April 11, 2025

326. Are you building the right kind of currency for career success? With McKinsey’s Lareina Yee

42 minutes

SHOW NOTES

Title: “Are You Building the Right Kind of Currency for Career Success?”

Episode 326

Guest: Lareina Yee

THIS WEEK’S TOPIC:

What if the way you’re collecting professional experiences is more valuable than the titles on your resume? In this eye-opening episode, Lareina Yee, Executive Partner at McKinsey and co-author of “The Broken Rung,” introduces us to the game-changing concept of “experience capital” – the true currency that propels careers forward. Discover how strategically curating your professional experiences can exponentially increase your career value and why understanding this concept is crucial for women navigating the corporate ladder. This conversation reveals why the “broken rung” on the career ladder affects women long before they ever encounter the glass ceiling, and offers practical strategies to build the right kind of capital for sustainable success.

ABOUT THIS WEEK’S GUEST:

Lareina Yee is an executive partner at McKinsey who co-founded the Women in the Workplace research initiative, capturing more than a decade of data-driven insights on gender in the workplace. With her co-authors in “The Broken Rung,” Lareina examines the overlooked barriers women face early in their careers and provides strategic approaches to overcoming these challenges.

KEY TOPICS AND WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE:

EXPERIENCE CAPITAL EXPLAINED: Understand how the professional experiences you collect become your career currency – with Lareina explaining that 50% of your lifetime earnings comes from what you gain on the job. Learn how to strategically select roles, responsibilities, and projects that build your portfolio of skills and demonstrate your readiness for advancement.

BOLD CAREER MOVES THAT PAY OFF: Discover why stepping into roles where 20% of the requirements terrify you might be exactly what your career needs. Lareina shares why periodic job changes and stretching beyond your comfort zone accelerates your experience capital growth.

CHOOSING COMPANIES, NOT JUST JOBS: Learn why “picking a company, not a job” is critical early in your career, and how to evaluate which organizations will truly invest in your development.

P&L RESPONSIBILITY AS A CAREER ACCELERATOR: Find out why having profit and loss responsibility, even temporarily, dramatically increases your experience capital and future opportunities.

TRANSFORMING MOTHERHOOD INTO A CAPITAL BUILDER: Challenge conventional thinking about career breaks with strategies for creating a “round trip ticket” that turns parenthood into an experience capital advantage.

LEVERAGING YOUR NETWORK STRATEGICALLY: Understand the crucial difference between mentors who guide and sponsors who open doors, and how to cultivate both types of relationships.

This episode provides actionable insights on building your professional currency in ways you might never have considered. I’m eager to hear how the concept of experience capital might reshape your approach to career development! Connect with me and share how you’re thinking about your own experience capital – is this concept new to you? Something that might shift how you’re thinking about your professional journey? Let me know!

LINKS MENTIONED:

The Broken Rung by Kweilin Ellingrud, Lareina Yee, and Maria Del Mar Martinez

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