4d (edited) • General discussion
Why Authority Matters
I had an interview recently where I mentioned leading a “team of one” at a $4.3B revenue enterprise—significantly contributing to their first $1B quarter.
The interviewer looked at me skeptically and asked, “And they let you go?”
Yes, they certainly did
That one question sums up what’s broken in corporate.
In six months, I activated 250,000 customers and helped generate an estimated $300M in revenue from campaigns I ran solo.
Yet my contract was cut short.
Here’s what those six months looked like:
My first senior manager went on sabbatical a week after I joined (not disclosed during hiring).
Her replacement stayed a few weeks, then went on maternity leave.
My third senior manager opened our first meeting by saying, “I don’t have time for this,” and I saw her twice thereafter - once in a 1:1 check-in, and then to lay me off as we had "activated enough."
I executed alone and delivered mission-critical results.
And yet, that six-month tenure often gets judged harshly. It was the period where I created some of the biggest impact of my career—and also learned how fragile a contractor’s role can be when leadership checks out.
I think about it often.
It taught me two things:
Results don’t protect you in broken systems.
Leadership isn’t about being present on paper—it’s about showing up in practice.
The best way to protect yourself against situations like this?
Build enough authority that you have a pipeline of offers ready to hire you the moment you're let go, or better yet, escape the corporate race entirely!
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Why Authority Matters
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