Connect with Fast Company

A career isn't what it used to be. Who has a job for life anymore? Who would want one anyway? Playing the new career game means learning new rules and making tough decisions. Should I take a job that pays less because it means more? Should I take a job I don't like to get skills I need? How do I know when it's time to go? We asked 14 business leaders, all with undeniably intriguing careers, to offer hands-on advice for moving ahead. Patty Stonesifer, once the highest-ranking woman at Microsoft, explains why following her heart meant leaving her job. Bill Haber, cofounder of Creative Artists Agency, describes how to stay put without staying in place. Superagent Leigh Steinberg offers five tips for cutting a great deal. Read these contributions and create your own game plan.

William Raduchel
Vice President of Corporate Planning and Development, and CIO
Sun Microsystems
Palo Alto, California
bill.raduchel@corp.sun.com

Don't pick a job. Pick a boss. Your first boss is probably the biggest factor in your career success. A boss who doesn't trust you won't give you opportunities to grow. A boss who's too easy on you won't drive you to improve. When you accept your first job, you're hiring a tutor to teach you about work. Be sure to hire wisely.

My first boss (when I was a 16-year-old theater doorman) taught me the basics of work: be honest. She hired new doormen at 45 cents an hour. But she'd always calculate their first paycheck at 50 cents an hour. If you reported the "error," you kept the job and stayed at 50 cents. If you didn't, you lost the job.

Over time, the most important skill for advancing your career is learning how to work to an agenda rather than to a schedule. A successful business person always kills more than one bird with one stone.

Figure out what needs to happen, then find ways to make it happen. A 30-second elevator exchange can be as productive as a one-hour meeting, but only if you know in advance what you need from the encounter.

William Raduchel's career has included senior positions at Sun, Xerox, and McGraw-Hill.

Patty Stonesifer
President and Chairman
Gates Library Foundation
Redmond, Washington

I left a great job as head of interactive media at Microsoft for one reason: the passion was gone. My pocketbook, ego, and sense of excitement were being satisfied, but I no longer had passion for the challenges I faced each day. Lots of people thought I was crazy to walk away from it all. But I felt like a juggler -- managing projects, budgets, and people -- whose only mission was not to drop the ball. Eventually I found my dream job. It aligns my personal expertise and goals with an opportunity to put technology in the hands of people who otherwise wouldn't have access to it. No matter how high your career registers on the conventional charts, you've got to listen to your heart

At Microsoft, Patty Stonesifer built the world's leading consumer CD-ROM business and managed the company's investments in online content and services.

Fay Vincent
Founder, Vincent Enterprises
Stamford, Connecticut