How to Leverage Status for Career Growth | Toby Stuart

22 snips

Sep 8, 2025

Toby Stuart, Leo Helzel Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at UC Berkeley, dives into the fascinating dynamics of social status. He reveals that affiliations and endorsements often outweigh talent in career advancement. Explaining the Matthew Effect, he shares how small early successes can snowball into greater achievements. Stuart also discusses the paradox of prestige, where recognition can hinge more on who supports you than on your actual accomplishments. The episode explores the heavy emotional toll and loneliness that can accompany high status.

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INSIGHT

Status Comes From Affiliation

Status is often created by affiliation rather than pure merit.
Who you are connected to shapes evaluations more than the content itself.

INSIGHT

Early Leads Snowball Over Time

Small early advantages compound into large lifetime differences.
The Matthew Effect makes initial leads snowball into outsized status and opportunity.

ANECDOTE

Lord Rayleigh Paper Re-Evaluated

A manuscript judged as 'voodoo science' became a landmark once its author was revealed.
The identical paper got radically different evaluations depending only on the author's identity.

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