Growth Mindset Shared Playbook

Opening Doors for Yourself

04.27.22

Rami Rahim is CEO of Juniper Networks – the same company where he started an entry-level engineering job years ago. So how did he climb the corporate ladder? Dive in to learn how Rami “opened doors” for himself.

Summary:

Rami Rahim is CEO of Juniper Networks – the same company where he started an entry-level engineering job years ago. So how did he climb the corporate ladder? Dive in to learn how Rami “opened doors” for himself.

Thuy

From your very first entry level job at Juniper, I imagine you probably did stand out as a rising star. What advice would you give young people about how to get noticed and make a great impression on that very first job?

Rami Rahim

Yeah, I can say, you know, what works best for me is to always take every opportunity to build trust. And the best way, in my opinion, to build trust in an ecosystem around you, is by delivering. And by delivering, I mean, delivering over and over and over again. When people start to know you, as somebody that doesn’t just talk, but that actually achieves results. That’s how you open doors for yourself. It’s not necessarily the only way to open doors for yourself, but in my opinion, it’s the best way to open the doors for yourself.
Now, this is easier said than done, right? Because this requires determination, it requires some perseverance, patience, and a little bit of grit, and tons of hard work. And that’s, I think, the thing that has worked best for me; focus on the here and now, focus on doing the very best job that you can possibly do, get noticed for the achievements that you make, and then when the next opportunity opens up, you will be considered. That’s sort of the recipe that has worked for my career.