24 Essential Rules for Work

Photo by Gerd Altmann: https://www.pexels.com/photo/success-text-21696/

We all strive for success in our careers, but the journey is not linear (up and to the right!). The following rules are derived from my own personal experiences, reflections, observations, and lessons learned from mentors and strong leaders.

These have helped me immensely. While they might not resonate until you’ve had your own experiences, it’s a worthwhile list to store and refer back to.

A Winning Mindset

• Do what you said you would do — your credibility is everything. Your word is everything, both to others and yourself.
• Don’t make excuses.
• Don’t complain — you’ve identified something that needs to be better. Try to make it better.
• Learn to express your feelings and concerns professionally.
• Always be growing — keep your eyes and ears open. Seek feedback.
• Be optimistic.

Relationships

• Relationships are just as important as the actual work — create, cultivate, and maintain them.
• Manage upwards and make your boss’ life easier.
• Everybody receives information differently. Customize your message.
• It’s not about them. It’s about the results of their actions. Don’t conflate the two.
• Don’t be difficult to deal with.
• The same message can be delivered in many different ways — find the right one.
• Find a mentor and be vulnerable, grow with them.

Work

• Be responsive.
• Take care of the little things before they become big problems.
• Increase your work capacity and speed — when you feel like you’re at maximum, find a way to do more.
• Just get your shit done. Ask for help if you can’t.
• Always look for ways to make things better.

Politics

• Very rarely is a hammer actually required to address a situation. Try to use some tact first.
• Be careful what you write — anything put in writing can resurface in bad light. Even your most well intentioned messages. Be mindful of what you write in emails.
• Assume more people are seeing the emails you send than your intended audience — they can be forwarded to others with or without you knowing.
• Don’t buck the trend — help build it.
• Know when you have power and when you don’t. Know when to use that power and when not to.
• Optics are important.
• “Nothing is a line. Everything everywhere is always moving. Forever. Get used to it.” A quote from the HBO show Succession. Every situation is nuanced — handle it accordingly. Things change — roll with it.