us have at least at some point shopped inside of a Walmart, the largest company on the Fortune 500. It's a business with 2.1 million employees. Think about that. And nearly 11,000 stores across 19 countries. 33 years in one company. Now, this is what makes John Furner's story a little different though from a typical loyalty narrative because I know what you're thinking. Oh, just stay loyal. And the point of his story is not that he just stayed. It's It's how he moved. Now, from a 16-year-old kid in the gardens part of the store in the garden section, he became store manager. He then became district manager. He became a buyer. He became a regional general manager and VP of global sourcing. And then two years, he was running merchandising and marketing for Walmart in China. And then he became the CEO of Sam's Club, which is a part of Walmart. And then CEO of Walmart the US. And then now the global CEO. Think about that. A guy who comes in 16 years old working in the garden section and now has worked in every part of the company. See, he didn't just stay in one lane and then just wait to be promoted. No, he moved, but he moved inside the organization. He went everywhere that the company needed someone to be. Some of those places weren't glamorous. They weren't comfortable. Obviously, they weren't resume builders. But when he talks about what made the difference, he doesn't say hustle, he doesn't talk about passion, he just says, "Get comfortable with change in a world that continues to change is a really great trait for any leader." Now, think about that for just a second. Because a lot of people here embrace change, and then we just roll our eyes, right? We think it means someone is going to take advantage of us. It sounds like something maybe a consultant would just put on a slide. But Ferner isn't talking about a mindset poster. He's describing a skill. See, every time the company shifted, there was new technology, new markets, new strategy, he just moved with it. He grew with it. So, while other people were just hoping things would go back to normal, "Just give me what I deserve." See, he was raising his hand. He was volunteering. He was ready to move with the changes, and that pattern, it compounded. See, I'm talking about when you invest, just like with with Costco. When you have two companies that are rewarding and giving opportunities, and you move and grow and stay, that time compounds, you become more valuable. So, every role that he stepped into that was maybe even outside of his comfort zone, it made him more valuable, it compounded his abilities for the next opportunity that came. So, the guy who ran a garden center understands supply chain. The guy who managed China operations, well, he understands the global retail element. The guy who led Sam's Club understands memberships and loyalty economics. He became nearly impossible to replace, and that's not because he was born as some kind of visionary, it's not because he had a head start, it's not because of his degree or his education or who he knew. It's just because he kept saying yes to every next opportunity that was in front of him. So, practically, what does this look like at your job? I want you to think about where you are, especially if you're not the CEO, if you're not the boss, if you're not the manager. It just likes It just looks like being the person um who learns the new software before anyone else makes you to do it. It looks like somebody who volunteers for the project that no one else wants because it's messy or new. And I get it. I hear all of the arguments. Well, that's not what I'm paid to do. Oh, yeah, go above and beyond so I can work for the man so they can take advantage of me. But that's not what I'm talking about here at all. I'm telling you two real-life stories of two individuals who are leading companies that we shop in every single day starting at the bottom. So, this opportunity looks like people who don't complain when things change, but instead they just figure out how to do it and how to make it better and how to rise above the people that's around them. These aren't heroic acts. These aren't just uh things that you do so that you can support everybody else. No, over time, this becomes something that catapults you into opportunity and the success that's around you. And out of these stories, I want you to see the third little principle here that I would say is that the bottom is a benefit. Starting at the bottom is a benefit. Wherever you are, maybe you feel taken advantage of, unimportant, but I believe being at the bottom is actually a benefit. So, let me let me phrase it this way. Let me ask you a question. When you picture a forklift driver, what do you picture? You're probably not picturing right now the future CEO of a quarter trillion-dollar company. And that instinct, that automatic mental gap between forklift driver and corner office CEO, manager, leader is exactly the problem that I want to help us dissect. See, we live in a culture that treats entry-level experience like a waiting room. It's something to escape, something to get out of as fast as possible. We sit in a waiting room and we can't wait until we're called. It's a necessary evil. We consider it like, well, we have to do this in order to get to the stuff that actually matters. And I get why we feel that way. I understand. Nobody's posting on LinkedIn about stocking shelves. Nobody's making documentaries about their years as a forklift driver. I get it. But here's what's interesting about both Ron and John. Neither of them is embarrassed by where they started. In fact, they credit where they started. Ron actually said about becoming the CEO that he's not an exception. Meaning that inside the culture of Costco, this path of starting from the bottom and making it to the top, it's normal. It's it's a cultural value that they have. Starting at the bottom, learning the culture, growing in leadership, that's how their company works. The bottom wasn't a detour. It wasn't a punishment. It was the beginning of a very specific education, on-the-job learning and growing and becoming more valuable. I want you to understand the bottom isn't a place to escape. It's a place where you can learn everything. It's where you find out how the actual systems operate. It's where you build relationships with people who were at every level of the organization. It's where you develop judgment that that classroom can't teach you or train you. It's It's an opportunity to grow in a way that you can't learn in any other capacity other than hands-on the job. Now look, I'm not going to pretend that the world is fair. I'm not telling you that hard work guarantees anything because it doesn't. But, this is what I know. Uh Ron drove a forklift, John pulled weeds, and both of them they made a quiet decision, probably without even calling it a decision. They decided to be excellent where they were, with what they had, and for as long as it took. That's it. That's the whole thing. So, uh the challenge I want to give to you, and I know this because I've lived it. This is my life, okay? Everything that I've done and accomplished, I relate to these guys, not because I'm on their level, but because all of the experience that I've had is because I just worked hard and I made room for myself wherever I was. So, I want to give you a simple challenge. Whatever job that you're in right now, at whatever level, in whatever industry, and no matter how unglamorous it may be, what would it look like to actually go all in for the next 90 days? I'm not talking about forever. I'm just talking about 90 days. Be the person who compounds instead of restarts. Go all in. Give it your best, and just see what happens. Hey, if this video added some value to you, go ahead and subscribe to the channel. Uh we're talking about going beyond the surface and giving you useful tips on how to advance yourself and how to make it in the world of work today. If you know somebody who's in the what's the point of even trying headspace right now, send them this video. And it's not because it's a lecture, it it just shows them two guys who started exactly where they are, and what happened [music] next. And I believe with those tips that we gave that you can start today, you can begin advancing, and your friends can, too. Go ahead and give us a like so that YouTube knows about it, and I'll see you [music] on the next one. >> Mhm.

The Real Reason Gen Z Isn't Getting Ahead (And It's Not the Economy)

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