I had another conversation with Peter Wallace, CIO of the City of Virginia Beach, as part of the 757CIO mentorship program. If you've read my previous post, you already know these are great conversations. You come in with topics to discuss and he finds the angle you haven't thought about yet.
This time, the conversation started with wins. I've been getting to work on things that actually move the needle, business impacting projects, visible outcomes, the kind of work you'd want to point to when someone asks what you've been up to. That felt good to say out loud. But Peter being Peter, always finds a way to make me questions myself.
The water got deeper
We talked about what it actually means to operate inside a large organization, and Peter put it simply: you went from being the big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big one.
But here's the thing about that moment, it's not a setback. It's a signal. Being in that position means you've already grown past where you were. This is the pivotal point in a career where things actually start to take off, if you play it right.
Peters told me a story about a high school athlete who was the best on their team, recruited to play at the college level. Everyone on that college roster was the best on their high school team. The rules of the game haven't changed, but the level of competition has. What got you here isn't automatically what carries you forward.
In a large enterprise, that matters. The people around you are capable. Some of them have been doing this longer. Some of them are very protective of their territory. Which brings up the part of the conversation that I've been chewing on most.
Politics
We talked honestly about the politics between people and teams. When you're seen as someone coming in with strong opinions and a track record of results, some people read that as a threat. They don't say it. But you can feel it in the room.
Part of reading that room is understanding that not everyone around you is in full-drive career mode. Some people are coasting toward retirement. Some are happy exactly where they are and have no interest in climbing. Some just want to do good work, go home, and enjoy their lives, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. When you come in operating at a different speed, it can read as pressure, even when you don't mean it that way.
Peter's take: don't bulldoze, don't back down, but do lead with curiosity before you lead with answers. Understand what someone else's priorities are before you show up with yours. The goal isn't to win the room. The goal is to make the room want you in it.
Those relationships take time. They're worth building. The person who views you as an intruder today can become one of your biggest advocates, but only if you give them a reason to.
Never be the smartest person in the room
This one sounds counterintuitive until you've lived it. You spend years developing your craft, earning credibility, building a reputation, and then the advice is to actively seek out rooms where you're not the sharpest person there? Yes. Exactly that.
Peter says "Iron sharpens iron." The people who continue to grow throughout their careers aren't the ones who found a comfortable spot at the top of the expertise ladder. They're the ones who kept putting themselves next to people who pushed them, challenged their thinking, and raised the bar on what good looks like.
As an individual contributor, that environment isn't a threat, it's the whole point. When the people around you are strong, you get stronger. When they ask questions you can't immediately answer, you get better. When their standards are high, yours rise to meet them. That only happens if you're honest enough to admit you don't have all the answers and humble enough to actually listen when someone else does.
Being the smartest person in the room feels good in the moment. Being in a room full of people who make each other better? That's how careers actually move.
The more you share, the further you go
One of the most practical things we discussed: be generous with what you know. Share early, share often, and when something goes well, make it a team win. Not because you're being modest, but because the people around you remember how you made them feel. A team that wants you to succeed will push you further than any individual accomplishment ever could.
That shift from "my accomplishment" to "our accomplishment" is subtle, but it compounds. It builds trust. It builds reputation. And it makes the work matter more to the people who have to maintain it after you move on.
You have more time than you think
This is the part that landed hardest for me. I'll be honest, I've felt the pull lately to jump to the next thing. Bigger title, bigger platform, what's next. Peter slowed that down.
We did talk about the path toward leadership. It's there, it's real, and it's worth working toward. But moving into a leadership role isn't something you force, it's something you earn through the very things we'd already been talking about. The relationships, the consistency, the reputation you build by making those around you better. You can't skip that part and lead well.
Right now there's already a lot happening. Relationships still being built, momentum still picking up, work still speaking for itself. Time is my best resource and according to Peter, I have plenty of it. The wave you're riding right now is worth staying on. Jumping off early to chase the next one doesn't mean you're moving faster, it just means you don't get to see where this one lands.
The takeaways
The advice I'm carrying out of this one is simple: you're on the right path, the work is already speaking, and the people around you are noticing. Don't sabotage that by rushing toward something you haven't earned yet. Stay consistent, stay humble, and take care of the people in your corner. If you're already on the wave. Just enjoy the ride.