The Problem with the Professional 'Origin Story'
Many of us may have read, or written, a story about overcoming adversity and achieving success. The narrative of these tales tracks a familiar format, which can be communicated through books, talks, media profiles, and more commonly an inspirational post on a platform like LinkedIn. The story opens by introducing the protagonist's achievement, then details the many obstacles that they had to overcome in their journey to success. They usually talk about how they nearly gave up, they believed in themselves and focused on their goals, they persevered, overcame the obstacles and achieved success. These stories are often heart-warming and inspiring to read. When the author, or subject, is someone you know well it also marks a deserved celebration of their accomplishments. Having recently received a tenured job offer at a world-leading university, I was very tempted to post one of these too. In it, I could detail how I worked full-time while studying my undergraduate degree because I