10 Must-Do Tips For You To “Enjoy” The Corporate Roller Coaster!

I thrive well in a corporate environment. More so than would I be running my own company. Why is that, some people ask me. I guess I have found the way to combine the best of two worlds: the world outside the company, and the world inside the company. I find it relatively easy to ride the eternal waves of change that a company goes through, deal with everyday pressures that come with the job, and interact in a decent way with colleagues around me and abroad. And let me tell you that it is mindset more than anything else. You will see from the below tips that there nothing at all related to how well I do my job per se. That’s a different thing altogether if you want. Once again, mindset.

Here’s my personal way of looking at things … “to whom it may concern” :

10 tips you should implement today to have greater joy in work, and in life as a result of that

1-Run slowly!
Keep your cool at all times. The world will not fall apart, no matter what goes on around you. Sense of urgency is good, but running a marathon for every single action is unnecessary . Seeking perfection is good, but killing yourself over perfection is stupid. A job/task/project is NEVER done, so do/implement; don’t wait until it’s perfect to move forward. So, run…but pace yourself. It will reflect of how you are perceived by others.

2-Aim North!
Do your thing. Set your agenda. Find your “true north”. Your own “style”, your own views, your own leadership approach is unique to you. Keep it intact, build up your image, and keep going.

3-Don’t puke!
Roller coasters go up and down. Shit will happen. BUT … never ever make it personal ! Never talk behind your colleagues’ back. You can not believe the kind of crap that goes around in a company sometimes. No need to participate. My point of view is that the quantity of bad talk about you is equal to the amount of bad-mouthing you do about others – what goes around comes around. It’s not worth it, and in 100% of the times it’s not accomplishing anything anyway. So stop now.

4-Grow big ears!
Listen. And any point in your career you need to recalibrate your listening skills. It is so important, and in the midst of the rat race you might even forgot. With listening skills comes trust of people, and that is a precious good. But, let it be “true” not a slogan or something you feel like you HAVE to do. Listening means nothing if no action comes from it. Listen eagerly, and then act up what you hear, with the right kind of integrity. I believe I am a good listener, but I am also a talker, and that’s a watch-out. To be able to listen better, I need to shut up more! But I know that at crucial times I can do that, and then listening really matters.

5-E=MC2!
Everything is relative. Add context to everything. Add a big picture. Weigh options. It shows maturity to look at business problems from all angles, positive and negative.

6-Evolve!
Don’t keep doing what gave you success in the past. Sounds strange, I know. We all have made our careers on that to this point in time. But you HAVE to reinvent yourself. Stay current or even better: stay ahead. If not, before you know it, someone younger/better/smarter/fitter will pass by and knock you off your feet; rightly so. We all become dinosaurs very quickly. Don’t.

7-Have fun!
If not, quit. No further comments needed on this one.

8-Declutter!
Strip out things in your work that don’t matter. Keep your inbox as clean (as possible). Focus on the big ticket items. Learn to say NO. And stop micro-managing everything. You can only do so many things really good at one given point in time. And you can only “control” so much work and so many people. Declutter, trust, give in, keep it simple. Best advise ever, but very very very difficult to maintain -with growing responsibility comes more, more, more. Still good to keep “declutter’ on your list, and clean up from time to time.

9-Create!
Every day should be a creation day of some sort. The right mindset is needed, as well as knowing how you organise your work. Read more about that here.

10-Get a life!
Make sure you have hobbies, friends, passions, sports, time for family integrated well into your life. Be a human being. This will give you satisfaction, strength, and confidence to behave “naturally” instead of being a corporate machine that only has work to live for.

and… extra- never marry the company!
This is the most important piece of advice. Although most of your waking hours are in the office, and although it might feel important and satisfying, it is NOT your life. On your deathbed you will never wish you’d spent more time in the office (dixit Robin Sharma). Once you get that in your head, all of the above points will come more naturally. It’ll often be difficult because a lot of forces will work against you (expectations, ambitions, deadlines, …). But if mentally you DON’T see yourself DEPENDING on the company then you are halfway there; free, relaxed, lose, in control. Go for it!

By the way … make a “note to self”: it’s ok to fail > ”Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm” -Winston Churchill

To close off, see here a post I wrote about how I built my career.

Thanks for stopping by. I’d like to hear what you have to experienced yourself about this subject. Interact with me on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and here,