What advice would you give a new employee?

During an employee orientation to a group of recent graduates, I was asked what should they do on a daily basis in order to get promoted and given great opportunities.

Although a plethora of answers came to my mind, I could not help but say:" Be mindful of what you Think, Feel, and Do". From the moment we walk into the office until we leave the company's gate; from the time we are dropped on this earth until we transition to another we bounce between these three activities. We think about thinking and we think about ways to stop our minds to meditate. We feel about things and we try not to feel about certain internal conversations. We have To-Do lists and we have Not-To-do lists. Regardless of what we do, there is one thing that is extremely hard to hide which is how we see ourselves and how that is manifested in the form of communication with others.

Every email is a resume, every meeting is an interview, and every conflict is an opportunity for a promotion. There is nothing more powerful than you getting interviewed without being interviewed; without having to provide a Situation, Task, Action, and Result (STAR) to answer interview questions. Most if not all of my remarkably successful mentors were promoted not after completing job interviews but after them being observed in action for years.

I remember the first time I wrote an important response to an airline customer and was afraid to hit the send button. To feel better about my response, I went to my mentor and asked for his opinion. His response was:" If you were to stand on a stage in front of hundreds of the airline employees and read your response to them, would you read it?" That stayed with me till today.

I am forever indebted to the leaders in my professional life who gently told me what I needed to hear not only what I liked to hear.

What advice would you give a new employee?