The Portfolio Life: Why Not Knowing What You Want at 18 Might Be Your Greatest Advantage

Many of us believe we should have our future mapped out by the time we leave school. Oliver Rendell, deputy chair and Fellow of The Institute of Leadership, shares why not having a career plan could be your greatest advantage. 

 

If you had asked me at 18 what I wanted to do with my life, I would have given you a very honest answer: 

I had absolutely no idea. 

I wasn’t pursuing a lifelong dream of becoming a pharmaceutical leader, a charity chair, a trustee or a coach. Like many people at that age, I was simply trying to work out how adulthood worked. 

Yet somewhere along the way we seem to have created the expectation that by the age of 18 we’re supposed to know exactly who we’re going to become. Choose your subjects, choose your university, choose your career and choose your specialism, as though one decision made as a teenager somehow determines the next fifty years of your life. 

Looking back, I think not knowing was one of my greatest advantages. 

I started my career in the pharmaceutical industry at 18 with no grand plan and no real idea where it might lead. Twenty years later, I still work in that industry and now hold a group leadership role responsible for managing international manufacturing partnerships around the world. 

But that’s only part of the story. 

Along the way, I completed two degrees, a Master’s degree and am now studying for an MBA. I became an accredited coach, a trustee and eventually Chair of a national charity. I became a mentor for children through a children’s mental health charity and became involved in supporting young leaders and future professionals. I also became a Fellow and Trustee of the Institute of Leadership. 

None of these things formed part of some carefully crafted twenty-year plan. 

My career wasn’t planned. 

It was assembled. 

It wasn't planned. It was assembled 

I still remember my first week in pharma. I got changed into my lab coat, put on my hair net and walked into the manufacturing facility for the first time. 

There were so many people. 

So many smells. 

So much noise. 

People moved around the place like ants, all apparently knowing exactly what they were doing and exactly where they were going. 

I remember thinking to myself, “What have I done?” 

I genuinely wondered whether I belonged there. 

Then a few weeks later, I was one of those ants. 

New people arrived and looked at me in exactly the same way I had looked at everyone else. 

The people we think have everything figured out usually don’t. They’re often just a little further down the road than we are. 

For years we’ve been encouraged to think about careers as ladders, but mine certainly wasn’t. My pharmaceutical experience made me a better trustee. Coaching made me a better leader. Charity work made me a better decision maker. Mentoring young people made me a better listener and, I think, a better person. 

I think of this as a portfolio life. 

Not becoming one thing. 

Becoming many things. 

Confidence isn't knowing - it's figuring things out 

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way has been confidence. 

Not confidence in being the loudest person in the room. 

Confidence in your ability to figure things out. 

Several years ago, I was asked whether I would like to cover somebody’s maternity leave as Business Development Director for Northern and Western Europe. 

My response was simple: 

“Why not?” 

The reality was I had limited experience in that world and almost overnight found myself responsible for €19 million worth of sales across eight countries and twelve customers. 

If ever there was a moment to feel underqualified, that was probably it. 

But we did it. That year we delivered 105% of our sales target. 

More importantly, I built relationships and networks that would become invaluable in later roles. 

Networks matter. Relationships matter. People remember how you made them feel long after they’ve forgotten your job title. 

Nobody had told me I was ready. I simply decided to try. 

Failure taught me another lesson. Early in my leadership career, I thought leaders were supposed to have all the answers. I believed my role was to be the expert in the room. Eventually I realised the most powerful words a leader can sometimes say are: “I don’t know.” Closely followed by: 

“Shall we work it out together?” 

Growth begins out of your comfort zone 

Leadership isn’t about pretending to know everything. It’s about creating environments where solutions can be found together. 

Almost every worthwhile period of growth in my life started with discomfort. Studying whilst working, leadership roles, joining boards and chairing organisations all felt uncomfortable at first. 

I’ve come to view discomfort as a signpost. Whenever I’ve felt slightly out of my depth, growth has usually been waiting on the other side. 

What I wish someone had told me at 18 

So, whether you’re 18 and worried because you don’t know what you want to do with your life, or whether you’re 38 and wondering whether it’s too late to try something new, here’s what I wish someone had told me: 

You don’t need a master plan. 

You don’t need all the answers. 

You don’t need permission. 

Be curious. 

Say yes to opportunities. 

Collect experiences before you collect job titles. 

Don’t become too attached to being one thing.