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I have learned an enormous amount about the business world from two very unusual teachers: my two children. My son Alex is 14 going on either 10 or
20, depending. My daughter Laura is 10 definitely going on 21
.Lessons started early. It took me two visits to Alex's toddler playgroup to see every character I saw at every business meeting. See if you recognize
these people: the noisy jerk who demands everything be done exactly his way (although unable to articulate what he wants), the sneaky one who grabs
toys and disappears whenever someone's back is turned, the one who cries whenever he doesn't get his own way, and the one who withdraws and pretends
she has no idea what you mean by teamwork. Recognize anyone in the next cubicle?
Dealing with a class bully is, unfortunately, good training
for dealing with some coworkers and bosses. But if you're looking at this site, you probably want to find a new job. If not, you're in HR trying to
determine why everyone in your company is jumping ship.
Start Thinking Long Term
Few things create a long-term viewpoint in an adult
than a child. They are non-returnable, non-refundable, and guaranteed to become more expensive every year.
Turn some of that long-term advice
onto yourself. Where do you want to be when you grow up? What is important to you? Why are you looking for a new cubicle in a new company?
We
tell our children they need to work in a legal business they enjoy. You may want the same thing. You may go a step further, and demand your new company
be more than just legal, but actually be reputable. If so, the recent survey by a private research organization called the Reputation Institute may
catch your interest. They, along with Harris Interactive, developed a list of the "most reputable companies in the U.S." This was determined
by rating the social responsibility, vision, innovation, and emotional appeal of companies while also rating their economic performance. I suppose
reputable but bankrupt doesn't do anyone any good.
11 of the 30 Most Reputable Firms are pure technology companies, starting with
Hewlett-Packard at Number 3, followed by Intel at Number 4. Xerox showed up at Number 7, Gateway at 9, Dell at 11, Lucent at 13, Microsoft at 15, IBM
at 17, Yahoo! at 19, AT&T at 20, and AOL at 21. If you are in the technology business, you can also be sure that Johnson & Johnson (Number 1)
needs at least 50 of your job description, and Coca-Cola (Number 2) needs at least 40 of your job description, no matter what your technical expertise.
If you're not in a technical field, these companies need all sorts of jobs filled, from HR to sales to production management to travel services
and more. All of the companies listed, down to Boeing at Number 30, are good companies with a solid reputation. Need shoes? Nike is Number 23. Hungry?
McDonald's is right after Nike.
Explaining the value of a good reputation to a teenager is tough. People (and companies) with good reputations
get the benefit of the doubt. People (and companies) with bad reputations get blamed for anything that happens anywhere near them, whether they did
something wrong or not. No, that isn't fair, but the reputation proceeds the person.
Pick a place for your next cubicle with a name you're
proud to say out loud. But remember that companies with good reputations want employees with the same. If you don't have a good reputation now, improve
it now for your current job and for a better next one.
Raging Against the System
My teenaged son seems personally insulted that the
world doesn't work the way he, the near-adult at the center of the universe, believes it should. High schools are full of rebellious teenagers,
fighting the system at every turn. Come to class on time? No way. Take out my nose ring in class? Get real - this is me, and I'm the most important one
here. Change the dress code rules to suit me.
Luckily, our son has a rather mild case of rebellion against school and authority. He'll grow out
of it with no real scars. But what about you? Did you grow out of your rebellion, or are you still banging your tin cup against the bars of your
corporate prison?
We try to explain to Alex that not fighting the system isn't the same as working the system to your benefit. Using a
well-earned reputation to slide past some potentially nasty business demonstrates using the system to your advantage.
Every company has the
official system and the real system. If you don't understand both systems where you are now, you won't be any happier in your next position. Want to
find the "real system" in your company? Follow the workload, not the titles. See who does the real work. Those are the people controlling the
system. Make friends with them, help them do their work, and you'll be inside the new system. From there you can do anything.
Have Many "Best" Friends
Make friends with the people who define the real system in your office, I said in the last paragraph. My
daughter, when asked who her "best" friend is, will name a half-dozen or more girls. This apparent incongruity doesn't bother her a bit.
Evidently, girls have a different concept of "best friends" than guys do. As far as I can tell, their best friend is a situational position.
One best friend for skating, one for the soccer team, one for basketball, one for sleepovers, and the like.
Can you have multiple "best"
friends? Probably not. But you can have good relationships with a series of acquaintances, depending on the project. Is this disloyalty? Not to my
daughter, and probably not to your boss. True for your current and next job.
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