RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Young workers just starting their careers are staring up a long climb to the top of the corporate totem pole. And the best way to ascend is by sticking true to the time-honored advice of going above and beyond, PwC U.S. CEO Paul Griggs advises—and it may even mean putting in extra effort on the weekends.
“What you put into it is what you get out of it,” Griggs said in a recent interview with Business Insider . “To me, that quote is saying ‘yes’ a lot. It’s putting in the time when people are not looking. It’s being curious.”
And that career-defining determination doesn’t have to be bound to the hours of the 9-to-5 workday. In fact, Griggs explains that professionals who stay interested in their work and take the initiative to research things they don’t understand—even in their downtime—will have the upper-hand compared to peers who simply log out and don’t keep learning. He says putting in extra hours on the weekend is an example of staying curious around the clock.
“Now, you have a choice,” Griggs continued. “We get to a Friday night, and you both go home. One of you is curious from the week: they’ve written some notes on their page. And before they go out, or go for a run, or go to the gym, or go out to dinner, or whatever they do, they do a little bit of research…The other person just goes out.”
And workers who punch out mentally and go straight to enjoying their weekend may be falling behind. Then the next morning, the go-getter professional puts in a little more effort again—not because they were asked to, but because they were driven to know more. And when the weekend fades to black and Monday rolls around, the curious worker who went the extra mile will be more ahead.
“That person gets more work to do. And then the next thing you know, that person climbs into the next role and the next role,” Griggs added.
Fortune reached out to PwC for comment.
Business leaders say that a ‘yes’ mindset is the key to success
Many workers are on the hunt for a silver bullet for career success—but leaders like Griggs agree that old-fashioned elbow grease is the most effective way to get ahead.
Chris Kempczinski , the CEO of fast-food chain McDonald’s , delivered a hard truth to budding professionals: “Nobody cares about your career as much as you do.” In reality, a doting manager or eagle-eyed boss won’t be the ones propelling their careers. The leader tells workers that they need to “make things happen for yourself,” which includes keeping an open mind to everything thrown their way.
“ To be a yes person is way better than to be a no person,” Kempczinski said in a 2025 interview. “So as those career twists and turns happen, the more that you’re seen as someone who’s willing to say yes and to go do something, it just means you’re gonna get that next call.”
Lisa Su , the CEO of $748 billion tech giant AMD , also believes that tackling challenges head-on is the best advice she’s ever received. And she advises young workers to do the same; being resilient and embracing tough career decisions is the “fastest path to growth.”
“Run towards the hardest problems—not walk, run—and that’s where you find the biggest opportunities, where you learn the most, where you set yourself apart, and most importantly, where you grow,” Su said to graduates at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute last year.
And the former chief executive of Walmart , Doug McMillon , knows the career strategy all too well. He started off his four-decade stint at the retail behemoth unloading trucks at a warehouse, making just $6.50 an hour. But by constantly rising to the occasion and saying yes to any career prospects, he put himself in the right rooms to level up. That enabled McMillion to be face-to-face with senior managers who witnessed his potential; and he ended his career as the CEO of Walmart for nearly 12 years. Young workers looking to replicate his success should take a page from his playbook.
“One of the reasons that I got the opportunities that I got was that I would raise my hand when my boss was out of town and he or she was visiting stores or something,” McMillon told Stratechery in 2024. “I then put myself in an environment where I became a low-risk promotion because people had already seen me do the job.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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