How to Get Ahead of the 99% at Work

1. Take full responsibility for everything.

Just accept it, the world is extremely unfair, and it always will be if you keep focusing on the unfairness of your organization, your manager, your industry, your location, language limitations, your nationality, and even your gender.

No matter what you do, if you blame external circumstances for your lack of success, your family, your kids, and the generations after you will also suffer from your mediocrity.

When you attribute your lack of success to external obstacles, you're actually giving power to whatever you're blaming.

You cannot control your industry, you cannot control that your organization values engineers more than the support function, and you cannot control economic factors.

So, instead, focus your attention on things you can control. Life is full of choices, and every choice we make shapes our future.

If you want to create an extraordinary career, you need to take full responsibility for your actions and decisions.

Stop blaming external factors for your career stagnation; start owning up to what you can change.

I hear so many directors saying, "But I am in this unique organization, and this is how promotions happen. They will not consider me for that senior position unless I am over 48, I'm white, unless I am American, unless I speak French...." Well, you don't need to follow someone else's path. There's always something you can do, always a way to achieve your goal.

Most leaders in organizations take 25 to 30 years to get to the vice president position, but that doesn't mean you have to follow that path as well. If this were a life-or-death scenario, you would have no other choice but to succeed, and you would succeed.

But because you have a way out, a backup plan, the worst-case scenario is you stay where you are, you still have a job, you will still be able to support your family, you still have your house, and you can have good holidays.

So, you have already envisioned a scenario where you will have an average career, and you'll be fine. And that's why you will fail—because you have a way out, and you're going to take that way, the easy way, as soon as you face rejection or as soon as things get hard.

When I was in middle management at one of the Fortune 500 companies, everything seemed fine. I had nice colleagues, and a well-paying job, and we could afford a house and nice holidays. I have healthy kids and a supportive husband. So, why did I strive for more, aiming for the top 1% of a Fortune 500?

It was because I found myself in a scenario where success wasn't just an option but a necessity.

One of the things that motivated me the most was my family. Being Chinese and living in Belgium with my kids while most of my family resided in China, I couldn't stand seeing them grow older, limited by financial constraints.

Every time they visited, they took long flights in economy class with stops somewhere in the EU just to save money; it took them 24 hours door to door. I didn't want money to ever become a barrier stopping them from visiting us or enjoying their time with our kids. I wanted them to travel comfortably, in business class, with a driver to take them to and from the airport.

When I eventually reached the vice president position, my family's visits became more frequent, and they traveled in comfort every time. The thought of them being unable to visit due to financial constraints was my driving force.

While the journey to success was never easy, it was the vision of my family's happiness that kept me going.

Whether my reason makes sense to you or not does not matter; this is my reason, and it drives me. I do not give myself the choice to even think there is another option but to succeed.

I am successful in climbing the corporate ladder, starting a business, and becoming a successful entrepreneur. This is the spirit of how I do things. You need to find your own reason, what makes you feel you have no choice but to succeed, whatever success means for you.

Because when you give up your goal, you give up yourself and who you are.

One of the scary things that I never want to experience is giving up my own goals and using the excuse that I'm doing it to spend more time with my kids and my husband.

When I got married, my husband and I made a conscious decision not to give up our goals and ourselves. I don't think these two goals are contradictory. Being successful does not mean sacrificing your family, getting a divorce, or sacrificing your health and getting cancer. I choose not to believe in that, and it has never happened to me.

Achieving greatness is never easy; if it were, everyone would do it. You can't reach the top one percent by luck or accident.

It requires desire, determination, and action.

And not just any action—you need to take decisive action that sets you apart from the crowd. If you follow the same path as everyone else, you'll end up just like them—the other 99%.

2. Shift your perspective: instead of seeing things as happening to you, see them as happening for you.

We often compare ourselves to others and feel we're not enough because of differences in upbringing, education, location, appearance, or the way we sound. However, instead of viewing these differences as disadvantages, you can focus on how to turn them into advantages and use them to your benefit. We all have unique traits that cannot be easily copied by others, and you just need to learn to recognize and leverage them. Here is an example of how I turned my disadvantage into an advantage.

Coming from a developing country and having very little money since I was born could be a disadvantage. So how did I turn it into an advantage? Because I experienced firsthand what it was like to have nothing. We never had savings of more than 100 RMB, about $10.

We ate expired food because we couldn't afford to waste anything. The mice ate my biscuits before I even opened the package; I ate the leftovers.

I never had a holiday growing up; I never saw my family take a day off except on Sundays. When shopping, we never asked for what we wanted; we went for what we could afford.

These were experiences I never want to relive, nor do I want my kids to. So, how is that an advantage? Compared to many of my colleagues who grew up in Europe and never had to consider sharing their food with mice, they have less drive and ambition to achieve more.

They grew up in comfort, and if they simply follow in their parents' footsteps, they will continue to have that comfort. They know exactly the kind of summer house they'll have and how their retirement will be.

3. Know what you want and leverage your unfair advantages.

When I was working my way up in the organization, I noticed that people perceived me in a way that did not benefit my transition from middle management to senior leadership positions. For instance, some of you may know that I began my career in China and later moved to Europe. I became the global director of internal communication at Volvo when I was 28 in the company's global headquarters.

The job came with high exposure. As the owner of all the global communication platforms, my name and profile photo were on every intranet webpage and all the town hall meeting invitations. Coming from a Chinese cultural background to Europe, many colleagues saw me as hardworking and a doer. I got things done on budget and ahead of time but was quiet in meetings. When decisions were made, I implemented and always delivered.

