For success (and happiness) in a corporate career, it’s best to be pear-shaped:

...and here's why:

Positive - there are no successful pessimists. From Elon Musk and Richard Branson to, er, anyone you can think of, they are all optimists.??Because pessimists don’t even START!??And by the way introverts can absolutely be optimists, just as much as extraverts can be but may not be.??And: other people respond best to bosses who are positive and focus on the good behaviour rather than the mistakes.???So start with a belief you can do it, and that other people can do it - then?thank people , admire people’s skill, compliment them on their victories however small,??…be the nicest person ever.

Easy to work with, including being low maintenance (there’s probably a need for a whole blog post on this!??Keep your emails short, don’t ask for loads of information up front, don’t talk too much, etc) and always get back to people when you said you would.

Appear in control – you get judged on appearances, to a tidy desk and being on time to meetings give an impression of being ahead of the game.??You’re more likely to be given that exciting important project, and you’re more likely to be promoted, if you are knocking your current job out of the park.

Reliable – always keeping your promises, always doing everything you say you will – and this requires organisation.??Don’t try to keep everything in your head!??You need lists and systems, probably a master list, a daily list, and everything written I your diary.??Write everything down!

Sow: you reap what you sow, so help others at every opportunity, and be nice to everyone.?Don’t make any enemies, this will only cost you in the end.??Abundance mentality – there is enough for everyone, and if you give ideas and help away, you’ll end up doing better than if you keep it all to yourself.

Hard - work hard is important – though not a problem if you love your work.??(And if you don’t love most of it most of the time it’s time to start looking).???Get used to working hard and build a mindset that says it’s normal, and good for you.???But not TOO hard – you can burn yourself out if you go above about 7 on the?stressometer .

As if self-employed.?Learn and develop yourself, your brain is all you’ve got.??It’s YOUR job to develop yourself, not your employer’s – though if they DO offer training, either it’s courses or online learning, take it!!???Take all of it, as much as you can get.???Treat everyone as a customer, including your colleagues – it’s the opinions of others that keeps you employed.?Make sure you always deliver on the basics (reliability, good quality work) and also some delight factor – going the extra mile, surprising people with a better job than they were expecting, including some extras where possible.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone: this is where most of your learning will come from, as well as getting the satisfaction of success, which then leads to longer term happiness.??Don’t be tempted to stay safe, or be lazy, and turn down challenges – you’ll pay a longer term price for that in the end if you do.

Evolve your job towards where you want it to be - by asking your boss if it’s OK for you to do more of some things and less of other things.?This could be at your appraisal or just generally during the year – or both.??Maybe you can slowly move your job towards towards your goals, and even towards your?Ikigai ?if you know what yours is.??If you can get rid of 10% of your job that you don’t’ enjoy, or excel at, and if you can add 10% to your job of the things that you want to do and are good at, you can change your job by 100% in 5 years!

Do —> Get —> Feel: get yourself in the good circle (where you do things you like, get thanks and results, and feel good about yourself and your work, so you do more…..)??rather than the bad one, where you do the minimum work and get poor results, then you get negative feedback from your boss and your colleagues and customers, and so you feel bad about your work and yourself, which leads to….).???Even if you think the way you are currently treated is unfair, don’t react and end up in the bad circle,?but take control, and start the good circle .?Nobody else is going to change what THEY are doing, but YOU can.

onwards and upwards!

Chris

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