A few years learning under someone great isn’t a delay. It’s a shortcut disguised as waiting.

Time spent beside someone who is already excellent compresses years of trial and error into watching. You absorb judgment, which is the part nobody can write down, and you get it before you need it. From outside that looks like standing still, and it is the fastest movement available.

Choose your next position by who you will be near rather than by the title. Ask to be in the room for the decisions, even as the person taking notes. Two years of that will outperform two years of being the most experienced person somewhere small.