Thasunda Brown Duckett has an urgent piece of career advice for anyone who doesn't love their job: Don't run from the challenge. "Be OK with hard," Duckett, president and CEO of insurance giant TIAA, recently told LinkedIn's "This Is Working" podcast. "Make sure along your career, especially early on, you sit in hard, meaning, 'I may not have a manager that's amazing. Career coach Joyce Guan West agrees: Challenge yourself, but don't endure work environments that cause you emotional harm. If you want to get ahead in your career, West says cultivating professional relationships and skill building can help fast-track you.

---

Persons: Thasunda Brown Duckett, Duckett, LinkedIn's, TIAA, Joyce Guan West Organizations: CNBC