Comments on: Chris McConneheyâ€™s Final, Biiiiiiiiig Question (”What would I really have said?”)

By: Fred

Fred — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 02:47:04 +0000

All great commments. The only thing I would add is to start yesterday building your network. Too many of us wait until we really need the contacts and network to start growing it. You never know who of your high school or college friends will be come powerful networker who you should stay in touch with.

By: Cube Rules » Blog Archive » What would you ask if you could ask one questions on career management?

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:43:35 +0000

[...] Do you want to have seven steps to nirvana in networking your life? Go read Jason’s article “Chris McConnehey’s Final, Biiiiiiiig Question (What would I really have said?).” [...]

By: Linsey Levine

Linsey Levine — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:36:38 +0000

I would have said exactly the same things, but probably not so eloquently!
Thanks Jason, you really get it – and are so generous to pass it on!

By: Andy Drish

Andy Drish — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:31:54 +0000

Hi Jason – Loved the advice! But I’ve got a quick question. Would you say the same thing to undergrad students getting ready to graduate? What advice would you add/change?

Also, what would your comments on “paying your dues” be? It just seems like such an outdated term…

Love the blog!

By: Scot Herrick

Scot Herrick — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:18:08 +0000

Jason,

This is a very nice list and Nichole has some great extensions.

I would add that Corporate Politics is exceptionally powerful and will trump knowledge, facts, data, and your experience. Understanding how corporate politics works is a critical job skill.

Timothy L. Johnson has this great book on corporate politics called “GUST: The Tale Wind of Office Politics” and it is the first one that lays out a model that can be used to actually figure out what is going on and what the motivations are for the political side of corporate life. It is presented as a fable in the first part and then the model with corresponding call-outs from the fable in the second. I have not seen such a good rendition of what all that is about previously.

Just a comment on the “Learn” paragraph — I’m finding the same thing in my work. Just the other day, for example, a co-worker asked “why all the fuss about hiring Gen Y — what’s Gen Y?” And I casually popped of five reasons and everyone around me just looked at me like I was from Mars. That’s when I realized that I’m constantly learning about career management and others…are not. It was like a light bulb going off and I no longer discount all this writing!

By: Nichole Parker

Nichole Parker — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:24:48 +0000

Wise advice. I couldn’t have put it better.

My advice would be to be humble and show your willingness to learn from those who have come before you. My experience with new grads is that they come out of university so pumped up thinking that they’ve learned all there is to know when, in fact, they’ve only just begun. It takes a lot of time and patience to get them to come back down to earth and they end up losing out on opportunities because of it.

Another piece of advice that was given to me is to smile when you talk to people on the phone. Most of my clients never see me because they’re all over the world but they can hear me smile. Sounds silly but it works.