Book: Stealing the corner office
Author
Brendan Reid
Summary
Advice for a more strategic approach to career planning.
Takeaways
Corporations typically don’t operate rationally as they consist of people who have their own benefits in mind. Career progression requires a strategic approach and tactical steps contrary to commonly accepted practices.
- Don’t be overly passionate about your ideas and rather be objective in providing optionality
- Embrace the changes everyone else hates
- Learn to promote your ideas instead of refining them without feedback
- Avoid a too strong focus on result orientation and instead spend time expanding your skill set
- Don’t be a part of the heard, and don’t gossip about peers and superiors
- Find big problems to solve
- Don’t hold peers accountable and mentor them wherever possible
Quotes
“People inherently want to work with people similar to themselves and who they like. Any strategy for managing a career that includes not being liked by others is flawed."
“Isn’t passion what will make people want to follow you? That is only partially correct. Passion for the best path, irrespective of whose idea it was, is a virtue that endears people. Passion for your path, because you know it to be right, is just a bullying tactic disguised as innovativeness."
“Results have a short shelf life. Skills have value over many years and roles."
“Avoid the herd mentality at all costs. Start promoting your projects. Be at your best when difficult change is afoot and everyone around you is rebelling. Stop holding people accountable and start helping them to succeed. Choose to be objective over passionate when presenting ideas and strategies. And favor high-scoring projects over reliable performance of everyday tasks."