10 PM. Arlington, Virginia.
I’m grinding through a deck when Carlos walks in with his cleaning cart.
“All-nighter?” he asks.
I nod — client presentation tomorrow, team review at 8 AM, stress at 10pm.
He smiles: “Yeah… I’ve been here 23 years. Seen hundreds of consultants like you.”
Then he drops the line that stopped me cold:
“Some became partners. Some became CEOs. Some quit after two years. But they all thought their title was who they were.”
Then he shows me a photo on his phone.
📸 Him teaching robotics to middle schoolers on weekends.
“These kids don’t care I’m a janitor. They care that I show up — and help them build something real.”
Carlos had a computer science degree from his home country. Life happened. Plans changed. But his impact didn’t.
That night changed me. I’d been chasing titles like finish lines — Senior Manager → Director → Partner → Lead Partner — as if each one would finally make me feel “enough.”
💥 Meanwhile, Carlos was changing lives without a single LinkedIn update.
Then the truth hit hard:
• Your business card doesn’t define your worth
• Your org chart position doesn’t measure your contribution
• Your email signature doesn’t reflect your legacy
What does matter?
✅ How you treat people when no one’s watching
✅ The problems you solve without being asked
✅ The growth you enable in others
I eventually reached senior leadership at Kearney, Deloitte, and Amazon.
But I measure my career differently now — not by the titles I collected, but by the people I lifted.
Carlos still works in Northern Virginia.
His robotics students?
🎓 Three became engineers.
🚀 One just started her own tech company.
His title never changed.
His impact never stopped growing.
💬 What’s the most important lesson someone “unexpected” taught you about work?
💥 Hi, if we haven't met yet, I am Howard— an executive coach and former consulting leader who helps high-achieving professionals navigate what's next. Blending coaching, consulting, and practical strategy, I take a "no script" approach—start broad, get tactical fast, and focus on what moves careers and organizations forward.
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