Home > Articles > Business & Management > Personal Development

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

From Day One: CEO Advice to Launch an Extraordinary CareerFrom Day One: CEO Advice to Launch an Extraordinary Career

Learn More Buy

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

From Day One: CEO Advice to Launch an Extraordinary CareerFrom Day One: CEO Advice to Launch an Extraordinary Career

Learn More Buy

The Value of Delayed Gratification

As you launch your career, sometimes the ideal job for you will not be the one that pays the best or has the most "bragging rights" among your friends, family, and peers. You may choose to work for a low salary today because you will gain valuable experience that will lead to a higher salary later. As a younger person, you can make that trade-off because, presumably, your financial burdens are less than they will be when you are 35 or 45.

The question to ask yourself now is, can you delay gratification—particularly if it means going without a new car for another year or two or living at home instead of on your own—to establish a better future? Would you choose a job where you can make a greater contribution over one that seems more impressive? What if the payoff for delaying gratification turns out to be a highly strategic move for your future? That would make that less-than-glamorous job more appealing, wouldn’t it?

Sound Advice and Delayed Rewards

In my own career, I passed up an opportunity to be part of a very hot company to become a tailor—with a Harvard MBA—at a well-established firm. Here’s how it happened: When I was in my MBA program, I actively sought out companies, particularly smaller ones, and I interviewed with recruiters who came to school. Then a friend told me about a great company in California that he thought we should both talk to and offered to set up interviews there for both of us. With the interviews arranged, we got on a plane to talk to this company I had not heard of—Mattel. This toy manufacturer, founded in 1945, made mostly conventional toys until 1959, when it launched the Barbie doll.

When I met with the people at Mattel, you could feel the pulse of the activity. The interviewer told me, "This place is growing so fast, if you sit still you can see the walls expand."

I left there with the conviction that, if Mattel made me an offer, I would take it. On my way back to Boston, I had a stopover in Chicago to meet with the management of Hart Schaffner & Marx (now Hartmarx Corporation), a very conservative clothing manufacturer, for my senior project. It was at that meeting that I first met John D. "Jack" Gray, who had recently become chairman and CEO of the company. After another Harvard MBA student and I had finished interviewing Jack about the company, he said to us, "We’re looking for young people like you. If you’d like to interview with the company, I hope you’ll consider coming back."

We thanked him for the offer but in so many words told him "no thanks."

Back in Boston I told my wife, Jane, about this exciting opportunity at Mattel, assuring her that this would be the most fantastic thing. Always the trusted advisor, Jane listened patiently to all of it and then said, "I think you should think about Hart Schaffner & Marx. At Mattel there is going to be a lot of competition from some very intelligent and ambitious people. But at Hart Schaffner & Marx, they won’t have any other new MBAs on staff to compare you to. You’ll really be able to get noticed there."

Taking her advice, I did go back to Hart Schaffner & Marx to interview. The opportunity was clear. I would become the first MBA the company had hired in at least a decade. But instead of working in a corner office, I’d have to spend quite a bit of time in the factories, learning every step of the tailoring process from basting to sewing to pressing. Without that hands-on experience, I wouldn’t have any insight into how to make the operation more efficient, improve margins, and so forth.

In the end, I had three offers to consider: one from Mattel, one from Hart Schaffner & Marx, and one from Procter & Gamble, where I had worked after graduating from Northwestern University and in the summer while I was at Harvard. I discussed the situation with my mentor and advisor, Professor Doriot. "There is no question," he told me. "The long-term opportunity is better at Hart Schaffner & Marx. It’s a good company with a great reputation."

I turned down Mattel and went to work for Hart Schaffner & Marx. My reasons were clear: I hoped to have an opportunity to utilize my newly acquired skills and knowledge, which would benefit the company, while growing rapidly within the organization. Over the next three years, half of my time was spent in the shop learning to become a tailor. My finished product was my own suit that I made myself, which I still have. At the end of four years, I was made a vice president responsible for several thousand people.

The moral of this story is simple: I decided to delay my gratification and gave up the job at the "hot company." Instead, by listening to my trusted advisors, I chose the company where I could learn more and make a bigger contribution. When I got my reward, it was a significant one. I received a vice president’s title far more quickly than I would have elsewhere.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020