The four types of career leverage (and why most people only use one)
The career insurance most people ignore
Being good at your job used to be enough to have a solid career. I fear that’s about to change.
Whatever the reason - AI, the economy, or the general unease at the state of the world - more and more people I speak with have been asking what the future of work looks like. But not in some vague, theoretical way. They’re worried about their jobs.
Their future.
Rather than speculate, let's focus on something that's always been a career booster and will only become more important.
Probably like you, I used to think career success was simple. Get better at what you do. Learn more skills. Become the expert in your field.
Then I started noticing something weird.
The people getting ahead weren't always the most talented. They were the ones who could make things happen. They knew the right people. They had interesting projects. One conversation could open doors others couldn't even see.
They weren't just working harder. They were working with leverage.
Eric Jorgensen gets this better than anyone. Eric wrote The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, which has now sold over a million copies.
He talks about Naval's four types of leverage:
Labour
Capital
Code
Media
Most of us aren't managing teams or raising millions or writing software that scales.
But the principle still applies.
So, here's how I think about building leverage in ‘regular’ careers.
Knowledge leverage is what you know that others don't.
I know someone who became the go-to AI person in their company just by spending weekends learning tools everyone else ignored. Now they're consulted on every major decision and considering spinning off their own AI consultancy business.
Network leverage is who you know and who knows you.
A friend of mine’s the founder of a technology business. He credits one conversation at a random event for completely changing his business direction. That conversation happened because he'd been consistently helpful to people in his network and pushed himself to get out and about - even though he often dreaded it.
Platform leverage is your voice reaching people when you're not in the room.
You’ll know plenty of examples of people doing this on Instagram, LinkedIn, Substack or wherever. Yes, this can be a sometimes painful and cringeworthy experience, but it’s surprising how a seemingly small ‘audience’ can generate new opportunities. It really is a matter of consistency.
System leverage is stuff that works without you.
A consultant I work with created one template for client onboarding. Other consultants started copying it. Now he's known as the systems guy, and clients pay him more because they know things will run smoothly. Other systems could be a weekly news digest for your team or a decision-making framework for product development features. Small things focused on solving a problem with a simple system.
Now, most people only build one type of leverage - usually knowledge. They assume career growth means getting better at their current skills. But knowledge alone hits a ceiling pretty quickly.
The people escaping the career expiration trap build all four.
Eric did exactly this.
Used his knowledge of curation to connect with smart people.
Created a platform around Naval's ideas.
Developed systems for turning scattered insights into something millions could use.
It’s easy to think, “I’ve got time. I’ll do this when I’m ready.”
Build your network when you have something valuable to offer.
Start sharing insights when you feel like an expert.
But the career expiration trap catches people who wait while others are building.
And the thing is, these all work together.
Your network teaches you stuff you couldn't learn alone.
Your knowledge gives you something worth sharing.
Your platform attracts better connections.
Your systems free up time for the high-leverage work.
So, start this week.
Pick one type.
Send five LinkedIn connection requests to people doing interesting work.
Write one post about something you learned recently.
Create one template that might help a colleague.
Small actions. Consistent effort. That's how you avoid the career expiration trap.
Which type of leverage will you build first?
Have a good week,
Ollie