Scope of Impact: The Illusion of Speed

The beautiful thing about Lindsey is that he doesn't have to project or inflate. He simply is.

He is one of the most gifted minds in engineering. He is an empathetic leader. He is great.

There's no fluff about him. He doesn't walk with his nose in the air, just a gentle smile that invites conversation. If you ever see Lindsey, you'll notice the dark curls, the calm confidence, and the way his eyes stay focused on whoever is speaking, no matter their title, experience, or wealth.

What does stand out to him is impact.

Impact can't be faked or rehearsed. It's the result of someone turning a personal growth moment into a team growth moment, then scaling that to a department, a division, and an organization.

The framework I've defined for Scope of Impact seems to be:

1. Can you be a thought leader?
2. Can you turn thought into meaningful action?
3. Can you inspire others to follow suit?
4. Can you make the mission so clear that it continues without you?

In other words, can you build systems that elevate everyone even when you are not in the room?

Does it matter whether you are an intern or an executive?

Maybe. Executives are expected to drive change. But the great ones, at any level, just do.

So let's get into what Lindsey introduced to me as Scope of Impact. It's an engineering concept that applies to any industry, any field, any role.

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco. We were at ELC Annual 2025, Lindsey was there as a speaker of course, and we stood at a table talking for nearly an hour. For those 45 minutes, I wasn't at a conference and I wasn't thinking about future customers. I was receiving wisdom I never would have gained if I hadn't walked up to tell him I admired his leadership style.

He later shared a quote that brought the idea to life:

"The broader an engineer's impact, the higher their level. At lower levels, engineers typically work on individual tasks or small projects. As engineers progress, they begin to influence larger projects, teams, and eventually the company's overall strategy. At the highest levels, engineers drive organization-wide impact, major innovations, and strategic change."

Most engineers level up through scope of impact, not necessarily speed.

There is a lot we could unpack there, but let's sit with the revelation that speed is not the greatest differentiator between you and the next person. That is different from what I have always believed. Actually, it is the complete opposite. I'll tell you a story that shows how. My second job was technically illegal. I worked at a luxury boutique candy shop and within a couple weeks was promoted from Sales Associate to Key Holder (if you have ever worked in retail, you know those keys make you feel important). Within another month or so, the district manager visited our Buckhead location and knew me by name before I even introduced myself.

My story was the usual one for a top performer in retail: highest ATV, quick to take on more projects, right hand to my manager.

Before he left, he asked if I had considered applying for the Assistant Boutique Manager position.

"I'd love to. When can I?"

In my mind, the faster I got that job, the further ahead I would be than my peers, most of whom were nearly twice my age.

I applied.

On my day off, he called me. I will never forget it. My grandmother had moved in with us while she was sick, and I was napping in her bed, the same way I did as a kid. I woke up expecting the best news of my life.

At 17, I would be the Assistant Boutique Manager of our location in Lenox Square. Me, a kid from the Southside catching trains across Atlanta to work in a world I didn't feel I belonged in. That promotion would have been my validation. My "seat" at the table we discussed last post.

But instead, he told me they should never have hired me at all. I was a minor, and it was against policy. The recruiter had not realized I had come straight from school to my interview. They could not tell I was a child, not from how I spoke, the projects on my resume, or the plans I had outlined for increasing sales. They only discovered it when they tried to move me forward for the ABM role.

He was on a movie date with his daughter and stepped outside to tell me personally. His voice carried regret, as if he had been the one turned down. He told me to reapply at 18. I never did. I found better opportunities.

This story has rung true at many points in my life. I am always seeking the next big thing. The next step. The sign that I am on the right course, because after all, I am clearing the path as I walk. My validation does not come from community or from self. It comes solely from accomplishment.

A good thing? Absolutely not. It is terrible. But I am aware that this is the truth for me right now.

I recently caught up with a friend who once held my exact current role. He told me he avoided promotion for his first two years. He wanted to be better. He wanted to be ready. He was not in a rush because he knew that if he moved too quickly, the gaps in his skill set would eventually come to light.

What a wise way to look at opportunity.

Let's bring it back to Scope of Impact.

Say I had gotten that job at 17. The traits that would have made them say yes were determination, autonomy, and growth potential.

Now think about the responsibilities of an Assistant Boutique Manager: store management, data entry, interview support, mentorship, and leading others, specifically adults.

To say I would have fallen on my face would be an understatement. Maybe I could have handled 75 percent of the role, but the other 25 percent would have cost me the job in a flash.

I was not ready to lead anyone. I was just learning how to effectively lead myself.

I was not ready to be relied on. I was a kid with issues at home, no personal transportation, and unstable emotions.

I was not prepared to have tough conversations. I could barely speak kindly to myself, so how could I have true empathy for someone else?

I thought impact was the job, simply having it and being able to say, "I did this at 17."

But was that really impactful? Or was it self-interested?

Today, at 25, I still think speed matters. But conversations with people wiser than me have shown that it is a lower point of reference.

If person A builds a system in three months that maintains the current state or only improves the company by three times, that is far less recognized than person B who spends a year and a half building a system that improves the company by twenty times. Would it be ideal if person B could do it in half the time? Of course. But that is not the main point of reference.

Again:

1. Can you be a thought leader?
2. Can you turn thought into meaningful action?
3. Can you inspire others to follow suit?
4. Can you make the mission so clear that it continues without you?

If the answers to three and four are no, how are we truly pushing the needle forward?

If you do something great that others cannot replicate, that leads to an unsustainable spike in results that disappears when you leave. How impactful is that?

Not impactful at all.

My takeaways from the concept of Scope of Impact are simple:

• Speed is important, but it is not the differentiator.
• Results that leave with you are not remarkable. They reveal an inability to lead and influence.
• Awareness of your foundational gaps is not to put you down. It is to open the sea of opportunity that comes from true growth.
• Self-interested impact is not impact at all.

This is a topic we'll continue exploring in the months ahead, but I wanted to start with something I think many of us struggle with. Watching others climb the ladder faster for reasons we can't quite understand. Fighting for promotions and opportunities in a job market that feels impossible. Watching our peers launch companies overnight and wear hustle as identity.

We live in a world where "move fast and break things" is the standard. But speed without depth rarely sustains impact.

A mentor of mine often reminds me of something that's stuck with me: slow down to speed up.

Some of my favorite Lindsey content :)

Your Career Path: From the Outside, from the Inside (ELC 2023 session)

→ Best quote, "I always find the word [career] a little intimidating ... daunting and corporate. But ... if we help our teams connect the dots and feel that growth isn't just climbing a ladder in an organization, but achievement that means something to them. This is the way."

How Vercel Uses AI (June 2025)