Don't Be a Chump - All That Hard Work Probably Won't Pay Off + It Could Get You in Big Trouble

 "Why the Reliable Office Workhorse Rarely Gets Ahead, Working too hard can hurt your career trajectory ..." The Wall Street Journal, August 10, 2024

The mythology in Americana of hard work as platform for success, I have observed, begins in the long long time we spend in formal education, especially higher education. 

Essentially the educational system is a meritocracy with almost guaranteed outcomes: Work hard to ace tests and do well on projects such as papers and you are rewarded with high grades. Those can get you, as with admission to law school, into the next level of that particular game. And, yes, a top GPA can open the door to the first job or even the next job after that.

Then, it's a different game when entering the labor market - a very complex one. Those who are a closed system or too addicted to hard work will resist figuring it out. I hear it all the time in my intuitive coaching and tarot readings: "I worked so hard and still didn't get the promotion/was laid off. 

What the workplace variables are for winning big in this unique game called "working" vary from organizational culture to culture.  You have to 1) Figure them out and 2) Do what it takes brilliantly and smoothly. That's one reason it is risky to change jobs or careers.  You can be a star in one and flounder in the next. 

For example, in elite law firms it must be a combination of, yes, very hard work and highly intuitive political skills. Chair of Paul, Weiss since 2008, Brad Karp is the classic model for that. His persona includes that requirement for interfacing smoothly. That combo package is generating the big numbers in fundraising for Harris-Walz. 


In a political setting hard work is less important. When I was employed as a researcher in a senator's office it was obvious that what counted was reach: What kinds of contacts did you have to move the dial on everything from fundraising to access to power structures. I knew that because I had grown up in the Frank Hague political machine in Jersey City, New Jersey - a haven for no-show jobs. Extreme hard workers focused on one-dimensional tasks then, in my job in the 1970s and now come across as fools.

Of course, there are professional settings in which hard work can be downright counterproductive. Typical is being tormented to the point of being forced out for "breaking the curve." That often happens in the trades in which the eager beaver can make others look bad. Too many promising starts crash in that way.        

The learning process about the dynamics of career success has to kick in fast in the current environment of quick-trigger employers who are terminating in the first several months. 

Over and over again we read about that on professional anonymous networks Blind, Reddit, Glassdoor and Fishbowl. First-year hires at some elite law firms are stunned to no longer have a year or two to prove themselves. On her LinkedIn Profile, Cloudflare-termination-process whistleblower Brittany Pietsch reveals she was laid off from her next job - at EQ.app - within months.  

What's the takeaway here? Apply the Pareto Rule to careers. That has proven out that 80% of whatever usually comes from 20% of inputs. I add: What those inputs are can change in a new setting or with time. 

Jane Genova * Tarot Card Reader * Intuitive Coach * Medium.

Opening Yourself to Inner Peace, Self-Love and New Success

Deep Listening and Compassion.

For an appointment, please contact janegenova374@gmail.com or text/phone 203-468-8579.

 

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