Stumble It!
A ghost from media jobs past
I worked for a nonprofit national media company a few years ago. At my first official meeting reviewing my performance, my boss – unshaven, in shorts and a torn t-shirt – said “I know that I can hand you any ungodly pile of shit and you’ll just dig in and work through it until it’s done.”
At the time, I was pretty proud of that. Now, [an unnamed number of] years later, I’ve got a different perspective.
Really digging into a task, wrestling it to the ground, beating it into submission and making it do my evil bidding is very satisfying. But it’s not the key to workplace success. That’s not what makes the powers that be give you that pony you’ve always wanted (I’m going to name mine Pickles). Look around – the hardest grinding workers who just put their heads down and burrow in, reliably delivering product – even great product – aren’t the stars. It’s more of a combo-platter of skills, politics, disposition, corporate priorities, “intangibles” (like palette of personalities and the weather), and – yes – work delivery. How that plays out specifically, and how to position oneself to greatest advantage varies, and is a skill set worth cultivating.
That, and dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Those years of wearing jeans and Phish t-shirts to the office probably didn’t do me any favors.
What do you know about succeeding in the workplace? Please. Tell me.
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November 25th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
This is just incredibly depressing.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Hm. I even tried to un-depress it. You should have seen the first draft!
December 7th, 2009 at 2:41 am
Always always always speak up. Not only does the squaky wheel get the grease; it’s a great douchebag test. If you can’t figure out how to air your grievance without sounding like a whiny pisspants, then your grievance is probably smelly BS. If you can frame it logically and clearly, summing up by offering a coherent and sensible solution (even – especially! – when that solution is “PROMOTE. ME.”) then you will always be glad you brought it up, even if they don’t give you what you want.
WOMEN ONLY HINTS CORNER: Observe men. See how when they want something, they demand it out loud to whomever is within hearing? Yeah, do that. Hey, it works for them.