From the course: Career Advice from Some of the Biggest Names in Business

Toto Wolff on collecting experiences in your career

From the course: Career Advice from Some of the Biggest Names in Business

Toto Wolff on collecting experiences in your career

- I'm sure there are a lot of people who would like to be in your shoes and want to eventually run a Formula 1 team, own a Formula 1 team, just work in Formula 1. What kind of career advice do you give people? - I think when I look at my own career I tried to be a racing driver but with not the necessary funding to make it into go-karts and then into junior single seater series, it is very difficult. And I realized that it was a moment where it was important for me to understand for my later life, you need to be able to assess your own capability and you need to be brutally honest with yourself. Am I good enough for what I want to achieve or not? And I think I could have made it into Formula 1 but I saw that there's maybe a little difference between how I drove a car and all the others. And then because of a lack of sponsorship that door closed of the driving career and another one opened in banking and then another one opened in venture capital in the late nineties. And so every part of my career, or my entrepreneurship was important to bring me where I am today. And I think in a day and age where young people, I have so much pressure to perform, you're looking at Instagram, reading the news and it seems like everybody's successful. And everybody around the corner is a millionaire or a billionaire and I think what... I'm in my 50th chapter of my life, and I think if you are at university, or if you are in your first or second job, you are in your 25th chapter or 30th chapter, and you just need to acknowledge that. And I was in Harvard Business School yesterday and there was a young chap that said to me he'd love to work in Formula 1 and be a team principal one day, but he wasn't clear that whether after finishing his studies, he should accept the job offer for McKinsey or try to work in a Formula 1 team immediately. And I very much encouraged him to work at McKinsey, I said, if you have the honor to go to one of the best consulting companies in the world, then do that. You're going to look at different industries, you're going to learn and that will be a good solid pillar if you one day want to succeed in Formula 1, and not just only be a one trick pony racing manager. - And you encourage that everywhere. Your advice would always be to go and explore and when you were in your 25th, 26th chapter, that you should be collecting as many experiences as possible? - I didn't know that back in the day, but I had a strong introspection always whether I thought something is good for me or not. And I was in jobs for year two sometimes, and I thought, this is earning me money, but it's not adding any value to my learning. And so one door opened after the other, but I didn't think about whether this was good or not but I really try to encourage young people today, and I do it with my kids as well say just let it pan out. But if you are doing something then you may as well be doing it right and give it all you have. If that is not for you, then another door will open.

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