How do you get ahead in today’s AI-driven career landscape?
| From the desk of Miles Everson: Happy Friday! I’m excited for today’s "Mindfulness by Miles." In these articles, I talk about health, career advancement, AI, business, and the future of work. My goal is to equip you with the insights needed to elevate both your personal and professional life with mindfulness and greater clarity. |
| Today, we will tackle how you can get ahead in today’s workforce landscape. Intrigued? Keep reading below. Climbing the corporate ladder isn't going out of style. A KPMG survey of more than 900 interns found that 93% of Gen Z respondents aspire to reach the C-suite or become senior executives. Moreover, this survey shows a generation confident in its AI fluency: 94% expect the technology to reshape over a fifth of their future roles, and 88% believe they're ahead of the curve in using it well. However, ask them what will really separate top performers in the next five years, and their answer isn't AI; it's critical thinking . That said, ambition, AI fluency, and confidence aren’t the only things a go-getter will need to get ahead of the corporate ladder. What’s also required is building the skills needed to enable a worker to stand out. Derek Thomas, a KPMG executive said as much: “Lean on AI for all the thinking early on, and you never build the instincts that make you a strong employee.” What Thomas said doesn’t just apply to Gen Z professionals, though. To climb up the ranks, you need to possess the skills that will propel you forward. So, how do you exactly develop them? The answer is simple: You have to adopt a “yes” attitude!
A “yes” attitude means getting out of your comfort zone and saying “yes” to challenges you haven’t encountered before. This attitude doesn’t mean saying “yes” to everything, but what it does entail involves:
According to PwC U.S. CEO Paul Griggs, the professional who spends time learning about new things “gets more work to do. And the next thing you know, that person climbs into the next role and the next role.” Griggs isn’t the only executive who stands by this. Lisa Su, CEO of semiconductor giant AMD, said the “ fastest path to growth” involves running “towards the hardest problems” because that is where individuals grow and “find the biggest opportunities.” Sure, leaping into new projects, learning new things, and taking on additional responsibilities sound challenging. However, accomplishing all those things isn’t as hard as it used to be. In their present form, the AI tools available today can handle repetitive tasks like research, data retrieval, and data encoding—freeing time for higher-level tasks like ideation and analysis. Climbing Up Clearly, rising to the top of the career ladder seems difficult in today’s AI-driven work landscape. … but by adopting a “yes” attitude and leveraging today’s greatest innovation, advancing your career doesn’t seem like a far-fetched idea at all. So, the next time you find yourself asking how you can advance your career, make sure to recall the insights we shared with you today. It just might be what you need to push yourself to succeed. Have a happy weekend! For a daily version of this newsletter, please subscribe here. |
Miles Everson
CEO of MBO Partners and former Global Advisory and Consulting CEO at PwC, Everson has worked with many of the world's largest and most prominent organizations, specializing in executive management. He helps companies balance growth, reduce risk, maximize return, and excel in strategic business priorities.
He is a sought-after public speaker and contributor and has been a case study for success from Harvard Business School.
Everson is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants. He graduated from St. Cloud State University with a B.S. in Accounting.
