Adam Wowak, Professor of Management at Notre Dame, shares his journey from a lucrative but uninspiring investment banking career to academia, emphasizing the vital concept of trade-offs in decision-making. He discusses how reflecting on personal values can clarify what truly matters, urging listeners to weigh the pros and cons of their career choices. Through engaging anecdotes, Adam illustrates the risks of staying in unfulfilling roles and the importance of seeking autonomy and purpose in life. His insights encourage introspection and alignment between careers and passions.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Leaving Banking For Academia
Adam left a middle-market investment banking job that paid well because it felt unfulfilling.
He returned to school and pursued a PhD, trading financial rewards for autonomy and writing opportunities.
insights INSIGHT
Danger Of The Murky Middle
Being in the 'murky middle' is more dangerous than hating a job because inertia keeps you stuck.
You can wake up decades later wondering what alternative path you forfeited.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Decompose Your Job To See Tradeoffs
Break a job into the parts you like and dislike to reveal hidden preferences.
Use that clarity to evaluate which trade-offs you are willing to accept moving forward.
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Adam Wowak is a Professor of Management & Organization in the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame where he teaches strategic management to MBA and Ph.D. students.
Adam's research focuses on strategic leadership and corporate governance. His work has appeared in top-tier academic journals, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, and Organization Science. His research has also been profiled in media outlets such as The Atlantic, Financial Times, Forbes, NBC News, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, among others.
Adam received both his bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. from Penn State University.
In this episode we discuss the following:
When Adam graduated college, he had a prestigious job as an investment banker. It paid well. It was intellectually challenging. He liked the people he was working with. But he wasn’t excited to work every day. He didn’t have autonomy. And he didn’t have creative outlets. So he thought about the tradeoffs he was making by staying. He then considered the tradeoffs he would make by leaving. By thinking about tradeoffs, Adam gained clarity on what mattered most to him. He ultimately chose to leave banking and found his way to academia, which has its own set of tradeoffs, but ones that Adam is happier with.
As Adam tells his students, there are three types of careers people can have. One they love. One they hate. And one they’re okay with, in the murky middle. And it’s this third kind of career that people need to watch out for so that they don’t drift, and wake up 20 years later realizing they should have thought more carefully about the tradeoffs they were making.
Remember to think about the tradeoffs we’re making, both when we stick with the status quo and when we decide to change.
Meikles & Dimes