You might think that your best path to reaching your goals is to become more and more specialized as you progress in your career, but former CEO of Sonic, Cliff Hudson, shares with Start with A Win listeners that this does not always have to be the case. In fact, Cliff’s own experience showed that pursuing multiple paths that you are passionate about or even just interested in can make you a very successful generalist and perhaps take you farther than you thought you could go. 

Cliff majored in history in his undergrad and then went on to law school. After a few years in private practice, he became General Counsel at Sonic at the age of 29. During his career at Sonic, Cliff bounced around between disciplines a few times before taking over the helm of CEO, serving for 23 years. He points out that being a CEO entails being the most resourceful generalist in the company because of the expectation CEOs speak knowledgeably in all areas of business. In this role, Cliff focused on surrounding himself with the best people in multiple areas of the company to help him fill in his knowledge gaps before feeling confident enough to make decisions in unfamiliar areas. 

Cliff talks about the power of having the right mindset, choosing to see challenges as opportunities by finding creative solutions. A great way to have a toolkit of resources to draw from when challenges arise is by pursuing a variety of interests throughout your schooling and career, even if the things you are naturally curious about don’t seem to relate to your career goals. You will work most diligently on the things that appeal most to you, and the transferrable skills you can develop will only benefit you down the road. Talk with your employer about opportunities they might have for interdisciplinary training. If you are an employer, consider offering these training programs to your team to keep them engaged and learning.

Connect with Cliff:

https://www.amazon.com/Master-None-Jack-All-Trades-Still/dp/0062889036

https://cliffordhudson.com/

https://cliffordhudson.com/podcast

https://twitter.com/jcliffordhudson

https://linkedin.com/in/cliffordhudson 

Connect with Adam:

https://www.startwithawin.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/REMAXAdamContos

https://twitter.com/REMAXAdamContos 

https://www.instagram.com/REMAXadamcontos/ 

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