I agree with Sallie Krawcheck, CEO of a financial services company, that career success is about more than getting an “A.” As she relates in her piece The Single Biggest Mistake I’ve Seen Women Make at Work (though I think plenty of men make this mistake, too):
“I can’t tell you how many women I’ve spoken to who think that delivering a great project on time, ticking and tying the budget, landing the new client are the keys to success. In other words, getting an A. With a bit of prodding, they further tell me that they believe that if they keep their heads down and ‘get that A,’ they will be given the next great project or be promoted or granted the raise. In other words, that they will be rewarded for a job well done. Maybe. I hope so. But what made us successful at school is not always the same as what can make us successful at work.”
I’m not sure I agree with her conclusions that networking and building a personal brand are the keys to success, but I’m also not an expert on the very different challenges so many women face in the workplace.
For high school students, and those students soon departing for college, I think your real challenge is investing the very worthwhile effort into earning good grades while at the same time recognizing that at some point, becoming successful will be more complicated than just following directions and getting the right answer.
Thankfully, you have plenty of opportunities to develop those other skills both in high school and college.
Here are a few past posts to get you started.
For high school students:
You can’t earn straight A’s in life
And college students:
How to build a remarkable college career
What can you actually do?