Busting Through Class Hurdles

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Rising in your career puts you in some interesting spaces. For those who’ve come from humble beginnings, this piece is for you. If you want to be “ultra successful,” your professional (and personal) world and circles will change as you rise—whether you want them to or not—and having fluency in these new circles can be like speaking a new language.

This edition will give you a heads-up on some things you likely don’t even know are class markers, and give you a distinct advantage as you continue moving forward. To be clear, this is not about “giving up who you are,” it is about expanding your range. Think about it like being bilingual. You don’t give up your native tongue to be fluent in another.

Some people have a bit of resistance to this conversation, but I’ll be clear that those who refuse to expand that range personally will be held back professionally. It’s odd how there is so much mixed together here, but that’s how life works. Wherever you go, you bring yourself. People in companies are just humans, after all—and those humans act in ways that often reflect class structures.

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It’s something no one writes about and few discuss—but we’ll do it here, and we’ll do it openly.

So, this piece is about how to navigate the class hurdles you’ll face at work: I’ll show you what some of them are, how to think about them, and invite you to call yourself out and begin to master new patterns. While everyone knows to improve their *skills,* understanding *class* gives you quite an edge.