Accelerate Your Career In Your 20s with These 3 Skills | Build with Leila Hormozi, Ep 321

Date: October 10, 2025
Host: Leila Hormozi

Episode Overview

In this episode, Leila Hormozi addresses a crucial—and often misunderstood—question: What are the truly timeless skills that can accelerate your career in your 20s? Drawing on years of experience leading fast-growing companies and mentoring young professionals, Leila shares the three core skills that distinguish high-performers from those who stagnate or frequently switch jobs without real advancement. Rich with candid advice and actionable insights, this episode is aimed at both ambitious young professionals and leaders guiding early-career talent.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Understanding the Unique Role of Leaders and Young Professionals

(00:00–05:00)

• Leila describes her experience working with young, ambitious team members and recognizing patterns among those who succeed versus those who stall.
• She explains a personal process: regularly surveying her teams to understand their challenges and ambitions, allowing her to predict who will excel.
• Advice to leaders: Be their teacher, not just their boss—young professionals are often exploring workplace norms for the first time.
  • “Your job is to be their teacher. They don’t know how the world works in work.” (03:35)

2. The Three Skills to Accelerate Your Career

Leila distills career acceleration into developing patience, consistency, and ownership.

A. Patience

(05:00–17:45)

• Key message: Real growth takes much longer than you think—most young professionals are impatient for promotions and skill development.

• Early success often leads to overconfidence; true mastery takes years.

  • “Growth is always going to take longer than you think… Three months is a warmup lap, homie. We are barely getting started.” (07:20)

• Impatience leads to premature job-hopping, missing true growth opportunities that come from persistence.

• Mastery and recognition come from sticking with a role long enough to build trust and become indispensable.

• Notable moment: Leila emphasizes the importance of being “the person who makes it to the dinner table”—the kind of employee that company leaders discuss and recommend when they’re not present.

  “Patience is choosing to invest deeply in the opportunity in front of you, instead of always chasing the next one.” (09:45)

• Advice: Instead of complaining about lack of growth, ask leaders specifically what’s missing for advancement.

  “Ask your boss, why is it that I’m not a senior director? Why is it that I’m not a vice president? Make them tell you.” (12:15)

• Memorable quote:

  “The people that I am the most impressed with in my company are the ones that can work day in, day out on things… and just get 0.5, 1%, 2% better.” (13:25)

B. Consistency

(17:45–28:55)

• Key message: Consistency trumps flashy, one-time wins—reliability is more valuable than momentary brilliance.

• Common negative stereotypes about young professionals include being flaky, unreliable, or quick to quit; you stand out by being the opposite.

  • “People that are younger in their career, they quit suddenly, they disappear, they don’t show up on time.” (19:30)

• Building a reputation for consistency opens doors for more significant opportunities and responsibility.

• Leila highlights the importance of incremental improvement and daily reliability over seeking constant novelty.

  “Your boss, your team, your leaders— they need to know that they can count on you and not wonder which version of you is going to show up today.” (20:15)

• Notable moment: Leila references the Lil Wayne lyric to illustrate the value of low-key, reliable performers.

  “There’s like the Lil Wayne song—‘real Gs move in silence like lasagna.’ I love that saying. … I look for the silent killers on the team, the people who work hard day in, day out, they’re building their character.” (22:25)

C. Ownership

(28:55–end)

• Key message: Treat the business as if it’s your own—take responsibility proactively, without waiting to be asked.

• Ownership mindset combines patience and consistency—leaders are searching for those who lighten their burden, not add to it.

• Show readiness by already performing at the level of the role you desire.

  “If you want a promotion, show them that you’re already doing the job. Don’t ask them if you can do the job, show them.” (30:05)

• Leila shares common missteps: expecting a promotion before demonstrating the necessary skills, or waiting for managers to “pull you up” rather than proving you're ready.

• Advice: Work to solve problems and pursue self-development independently; mentorship is earned by those who demonstrate initiative.

  “I mentor people in my company who already pursue mentoring themselves. … If you put in the work, I’ll put in the work.” (32:45)

• Memorable, summing quote:

  “The people that I have watched move up the fastest are the people who move the slowest.” (34:10)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “One of the most impressive things you can do is be a little bit fucking boring.” (11:05)
• “Most companies die from indigestion, not starvation. They do too much, they hop around too much, they change too much.” (14:10)
• “Consistency unlocks more doors than any flashy, big idea, than any one-time project you can do. It will always do that.” (25:13)
• “Even without a title, you can lead people by taking responsibility, and that responsibility will create opportunity itself.” (33:00)
• “If you can be the opposite of [impatient, inconsistent, flaky], that is when you win. If you can flip that... you will separate yourself from everybody else there.” (35:05)

Summary Table: Leila's 3 Career-Accelerating Skills

| Skill | Core Message | How to Demonstrate | Common Pitfall to Avoid | |---------------|----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------| | Patience | Growth and mastery take much longer than you expect | Stick with roles, master fundamentals | Impatience, job-hopping | | Consistency | Reliability is more valuable than sporadic brilliance | Deliver day-in, day-out, steadily improve | Flakiness, unpredictability | | Ownership | Act like a leader regardless of your current position | Solve problems without being asked; initiate | Waiting for a “tap on the shoulder” |

Final Takeaways

• Don’t chase every new, shiny thing—deeply master your current role.
• Build a reputation for showing up every day and compounding incremental gains.
• Take personal responsibility for your growth; act like an owner and opportunities will chase you.
• Flip the negative stereotypes about young professionals by exhibiting patience, consistency, and ownership.

“If you do those things, you won’t just grow faster. You will become the kind of person that opportunities chase.” (36:20)

For anyone in their 20s (or leading them), internalizing these lessons will set you apart—no matter what industry you’re in.