Career Paths (The 3 E’s)

I have an emergent pet peeve: career advice that doesn’t align with the career path.

Elon Musk’s morning routine doesn’t matter to an administrative assistant. And, for that matter, administrative assistants can end up happier and wealthier* than extravagant entrepreneurs, so maybe leave the morning routine be? 

Differentiating between these paths is essential to giving and receiving advice. At my day job, we differentiate between 3 different career paths to do this, and we can call them The Three E’s. 

The 3 E’s:

1. Entrepreneurs

1. Executives

1. Employees

Entrepreneurs have direct control, typically via an ownership stake in what they’re doing.

Executives have less control than entrepreneurs, but may have an ownership stake, and usually are compensated more via incentive compensation than salary and bonus. 

Employees have less control than executives, occasionally have small ownership stakes, and usually are compensated via salary and a bonus. 

The reason these 3 E’s matter is because you progress VERY differently in each. If we’re giving advice on what to do, how they relate to one another, and where things are moving, we need to understand THIS:

Entrepreneurs are leading for success and potentially an exit via the transition or succession of the asset they’re building. They set the vision (what it all means to them and their people) and the mission (what it all means to the people they serve). These produce the objectives, which…

Executives are incentivized, by entrepreneurs, to execute as strategy. In order to strategically hit the company’s objectives, executives rely on…

Employees, who for salaries and bonuses, deploy the tactics that keep the company moving forward, one step at a time. 

Before any advice or suggestion is ever given, knowing (and understanding) the path a person is on is everything.