The Hard Lessons That Nobody Teaches You
Lessons From the Workplace That Nobody Teaches You
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I’m a big believer in the concept that lived experience is the best teacher. That said, being able to help people learn things These two thoughts rear their head mostly when it comes to work and careers. College and higher education solves for some of this hopefully, but even with a great education I made lots of mistakes when entering the workforce.
Part of this again is just the price you pay for learning through experience, but I’m convinced that there are plenty of lessons that nobody ever teaches you that you have to learn the hard way now, that could be taught to save people time, frustration, or pain. To test this belief, I asked some people about this, and here is what they had to say. (Special thanks to Brad, Annie, Jodi, Thomas, Chris, Lucero, and David for your responses)
What's something you had to learn the hard way at work or in your career that nobody ever warned or taught you about?
Navigating Company Politics - Regardless of size, every company has them. The example that stands out most was how, many times, I would need something from certain stakeholders and they wouldn't deliver, or they would stall and just keep kicking the can down the road. So after trying (politely) enough times, I would try to take things into my own hands and do it myself. Except when I would do it, I would get slapped on the wrist and be told it was not my remit and XYZ team was responsible for that. So that's one area I struggled with
Relationships - “How you make people feel is sometimes more important than how good the work is you're delivering”
Job Offers - “If you get an offer for a new job don't ask your current job if matching is an option. Give them a time period before you will make a decision and if they decide on their own to see what they can do to retain you, so be it. Less fallout for the employee this way.”
Hard Work Is Not Enough - “Coming out of school, it is easy to assume that quality of work is 100% tied to career advancement. I.e - those who produce the best work will be rewarded accordingly (and vice versa). The reality is that you need to own your brand and advocate for yourself. Producing good work puts you in the conversation for advancement, your brand is what will elevate you to the next level.
Promotions Are More than hard work - “That promotion and opportunities are not the result of hard work only. You need to make sure the right people know the work you are doing, associate you with the kind of work you would like to do, and are willing to vouch for you in rooms that you don't yet have access to. I guess what I am saying is, career progression and opportunities are as much about hard work as about making sure the right people are aware of it.”
What I Read
Hire Internally or Promote Externally? The Answer is Clear (Quartz)
One topic I keep coming back to is around internal mobility and recruiting within organizations as a means to fight the great resignation. On the surface, this is a no-brainer, but in reality, it's easier said than done. This article breaks down the business case for why internal mobility can be so valuable.
The End of Excellence (The Baffler)
Jack Welch and GE were synonymous with corporate excellence for many decades. Unfortunately that did not last. This article takes aim at some of the corporate practices that GE used over the years which at the time, were thought to be valuable and cutting edge, but ultimately over time, have contributed to their struggles, including their recent breakup into three separate businesses.
This article is chock full of stats and data around hiring and talent acquisition, which I don’t think is going away anytime soon. I’ve spoken with a number of hiring managers this week who are struggling to find candidates to fill roles while simultaneously talking to active job seekers who are also struggling to find roles. Self-reported data is always a crapshoot, but it would be interesting to see what managers mean when 71% of managers with open positions said the applications they are receiving are from workers who don't have the right skills to fill those positions.
What’s On Deck For Business School (The Flywheel)
As someone who is deeply integrated into the MBA ecosystem I am always thinking about what’s next for the MBA degree. Jake Singer, a former Amazon PM turned entrepreneur walks through a great example of what new-age business education can look like. Jake participated in On-Deck, a fast-growing Startup/Business Education program and broke down how On Deck aligns well with new-age learner models and where it could. One thing that is annoying about common discourse around the MBA is that the people that tend to sling mud at it never got one, and the people that defend it are the ones who got MBAs. I appreciate Jake’s perspective, having seen both sides.
Writing in Public, Inside Your Company (Kool Aid Factory
Stripe, the fintech/payments company has slowly but surely entered the special category of companies whose cultures get lauded and praised, especially for its focus on writing, documentation and communication. I wrote previously about the importance of internal marketing and why it matters but this post takes internal marketing and puts it on steroids. At the end of the day, business is the interplay between people, processes, data and communication. Writing and documenting clearly helps ideas bubble up, aligns people to a goal, and accelerates action.
What I Listened To
Becoming a New Manager: How to Onboard and Coach Your Team To Their Full Potential
Managing Change: Courage To Lead In The Midst of Change
Building Better Relationships at Work: Touchy Feely. Leadership Lessons and Connecting with Others
The Meaning of Work: Re-Thinking Our Relationship with Work
The Future of Work: Play to Earn Gaming and How Work is Evolving in Web-3
Topics I am Exploring
I am hoping to write pieces on the following topics. If any of you are interested in these and don’t mind sharing some thoughts, ideas, or your experience, please let me know (alex.dea@gmail.com)
How Dual Career Couples Make it Work - Are you and your partner working together to manage life and careers? I’d love to hear how its going, the challenges, and the advice you have
Onboarding into a new role or company - Have you onboarded into a new role, or to a new company? Share with me how it’s going, and what’s working or not working
How Do You Learn at Work? - When you want to learn something at work, or if you have to learn something at work, what do you do, and how do you do it?
Have a Great Week,
Al