Advice for Ambitious Young Grad
By Joan Lloyd
Dear Joan: I am a 21 year-old senior at Penn
State, looking to make a dent in the world through
entrepreneurship, inspiration, and the dissemination of knowledge
and wisdom. I'm actively seeking to learn from the experts about
how to be successful in my future endeavors (i.e. consulting,
entrepreneurship, public speaking, writing, etc.) and stumbled upon
your website in the process. You clearly have a wealth of knowledge
and experiences and I would greatly appreciate anything you would
be willing to share with me.
Specifically, what is your greatest piece of wisdom or advice (career or personal) for an ambitious, young professional approaching graduation?
Specifically, what is your greatest piece of wisdom or advice (career or personal) for an ambitious, young professional approaching graduation?
Answer:
What an exciting—and challenging—question! The
first piece of advice you are already demonstrating:
·
Seek advice from those you respect and can learn from.
This curiosity will cause people to open up to you and shorten
your learning curve about the companies, the people and the
politics of work. Unfortunately, many young grads charge into the
work world thinking they already know it all—after all, they
have those shining new diplomas! What the smart ones soon learn is
that the real education starts after they leave school.
·
Take risks early in your career. You don’t have much to lose
when you are starting out; you probably don’t have a family
to support; you can relocate; you can switch jobs—even career
direction—without causing very much damage. Now is the time
to explore and test your skills.
·
Make networking a lifelong practice. Waiting until you need
something from someone guarantees it will be too late. A networking
mindset will cause you to seek out new acquaintances, learn about
them and find out about their organizations—this will always
put you in a position of knowing about opportunities before anyone
else does (not to mention getting to know some wonderful
people).
·
Make people feel smart and important. Draw people out and really be
attentive to what they have to say. Be honest and open with your
compliments and encouragement. Develop a reputation as a
collaborator. Ironically, ambitious people sometimes think they
have to show how smart and important they are, so they are
dismissive toward everyone else; yet the secret to being regarded
as smart and important yourself, is to treat everyone else like
they are. (You indicated in the PS of your letter that you were
offered a job in a prestigious consulting firm. Be careful to make
your clients feel smart and important, too, so you stand out from
other consultants who may come off as condescending or know-it-all
experts.)
·
Run into the fire, not away from it. Go where the problems are and
pull people together to solve them. The single most visible way to
earn your way up the ladder is to find and fix problems. If there
is a task force, ask to be assigned to it; if there is an exciting
new department forming, volunteer to take a lateral job to be a
part of it. If your department has been pushing a nagging problem
to the back burner, ask to start working on it. Adding value will
pay off—in pay, promotions and future success. And since you
are interested in becoming an entrepreneur, the secret to success
is to search out problems and find a solution no one else has
thought of.
·
Save your perfectionist streak for things that really matter. 80
percent is good enough when it comes to doing staff work; crossing
every “T” on everything you do will just slow you down
and make your colleagues and employees resent you. It will stunt
your career in the long run. Instead, do
“administrivia” well enough but save your real energy
for getting results that matter. I’ve seen many careers come
to a screeching halt because they can’t let go of every
detail.
·
When you blow your own horn, recognize the orchestra. Be quick to
share credit with others. If you watch respected, successful
leaders they always say things such as, “I couldn’t
have done it without the skilled experts on my team…”
In fact, one of the best ways to bring up one of your
accomplishments is to recognize the team who worked on it with you.
It won’t sound like bragging and it won’t be lost on
the listener that you were the leader who made it happen.
·
Surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth.
It’s easy to convince yourself that all of your good
intentions are clearly and correctly interpreted by others, and
that your credibility and winning personality are admired by all.
And all of those great ideas? Why, of course they will work!
Without honest feedback to ground you, you can fall prey to your
own opinion of yourself. Being aware of how you are perceived is
critical; it helps you correct mistakes quickly, helps you make the
right decisions and helps you navigate political minefields. Honest
feedback from people you trust is like having a trusted group of
scouts who will keep you grounded and on the right path.
