Your college diploma won’t necessarily determine your success, but these traits will!

From the desk of Miles Everson:

Happy Friday!

I am glad for yet another edition of  "Mindfulness by Miles."

Every Friday, I talk about health, career longevity, and the future of work. My goal is to equip you with the insights needed to navigate both your personal and professional life with greater clarity and energy.

Today, we’ll talk about educational pedigree, and why an Ivy League degree isn’t the only thing that will guarantee your professional success.

Eager to know more? Continue reading below.

Your college diploma won’t necessarily determine your success, but these traits will!

The professional world has operated on the assumption that an Ivy League degree was a guarantor of competence, intellectual superiority, and future success for decades.

It’s been hard to shake off this belief. After all, the upper echelons of the business, finance, and investment banking worlds (to name a few) are composed of Ivy Leaguers.

That said, the unshakeable belief that an Ivy League diploma is a necessary ingredient for professional success seems to be changing as influential voices have challenged the notion in public statements.

… and Lloyd Blankfein, former CEO of  Goldman Sachs, is one of them.

Blankfein, in one of his interviews, said that a flashy college degree from an Ivy League university isn’t a prerequisite for success nor great opportunities. Instead, he said those opportunities are more accessible than many seem to assume.

So, how does one exactly get great opportunities  and  potentially climb up the corporate ladder?

Blankfein emphasized the importance of  hard work . Looking back at his career, he said he’s met individuals who had done well for themselves  not because they were geniuses  but because they worked hard and took advantage of and actively looked for opportunities other people didn’t.

The former Goldman Sachs CEO isn’t alone. David Solomon, the current CEO of the same investment bank, said in a podcast appearance last year that he prioritizes qualities like ability to connect, resilience, and determination, over educational pedigree when evaluating candidates.

The testimonies of these executives make it clear that an Ivy League diploma isn’t the only thing you need to succeed.

That said, aside from hard work, what are the other qualities that can fuel professional success?

• Humility

  In one of his many coaching sessions with his team,  Professor Joel Litman , the Chairman and CEO of  Valens Research  and Chief Investment Officer of  Altimetry Financial Research, emphasized the power of humility.

  He said humility equips you with a mindset that’s conducive to collaboration and professional growth.

  This is because when you’re humble, you become much more willing to say,  “this is how I do things, but maybe there’s a better way of doing this.”

  When you’re equipped with that mindset, you’re much more likely to innovate and reinvent how you get things done or pursue opportunities. Moreover, you’ll be more receptive to different ideas and feedback—a necessary trait in climbing the corporate ladder and attaining success.

• Curiosity

  Curiosity is a powerful trait for career success because having a curious mindset often leads to new ways of looking at challenges and evaluating opportunities.

  Curious workers tend to be creative and highly interested in providing new ways of doing things or solving problems.

  Additionally, curiosity often goes hand in hand with humility because being curious is often rooted in one’s humble acknowledgement that he or she doesn't know everything.

Basically, hard work, humility, and curiosity are important traits to possess in today’s tech savvy and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven environment.

Gone are the days where an Ivy League diploma is considered as the end-all and be-all of professional success.

So, if you ever feel that your educational degree is the primary thing holding you back from career advancement, think again.

Nowadays, it won’t be your degree that’ll get you the job and career progress you deserve. It’ll be your commitment to hard work, curiosity, and humility that will impact how far you go in your career.

I hope you find this topic enjoyable and helpful!

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