How Do You Build a Great Career When No One Ever Told You the Rules?
Almost all of us want to do really well in our careers. In an ideal world, the brightest people, those that worked hard, would simply rise to the top. But we know that is not always the case. There are many smart people whose potential gets lost to the world because they didn’t really know the rules of the game.
Imagine that you were airlifted and dropped into the middle of a game. You see people running around a field, each person kicking their own football around. When you watch them, you aren’t entirely sure if there is a particular direction that the football needs to be kicked into. Some players kick it left. Others to the right. Some kick the ball off the field. Others take the ball with them and kick it at home.
In this game, there is no real scoreboard, but every once in awhile, someone comes back with a bigger ball, and then everyone seems to take them more seriously. Yet it is not clear where they got that big ball from. You ask people the rules of the game, and people tell you—it all depends on how well you kick the ball. Yet when you ask them what that means— everyone has their own answer. Well, building a career often feels no different when you don’t really know how organizations work and what the real rules of the game are.
In the Secret Life of Organizations, Dr. Pradnya Parashar and I draw upon decades of having been in talent discussions, promotion and hiring decisions to share what we have learnt about the invisible rules that govern successful careers. It helps that both of us have PhDs in behavioural sciences, and so in addition to our own experience, we draw upon rigorous academic research to support your career. We ourselves were “slow learners” who realized that despite the best education in the world, there was so much more to building a great career. We made many mistakes in the early years of our career and often learnt important lessons the hard way. But we want you to be smarter and spell out what you need to know in order to understand organizations and yourself.
The Secret Life of Organizations is a book written for the young Indian professional to help them be wiser and more conscious of how they develop their careers. The book touches on several key lessons that can make or break careers. For instance, one lesson is how understanding your organization’s culture is key to being able to really understand what is considered important here. Other lessons are about developing good relationships— with your peers, your boss, and even yourself. The book speaks about why building great networks matter and how you can develop yours.
Other chapters address questions like “How will you know when it is time to move on?” “How can you make choices when you find yourself at the inevitable crossroads each career does?” And then, finally, “How do you build a career in a world that is changing so fast?” The Secret Life of Organizations is a field guide for the young Indian professional who wants the benefit of experience while building their career.
Is it advisable to ask for a salary raise during the pandemic?
Trending
-
Google Extends Work From Home; Mulls Over 'Flexible Work Week'
-
Ola to Set up First Factory in Tamil Nadu; Create 10,000 jobs
-
Aon to Invest $30 Million and Create 10,000 Apprenticeships by 2030
-
Urban Company Announces Unlimited Mental Health Leave Policy
-
G Suite Rebranded As Google Workspace
-
Tech Mahindra Launches ‘Gift a Career’ Initiative for Upskilling of Youth
-
NASSCOM, Deakin Varsity Offer Courses for IT-BPM Industry Workforce
-
40% Women Prefer Flexible Working Options in Post-COVID World: Survey
-
Ecom Express to Hire 30000 Employees This Festive Season
-
DB Schenker Names Katharina Rath as New CHRO
-
No Layoffs, Salary Cuts to Be Reviewed in January: Vistara CEO
-
Hiring in India climbs up 35% from April-June
-
OYO announces employee wellbeing and work-life-balance initiatives
-
TCS launches return-to-work solution
-
3 out of 4 companies believe they can effectively hire employees virtually: Report
-
Wipro collaborates with Intel to launch digital workspace solution
-
Capgemini to reskill 50,000 employees in India
-
Cognizant ropes in Jan Siegmund as CFO
-
Niyo announces salary hikes, bonuses, ESOPs
-
Vodafone , CGI and NASSCOM Foundation launch digital skills platform
-
Odisha: Bank, postal employees to deliver cash for elderly, differently-abled persons
-
Skill India launches AI-based digital platform for "Skilled Workforce"
-
Hiring activity declines 6.73% in first quarter: Survey
-
NetCom Learning appoints Subir Sinha as Director-HR
-
70% startups impacted by COVID-19 pandemic
-
Omega Healthcare ropes in "Kannan Sugantharaman" as CFO
-
Bajaj Allianz Life ropes in Santanu Banerjee as CHRO
-
Over 70 Percent MSMEs look at cutting jobs to sustain businesses
-
Snapdeal onboards counselling experts to help employees
-
93 Per Cent employees stressed about returning to office post-lockdown
-
Johnson & Johnson India announces family benefits for same gender partners
-
Indian firms turning friendly towards working mothers
-
Welspun India names Rajendra Mehta as new CHRO
-
COVID-19 impact: 61 Per cent Indians suffering from mental health issues during lockdown
-
93 Percent employees stressed about returning to office post-lockdown
-
Wipro partners with NASSCOM to launch Future Skills platform
Human Capital is niche media organisation for HR and Corporate. Our aim is to create an outstanding user experience for all our clients, readers, employers and employees through inspiring, industry-leading content pieces in the form of case studies, analysis, expert reports, authored articles and blogs. We cover topics such as talent acquisition, learning and development, diversity and inclusion, leadership, compensation, recruitment and many more.
Subscribe Now
Comment