Career Planning and Frameworks

The Inverted T Model — Finding Your Superpower

“It’s like an inverted T model,” said one of my mentors during one of the most memorable 1-on-1s I’ve ever had.

I remember nodding wisely while thinking, an inverted what now?

We were talking about career frameworks — those things that usually sound like HR PowerPoint slides with clip art — but this one was different. Sam (my mentor) told me about a study that looked at what made the world’s top CEOs and leaders so… superstar-like.

The researchers expected the usual suspects: fancy Ivy League degrees, perfect résumés, scary-high IQs, or an uncanny ability to speak in bullet points. But instead, they found something that looked like an Inverted T on a chart — broad competence across a lot of areas, and one tall spike where the person was truly world-class.

In short: every top performer had one superpower. Just one. The rest? Good enough, but not extraordinary.

And to make things more interesting — the superpower was different for everyone. Some were financial geniuses, others were people whisperers, some could sell ice to a penguin. There was no single formula, which made the whole thing both fascinating and mildly annoying.

---

Two Rules from the Inverted T

When choosing your next job (or life path), there are only two rules:

1. Double down on your superpower.
2. Fill in the gaps where you’re weakest.

I was at a crossroads when Sam told me this. I had a few offers on the table and couldn’t decide which to take. That framework became my compass — and I still use it today myself and when I mentor others in their career development.

---

My “Energizer Bunny” Phase

At the time, I thought my superpower was sheer output. I could juggle multiple projects, ship deliverables faster than anyone, and generally make things happen. I was like an over-caffeinated Energizer Bunny with a laptop — fast, driven, and very proud of my project plans and racks of servers running tests. My best friend back then still remembers my high energy and inability to sit still.

And for a while, that worked. My career at the big tech company grew steadily. But it wasn’t until my final year there that I discovered a different superpower altogether.

---

“Go Fix Korea”

My manager gave me what sounded like a joke: “Go fix Korea.”

The problem? The company had invested over $150M in data centers for a market making less than $100M a year — and shrinking. The sales team had been fired after a mass attrition event. The replacements were eager to partner with just about anyone to avoid getting the same outcome.

Naturally, I thought, what the hell do I know about fixing that? Up to that point, my world revolved around building complex software systems, not reviving declining markets halfway around the world in a culture I knew nothing about (this was before Gangnam Style and APT).

But one year later, the region’s revenue had doubled to $200M — and my job became to repeat the formula elsewhere.

Here’s what worked:

1. We ditched the “customer-proposed Frakenstein” solution.
   It looked promising but introduced security flaws. Instead, I asked sales to describe only the outcomes the customers wanted. Then my team rebuilt everything using only our own products.
   • ✅ Security issues gone.
   • ✅ Customers happy.
   • ✅ We accidentally made more money because we became a one-stop shop and launched what would become the company’s future SKU.
2. We set up a bi-weekly rhythm.
   I made sure my team and the Korean sales org were perfectly aligned — sharing deal blockers, customer feedback, and plans for upcoming visits. We were able to resolve so many issues quickly and efficiently simply because they were raised in near real time. What would have taken the sales team weeks or months to find a product contact would take me hours and days through my connections.
3. We met customers — in person.
   This one surprised me. I had spent most of my career working in the background and meeting customers only at large conferences. But in Seoul, I learned how much presence mattered. Even through translators, you could feel the trust building in real time.

That’s when I discovered my real superpower: talking to customers and understanding what they really needed, even when they couldn’t articulate it.

---

From Superpower to Reinvention

When I eventually left that company for a pre-IPO Silicon Valley firm, I used the same framework again. I negotiated my role to include more customer-facing product work, something that had always been a gap for me.

That company was peak Silicon Valley excess — Michelin chefs for lunch, game rooms, off-sites every quarter that cost thousands of dollars per night hotels, the works. (A fun time before “cost discipline” became the new religion.) But more importantly, it was where I strengthened that new muscle: listening deeply to customers and turning insights into strategy.

I had gone from “get it done” to “get it right — by listening first.”

Over time, that gap transformed into a new superpower. I could now connect dots between customer pain, product roadmaps, and market strategy — and I loved every minute of it. I could even predict what the competition would and should do (People still remembered when I wrote a What If paper on a seemingly wonderful partner who ultimately turned into a competitor)

---

Looking Back

Every big step in my career came down to one of two things:
✅ Strengthen my superpower.
✅ Fill in a real gap.

I never chased titles or comp packages (though, let’s be honest, they didn’t hurt). The luck part of my career came from timing — the growth came from the T.

So if you ever find yourself stuck between options, ask:

• Which one sharpens my edge?
• Which one fills a blind spot?

The rest will take care of itself — inverted T and all.

While this particular framework worked for me (there are others as well), it may not resonate with everyone. Find the ones that will work and use it well.

For #ELF#