Fourteen Years at One Company
People ask why I have stayed at one company for more than fourteen years. The honest answer is that I never really had the same job twice.
I have been at CDW for more than fourteen years. In an industry where people change jobs every two or three, that sometimes gets a raised eyebrow. People ask why I stayed. The honest answer is that I never really had the same job twice.
## The job kept changing under me
I started as a program manager running contact center projects. Today I lead a practice that spans customer experience, employee experience, contact center transformation, end-user computing, and project management. Along the way the technology changed completely. Phone systems moved to the cloud. The contact center became a data source. And now AI is rewriting how all of it works.
Every few years the ground moved, and I got to move with it without starting over. That is the part people miss. Staying is not standing still if the work keeps changing.
## What staying teaches you
- **You live with your decisions.** When you are around for the second and third year of a project, you learn what actually lasts. You get much more careful about promises.
- **Relationships compound.** Some of the people I work with today I have known for a decade. Trust built that long makes hard conversations easier.
- **You become the memory.** Someone has to know why things are the way they are. That is a responsibility, and it keeps you honest.
## What staying can cost you
It can make you comfortable, which is a trap. What keeps me out of it is simple. I like to win. I always want to have the best team, and I want all of us to win together, not just me. You cannot coast and build the best team at the same time. The bar keeps moving, so you keep moving with it.
This year I was asked to serve as an AI Champion for our services teams, helping colleagues build confidence with the new tools. It is a small role, but it is a good example of why I stay. There is always something new to learn and someone to bring along with you.
## The real reason
I work in a genuinely fun industry, and that helps. But the real reason is my team. They are some of the smartest people I have ever met, and also some of the most caring and genuine. That combination is rare. When you find it, you do not walk away from it.
I do not think loyalty for its own sake is a virtue. But growth in one place, with people you trust, is underrated. Fourteen years in, I am still learning. That is the test I use.