That was just one of the disadvantages. There are so many more. As an Asian living in Europe, my English wasn't good enough, and I didn't speak a second European language. Being female in the construction and transportation industry, I was often 10-15 years younger than anyone in manager meetings. Additionally, having two kids back-to-back meant I was either pregnant or a new mom over three years.

These disadvantages did not serve me well in being seen as someone on the fast track to executive positions or as a leader others want to work for.

For several years, my career suffered due to this perception. Not only was I not promoted, but in many cross-functional meetings, my topics and work were either at the bottom of the agenda or sometimes not on the agenda at all.

So how did I turn each one of them into my unfair advantage?

If we simply start to accept ourselves 100%, we start to move from that charge to feeling acceptance, which is where we're more neutral or even grateful for who we are.

Realizing that those characteristics we might have don't completely label who we are is essential.

Let me take one example here.

So here is what I did to start with: I have full acceptance of who I am. I am not my colleagues in North America, who are brilliant with their words. They are confident in talking for 10 minutes straight, using storytelling.

I accept that I am a quiet person. I am grateful that I am an introvert. It's an advantage that I do not speak native English. So how can I use this as my advantage? I started to connect this identity to the perception I wanted my colleagues to have about me. Speaking is just one part of communication; asking and listening are bigger parts. Given the fact that I am not talkative and I don't like to draw attention to myself, the best way to leverage my identity is to become a great listener and ask really good questions. Now, the attention is on the person who answers the question.

Secondly, I wanted to be someone who doesn't need to say much, but when I do speak, I make sure it counts. I communicate concisely and effectively, leaving a lasting impact. Instead of talking for 5-10 minutes to make a point, I am done in under 30 seconds.

To embody this identity, I began to focus on thorough preparation for meetings. I invested significant effort in doing my homework, such as pre-reading meeting materials and connecting with various stakeholders before the meetings.

My goal was to understand not only my job responsibilities but also the broader business context. The questions I asked different stakeholders helped me not only to stay on the situational level but also to get to the root cause of the topic. Having had so many different perspectives, I attended meetings as the person who ensured that every point I made was precise and had a meaningful impact. I asked questions that directly pointed out the blind spots, challenged the team, and provided them with broader perspectives.

Soon after trying this new identity, I became an essential part of the management team. We reached better conclusions, as my input facilitated a more diversified and insightful decision-making process.

As a result, I was recognized not just as someone with functional expertise but as a business leader. This shift has elevated both my topics and my name to the top three on the management team agenda and board meetings.

Whenever there was an NDA project, a strategic negotiation, or an organizational change, I was often invited to join alongside one or two management team members in the initial planning meetings with the presidents.

This translated to promotions to the top, an increase in my team size, project budget, and my income, even my team's development and salary increases.

Using the same idea, I translated every single disadvantage into an advantage.

4. Only take advice from people who have what you want

Along the journey to an extraordinary career, you may feel frustrated, demotivated, or begin to question whether it's worth the effort to achieve your goals. All of these feelings are valid. However, you need to understand that what you're experiencing right now is exactly what everyone else has gone through. The difference is how you react to it.

The people who have reached the success you want haven't had fewer failures, rejections, or frustrations; they've had their fair share, if not more. The key difference is how they react to these challenges compared to how others react.

The reason why so few people reach their goals is that they give up when things get tough, when everything seems to be against them, when organizations change, when their sponsors leave, or when they don’t get the offer. They blame external factors such as LinkedIn not working, the economy, their industry, the manager, bad luck, bad timing, their age, nationality, or language limitations. This is when 99% of others quit their goals.

This is precisely the moment when you must remind yourself to keep going. Not to keep doing what you've always done, as that will only get you the same results. Instead, keep learning from your mistakes and ask yourself empowering questions. For example, if facing rejection, ask yourself how it's happening for you to achieve your goal. Don't ask disempowering questions like "Why does this always happen to me?"

This is how you separate yourself from those who spend 25 to 30 years in a career wishing for an executive position they are not cut out for, only to eventually give up.

Now, you might be asking, "Why push yourself like this? Why not just enjoy your kids, hobby, and life outside of work? Why not be grateful for what you already have, relax, and appreciate that you're already doing well?" It's true, with or without the next level of success, you're already doing fine. You could take a break, relax, put your feet up, or accept that the peak of your career has passed.

When you get comments like this, it can feel like people are questioning your value, and you may feel misunderstood or like you don't belong in your network.

But here's the thing: take a look at the people who tell you to enjoy life. Do you want their life?

The truth is, average people don't actually enjoy their lives that much. They might think they do because they've surrounded themselves with similarly mediocre people.

When you choose to listen to people's advice, ask yourself this question: Do you want their life? If the answer is yes, then go ahead and take that advice. But if they don't have what you want, ignore them.

You can call me unrealistic; you can call me too ambitious. When I talk with average people, I'll finish the conversation as soon as I can and leave.

No matter what you do, somebody's going to have a problem with it. You could try to present yourself perfectly to the world, be kind, generous, and respectful, and still, someone will find fault with you just for being yourself. But here's the good news: not everyone's opinion matters. In fact, most people's opinions don't matter at all. The only opinions that should matter to you are those of people you respect and trust.

Remember, most people want the version of you that serves them. If you're moving too fast and becoming much better than others, it could make them uncomfortable.

Look at the people around you. Look at those who have the life you'd like to have, who are where you want to be, who embody the values you aspire to. These are the people whose opinions you should listen to. Ignore everyone else; they're just noise.

If you are serious about advancing your career to the senior executive level and want to ensure that your next move is fulfilling, submit your application to the 1% Academy program.

Book a free strategy call .

During the call, you will meet either myself or one of my team members. We will discuss your current career status, your goals, and evaluate if you are a good fit for the program.