How working for Large Corporations Can make you whole:

We often hear the phrase" I work in a corporate" and usually that is accompanied by a sigh of low energy , and suddenly a can of worms opens and the subtle conclusion is that corporations suck the life out of you, which is true but from a single perspective, however it gives back in so many other ways.

I used to feel the same about working for someone/ something, until I paused a bit and took things slow in a comprehensive turn into the facts from so many other angles. After working in and with Corporations across the globe for over 10 years delivering solutions, working closely with sales, Build teams, Operations, corporate Training, consulting and Coaching working with startups and LLCs; through all those exposures and interactions, a deeper establishment of connection to Corporations emerged. Is it all rainbows and good times, of course not, what is? however, it's how you choose to look at it and how you navigate through the experience and through the exposures into working it to your blossoms.

Your Orientation:

you know when you are admitted to college or a school, usually there is an orientation day where you are familiarized with the system, with the dynamics, what to expect and the general guidelines of your journey during your admission and years of education. Corporates do the same but they prepare you for the business world and your embarking on entering an arsenal where you'll be bombarded by roles and responsibilities, a chain of command, processes, policies and regulations, peers, subordinates, customers, products, and services, just to mention a few; but most importantly business politics yet, here is where your business maturity Journey begins.

I find 3 Main key values are delivered from working in large organizations before you even think of starting off your own business. 

1. Learning:

Your Organization is your extended continuation of education. You will learn things you never learned in school. you'll learn about company vision and mission, you'll learn about executives and how they think, you'll learn about HR, you'll learn about technologies, tools, and analysis, you'll learn being results driven, you'll learn being disciplined to a specific company culture, you'll learn adaptation as people come and go and business comes and goes, you'll learn how to control your ego, you'll learn how to work with others, you'll learn about how personal development works and it's vitality to your career progression or whatever future you anticipate, you'll learn how to control your emotions, you'll learn about how your personal life and business life dynamically yet drastically impose positive and negative and therefore you'll learn to make choices, some of which will be perfect and others you'll learn from to make another; you'll learn to accept others, you'll learn to be innovative and creative, you'll learn how to shine because it feels good given the opportunities, you'll learn that life isn't always fair when it comes to earning money and making a living, yet fair to the blessings you already possess, you'll learn about being evaluated, judged and criticized, you'll learn about people and their true selves under pressure and what it's like having aggressive timelines and angry customers and having your career in someone's hands but learning to make a difference and moving on, and much much more. you'll learn about people who work hard and people who kiss their way up the chain of asses, you'll also learn how strong your values and principles are with every situation, you'll learn how your integrity is tested every single day and not everyone wants the best for you and sometimes none, you'll learn about success and failure, you'll learn about marketing yourself, you'll learn about compromises, and you'll learn that the truths are in the lies and the lies are in the truths.

It goes without saying that not all people learn all of that collectively, and many have the worst experiences with their managers, but still, always remember it's how you choose to see it and navigate through the experience and learning opportunity. That being said in a Job you hate or a job you're passionate about. The perk of large organizations is that they give you access to so many departments and so many networks, a choice only yours to explore what's under the hood and from these you fly high in the organization or fly to another or fly solo. There are so many opportunities out there with all the changing markets and disruptors, it's all up to where you fit, or actually where you made/ make yourself fit and what you're amenable to.

 2. Networking:

 The people you know are from all social backgrounds with various expertise. You get to work with these people on a daily basis; some of those interactions will be business related and others to whom will connect on a personal level, and one person leads to the next. Through the many contacts you get to learn from their job functions and get to learn from their business ethic and styles. With the turnover of people and the development of others, many communities and opportunities open up and you have to be open to those opportunities as it's your network that will be your stronghold along your career with diversity webs of personalities, professions and age groups all of which will help in the maturity process and perspective enrichment throughout the journey and all of that is accessible just being part of "the family". 

3. Culture:

 In Scaled global Corporations, you are exposed to various cultures in addition to the internal company culture, from both cultures you learn about diversity and acceptance of others; furthermore, you expand your communication and cross cultural skills through handling projects, or handling customer complaints or any form of two way communication even through email writing, you'll pick up the basics and evolve through noting your abilities and your probabilities.

We always are on the lookout to avoiding others mistakes and trying to do things right the first time. Given that thought, a corporation already built a solid foundation of it's practices to which got it that far, accordingly those are your free retrospectives to kickoff your base of knowledge and evolve through it because everyday there is something to learn whether you see it or not, but with internal portals with structured purpose to perform a particular job or task, that alone gives a perspective of different roles and responsibilities and therefore a chance to explore yourself in different opportunities trying yourself in different roles till something clicks and you discover your true talents so take it as your trail to success.

Conclusion:

All three aspects are all about learning as is everything, but there are definitely dark sides to the corporate Moon; Each company has a culture, and successful employees conform to that culture. This can be a good thing, but for many it means that it’s harder to be seen (and heard) as an individual and definitely increases the competition and chances are affect the collaborative environment of the survival for the fittest.

Large companies really do have more red tape. It’s harder to get decisions made, and employees have less autonomy. You may have a brilliant idea, but by the time you follow all required processes, and review it with all the stakeholders, and get your executive team to buy-in, there’s a good chance that it may not even resemble what you started with. Organizations strive for a self steering environment and usually office politics and corporate gangs take over and bureaucracy becomes the foundation of an initiative or how things are run. A bad boss can kill your spirit, and a feeling of under appreciation can affect your well-being, but who said it's the perfect scenario, it's just a weigh in on the pros and cons and how you choose to mature yourself through the emerging markets.

 It is essential to reflect on your practices and your learnings and pitfalls on short timescales, that is what makes the efforts, the long nights and over burned employee experiences worthwhile. Working with businesses everyday I am privileged to depict different cultures, exposures and responsibility centers. and through that I set-up retrospectives as a reflection to what I have learned against my knowns and norms and accordingly fluid my practices and offerings to a form customized to each organization One common needed change is always the choice of management and how well they work together (delivering value to people) and focus on the people's learning and development that in turn prospers the organization. The entrepreneurial skills are awesome and definitely being your own boss is the best, but some things are rather felt and experienced than read about in books or studied in universities. Moreover, not because someone lived a struggle means he will lend a hand to others to not experience the same when they grow, it is still about values and principles, that shows the governance to behaviors and actions showing the soul of relationships.

 Kr~

This article is published as part of The Agile Business Development Diaries -AMOP-