Welcome to Thriving Ambition!!!
Do you want to go into a leadership or management role?
If you answered “YES!”, you’ve come to the right place. I want to help! I’ll share my experiences on this crazy journey to management and provide practical advice to help you crush your career goals.
To give you a better picture of who I am, I’ll share a quick story…
For the past 18 months, my career path has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride! I’m 7+ YEARS ahead of where I thought I’d be.
I went from a level 2 engineer to a level 2 engineering manager.
The management levels in my organization:
Engineer/Staff Levels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
Management Levels: 1, 2, and 3
Executive Levels: Director: 1,2 and 3; Vice President, Sector Vice President…and so forth.
Less than 18 months ago, I was a level 2 (entry-level) engineer. Since then, I’ve been on 40+ interviews. I felt like interviewing was my second job.
At times, it was both exciting and stressful.
I was called for interviews at high-profile companies like: Amazon, Apple, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, etc. I turned down several positions and selected my current role in production quality as an Engineering Manager.
Why Leadership?
I became interested in personal development at the age of 15. (Yes, I’m weird.) 😉 Over the years, I’ve participated in many leadership development programs. (In fact, I’m in a leadership program now.)
Every program challenged my way of thinking. This forced me to solve problems creatively and apply critical thinking to everything.
With ambitious goals of being a VP or CEO of a Fortune 500 company, I invest in my development. Most times, it’s out of my own pocket. I’m continuously reading books on the topic, going to seminars, and interviewing people who are crushin’ life.
The Future…
Through this blog, I want to share my experiences. ..what worked…what didn’t…and what you can expect as a new manager or leader.
This “get-to-management” goal was finally achieved through: years of preparation, formal education, countless mentors, career coaches, a few sponsors, tough interviews and lots of rejection. And I’m not done.
I have more than 30 years to go before hitting 65 and contemplating retirement. I have long road ahead of me with lots of work to do and I want you to join me on the journey.
So, take advantage of all the money I’ve invested on personal development. Learn from my mistakes.
Please share and subscribe to Thriving Ambition, and start planning your leadership career.
Can’t wait to talk to you! 😀
LaKiesha
