What they Should Have Told you About Real Life (Working in Corporates)...

Sometimes we need a reminder for the most obvious things we should be doing:


1. There are some habits that should never be broken, such as getting to work on time. Make sure you arrive at least 10 minutes earlier than your boss, client or whoever it is you job to serve for the sake of courtesy at the very least, or let them know if you will be late.

For career suicide: Always rock up late, sneak into the office and pretend you've been there the whole time and no one noticed. Everyday.


2. You are not just a person, you are a brand. The same way you would expect a good brand of Nike's to last for years, you should carry your personal brand in everything about you - especially playing on your strengths and visible aspects such as communication skills and products of your work.

For career suicide: Keep advertising your wild mood swings and reflect that in the quality (or lack thereof) of your work. Be a wildcard so no one knows what to expect from you or when you will crack.


3. Clarity and transparency is the most valued trait you should nurture. This means completely owning your responsibilities and making no room to doubt you as the weakest link.

For career suicide: Never make it clear which parts of the process you own - that way you can take credit when the going is good and hand out the blame when it fails - everyone will simply love and respect you for that.


4. Be vulnerable but strong. You need your team to make it work. And they need you. There is no disguising that, in fact don't be shy to emphasize it either. 

For career suicide: Assume you can do all the work yourself without any support, even if you don't have enough knowledge to plausibly manage it. At least you will be doing it your way


5. You must be seen and heard, but actions speak louder than words. Your work should have an impact on the business and on your team. If you are just maintaining a status quo, you will never be remembered as a contributor.

For career suicide: Over-promise and under-deliver. Keep the expectation really high then low-ball them with poor quality work


6. Making your boss look good is better than making yourself look good. Your boss will give you more opportunities to keep doing it. Making your boss's boss look good and letting your boss take the praise is even better. Especially when your boss's boss knows you deserve the praise ;)

For career suicide: Take the welcome opportunity to outshine your boss and broadcast that to everyone in the organisation from the very top. Or even better, make your bosses and all your team members look bad so that you can stand out even brighter.

7. Know the business you work in. If you spend eight hours a day looking at reports but can't have a meaningful conversation about what's going on in the business or what your team mates are up to, you need to get busy and crawl out of that shell.

For career suicide: Avoid the big picture completely and stick to your daily routine until someone tells you it's no use to anyone anymore.


8. Attention to detail is probably a universally desired job trait. This comes from caring about the facts and figures presented, respecting the audience and proving to yourself that you are thorough in your approach.

For career suicide: Just send through the information requested without sense checking anything so you can get back to your twitter feeds. You can always hear back from the irate shrieks of your recipients if something is incorrect.

9. Always have time for chit chat and relationship building. No matter how stressed or under-pressure, a few laughs with the office colleagues is always warranted to make everyone feel relaxed and assured. What's more, you'll never get ahead based on your skill sets alone, you need eyes and ears looking out for you when you need them most.

For career suicide: Prove a point by never looking up from your computer screen, especially when the rest of the team and your bosses are too 'busy' fooling around. Who needs friends anyway?

10. Never fail to challenge yourself and acquire new skills for a transition. Use every opportunity to know more than you know already, applying new skills horizontally and vertically in your role so you can easily slide into the niche you're busy carving out for yourself, or achieving the ambitious goals you've set for yourself in your career within your current organization or outside it.

For career suicide: Use the extra time on your hands to sit back comfortably in your chair, more frequently checking on Facebook and twitter. Wait for a year until your bottom expands and you realize you should have learnt the skills you now need to look for your next job.


11. Keep moving forward, have a personal agenda and grab every opportunity to leave your comfort zone. You must carve out a career path for yourself in order to keep expanding - do you want to hold the reigns over the operations of a particular business in the organisation? Or will you be the next [insert name] when she finds herself promoted? Or will you be the resident expert when [insert initiative] spins off into a separate business? Whatever it is, you must relentlessly work towards acquiring the skillsets, traits and relationships required to get there.

For career suicide: Just keep doing what you do and let the world change around you. You can do your job in your sleep, so let your mind relax. Because you refuse to wake up.