Lessons from 40 years in business.
- There are no deadlines, only negotiations.
- Make sure your coworkers are aware of the chaos in your personal life.
- Be drawn into the bull session about how dumb your manager is and how unfair the company is.
- Gossip about your coworkers so nobody trusts you.
- Pursue work from home privileges before you establish accountability.
- Circumstances are rarely perfect, so be sure to complain often.
- Always push for more. More perks. More accommodation. More flexibility. But not more accomplishment from you.
- Ask for things publicly, making it awkward for management to say no.
- Always have an excuse ready, you never know when you’ll need it.
- Be so lacking in self-awareness that you can read a list like this one, be guilty of half of it and think it only applies to others.
Here’s the Reality Face Punch:
A shocking number of careers stall because of avoidable behavioral patterns—not lack of intelligence.