Five mistakes corporate people make
I made a reel this week on Instagram called:
Here they are:
1. Letting your job title = your potential
2. Getting too comfortable
3. Relying on your internal network
4. Waiting ‘til next year to move
5. Putting your life in someone else’s hands
I didn’t offer antidotes to these mistakes, so I thought I would here, where I feel you’re a bit more patient and prepared to give me more than a nano-second.
1. Letting your job title = your potential
After a while, many of us do start believing we are our job, that it’s all we can do, and that people outside of our company won’t want us. It’s not really a surprise when a big part of our identity gets defined by the job itself. These limiting beliefs creep up on us, so we don’t always notice them.
The Antidote: move jobs. Someone said to me this week that the best advice they got when they were fresh out of university was to move every two years. “Earn more and learn more” they said. It’s true – and it’s why our confidence builds as we’re continually tested and keep winning. Unlike when we stay in the same job or company for a few years. I moved from the core upstream business in bp to a new venture-builder business after nine years – it was a steep learning curve but I came through it, built a new network and upgraded my identity. I don’t think I’d have had the self-belief to put my hand up for redundancy without this move. If you can’t move (and many of you can’t I know), notice if you’re feeling like your job is defining you and message me – I’ve got some other techniques to help you break the link between your job and your potential.
2. Getting too comfortable
As we get older we don’t necessarily want to change jobs every couple of years, we know what we’re doing, we build friendships, we begin to master things. And the rewards kick in – promotions, bonuses, share options (opiates of the modern day white collar masses - ha!). And if we’re lucky the flywheel kicks in and you can put less effort in and get the same rewards out.
The Antidote: wake yourself up from the stupor. The key is to ask yourself some tough questions: Are you learning? Are you progressing? Are you happy? Are you settling? Are you plateauing? How will you feel if you haven’t moved this time next year? Let that anticipated regret sink in.
3. Relying on your internal network
Your colleagues are the key to an easy life. They help you get things done. They’re all you need to succeed. They are your network. But they’re only (mostly) useful in your current job. When I left bp most of my LinkedIn network worked for bp - I had to almost start again.
The Antidote: Build external networks BEFORE you leave. By all means build internal networks too, they’re vital for getting stuff done. But don’t do it exclusively. Spend time going to events where you meet real people, as well as online, building your virtual networks. These external networks can de-risk a decision to leave your job, or give you a lifeline if you find yourself restructured out. They can also be a great source of validation for what you do next.
4. Waiting ‘til next year to move
Many people in corporate jobs know they’ll leave at some time. But they push it out ‘just one more year’. They’re waiting for some unspecific condition to change that will signal the right time to exit. But it’ll never come. Because tomorrow never does, it’s always just out of reach, safely in the future.
The Antidote: Set a date and stick to it. Use your corporate training, set a goal, build a plan and then execute.
5. Putting your life in someone else’s hands
This is the most depressing mistake. One I fell into many times: waiting for a line manager to recommend me for promotion or a new job, powerless to progress something I wanted to do, hooked on someone else’s feedback as if their opinion of me mattered more than my own.
The Antidote: There’s no quick fix here. It takes coaching, sometimes even therapy. But you can start by observing it when it happens, recording it and then gradually trying to rewrite the narrative that keeps you a victim. I’ll never forget one of my friends, new to bp, asking me after I’d got a very average annual review, “Did you think you had a good year?”, “Yes”, I said. “So, why are you bothered by what your (remote) line manager thinks”? It was one of a series of wake-up call which made me detach from my corporate job and start looking for alternatives.
If you see someone making the same mistakes, give them a nod in my direction.
My latest Corporate Escapologist podcast is now out - with Erica D’Eramo. Another inspiring conversation with someone who has packaged up their incredible experience in some really tough jobs (offshore Angola, North Slope Alaska, Mergers and Acquisitions) to build Two Piers, a consultancy and coaching business to help build more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces. Take a listen here – and watch here.
