How to Create Your Greatest Impact in Any Stage of Your Career
A few years ago, one of my most trusted mentors shared something that has stayed with me ever since. As she looked toward the latter part of her distinguished career, she said, “I’m really wanting to discover how to put out my best work ever.” After decades of professional achievement, she was looking to make even greater meaning in her professional career—searching for ways to make her most meaningful impact yet.
This sentiment resonates with so many C-suite executives I work with today. You’ve climbed the ladder, proven your capabilities, and built successful careers. But now comes a different question: How do you continue to be impactful and leave a lasting mark on the organizations and communities you care about?
The answer isn’t the same for everyone, but through coaching leaders in different industries I have discovered some excellent themes that resonate with many executives. No matter where you are in your career these perspectives can help shape your best work.
Three Powerful Ways to Amplify Your Impact
1. Mentoring Without Boundaries
Your decades of experience navigating career changes, organizational challenges, and leadership decisions are invaluable resources. But mentoring doesn’t have to be confined to your current organization or industry.
I have countless younger clients hungry for guidance on career pivots, skill enhancement, and opportunity identification. They’re not just looking for someone to show them how to climb the traditional ladder—they want access to wisdom about when to change direction, how to spot emerging opportunities, and how to build resilience in an ever-changing professional landscape.
The beauty of mentoring is that it works both ways. While you’re sharing hard-earned lessons, you’re also staying connected to fresh perspectives and emerging trends that keep your own thinking sharp.
Mentoring doesn’t have to be a huge commitment. It can mean a cup of coffee, a phone conversation, or a short conversation at a networking event.
2. Strategic Volunteering: Leverage Your Skills in Unexpected Places
When we think about volunteering, we often default to organizations that align perfectly with our professional expertise. But I encourage executives to think beyond their comfort zones. Your unique skill set can create transformational change in unexpected settings.
Consider the banker who sits on the board of a diaper bank. Instead of just providing financial oversight, they’re helping design asset-building programs and educational pathways for the families they serve. Or the technology executive who volunteers with an arts organization, bringing digital innovation to creative spaces that desperately need it.
This cross-pollination of skills doesn’t just benefit the organizations you serve—it expands your own perspective and reinvigorates your problem-solving abilities. Sometimes the most impactful leaders are those who bring fresh eyes to old challenges.
3. Empowering Others to Be Impactful
Perhaps the most overlooked opportunity for executive impact lies in actively helping others recognize and amplify their own contributions. Throughout our careers, we face similar challenges and problems in different settings—and these lessons are invaluable not just for our own growth, but for developing the next generation of leaders.
It’s surprisingly rare to find leaders who consistently communicate to others that they’re doing the right thing and making a difference. When you become that leader—the one who sees potential, acknowledges contributions, and helps others understand their impact—you create a ripple effect that extends far beyond your immediate sphere.
This isn’t just about growing your team; it’s about growing individuals who may be inside or outside your organization, but who are seeking knowledge and eager to make their own mark.
The Unexpected Benefit: Professional Balance
When I was CEO of my own company, juggling countless responsibilities and constant problem-solving, these “extracurricular” activities became essential for my own well-being. Volunteering and mentoring didn’t add to my stress—they provided balance. They allowed me to take the gifts and skills I had developed and share them in environments where I could see immediate, positive impact.
There’s something deeply satisfying about applying your expertise to help others succeed, especially when it’s not tied to quarterly results or board presentations. It reminds you why you developed these skills in the first place and reconnects you with the fundamental joy of making a difference.
Coming Full Circle
My mentor, the one who sparked this reflection, ultimately made a beautiful choice. After giving her all to the professional world for decades, she decided to focus on her personal life—to have fun and prioritize herself for a change. But even in that decision, she was modeling something important: that our careers should serve our lives, not the other way around.
Whether you’re looking to create your greatest professional impact yet or transitioning toward a more personally fulfilling phase of life, the key is intentionality. Consider these pathways. Consider how your unique combination of skills, experience, and perspective can create positive change in ways you might never have imagined.
Your best work ever might not look like what you expected—and that’s exactly what will make it extraordinary.
