Yesss if you volunteer too much, people will have the impression that your actual job is worthless or you have too much free time. Learned that the hard way
I'm just a janitor and I don't care what people think I work the max hours and pace myself for a normal 72 hour work week under are union. So I can get my pension as soon as possible as it's work hour related and charted.
Making “I’m busy” the default answer because the moment people think their time more important than your, they will try to steal your time for their own gain.
Even if you are interested in the project or the offer the right answer is still to say you are busy. Then ask why anyway and determine if doing this project will benefit you. Sometimes they do.
@@richardwallis9374I've learned to always say I'm busy and never pick up the phone always return phone calls 15 minutes later🎉 it took me like 15 years to learn this🎉 never show anybody shortcuts🎉 they will run to the boss and tell them🎉 bosses like if you act like your job is difficult🎉 and usually the guy that tries to do everything gets burnt out and it's gone in 6 months anyway
I have never been promoted, NEVER, BUT, I have changed companies and jobs and gotten 30-40% more money. See yourself as a free agent and 0 loyalty to anybody. That's my advice.
was the fact you were not promoted in a current role when you were going for another ever come up? I’ve had it drilled in me that I wont get a pay or title bump if I change jobs until I show promotions. So glad I found this page!
@midlifecrisis7888 There's another one you did not mention, but I'm following as a religion is : stop where the amount of responsibilities does pay off the amount of stress. In my case, I never wanted to get promoted above the senior level, too much responsibility for a too low compensation. Not worth it at all.
I once volunteered to develop a system that helped out multiple departments. My reward was supporting the app going forward. My manager got a several thousand dollar bonus for the efficiency gain of the system. She felt bad that I did all the work and bought me a mug as a reward. You are correct sir, no good deed goes unpunished.
I updated and significantly improved a worksheet used by nurses aides at the VA hospital. It began to be used by employees. Never got credit for it and a charge nurse even tried to take credit for my work. Yeah, this is all resounding true for me.
5:42 this is insane, i am working for my self in a creative field. I can see that i am outworking my competition. Both in output and quality. But the clients, they still unconsciously associate less - with a better quality. ,, Oh, he has less ? It must be better and harder to make, i guess '' So i started doing less. And results are the same & even better. Of-course, the clients that were there because of your insane output (during first few months when you sacrifice everything to outwork your competition), - those clients leave. But the new ones show up (8 bil people out there...) And they're like ,, Woah, your work and work ethic is insane ! '' And i am like ,, Yeah... Thanks :) '' Doing more, sometimes, > hurts. The phenomena. p.s Consistency is the key, just making sure that each week something new is there.
@@nobertstanel9428I just noticed I think this way when I go out to eat… I never go to restaurants to have extensive menus, only those with short ones. We intuitively think that a jack of all trades is a master of none, even though this is not the case
This is also true for a small corp. A capitalist, is a capitalist, is a capitalist. Their job is to get as much out of you for as little as possible. Remember, the Atlantic slave trade was a capitalist venture that elevated the lowly merchant to the new ruling class, surpassing the old emperors of Europe in wealth and power. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
They will praise you, call you a saint, but then when you need a little extra consideration from them, they won't give it to you. At least , that was my experience. All my supervisors were female, which I think played into it as they thought I was the guy that always helped women. I am a male RN.
This wasn't so much a "volunteering" situation, but I worked super hard to turn around a team that was going nowhere for years. Thanks to me, they succeeded and got a big recognition, including everyone in the team getting a special bonus. I got nothing, even though I was the person who turned that team around. I actually complained, and everyone in that team backed me. Even with all that, it took months for the corp to come up with a way to give me an equivalent bonus. Remember, big corps are like the Titanic. They're extremely inflexible.
@RichGilbert Rich, would love to see a video on life after quitting corporate. How is your startup coming along? When to quit a job and start your own business? Just some suggestions for next videos.
He is describing the worst case places. Typically the worst places are those companies that are struggling to stay afloat. I have been to a few companies that everyone has heard about, and the conditions were nowhere as bad as described in this video. Some people can be nasty, but then some are ok, most of the time it averages out and it's ok.
Yes - it becomes "the new normal". And because it's the new normal, significance and complexity of whatever you've just accomplished almost immediately fades into the background. And if you try to say otherwise, you look either like a self-promoting AH or a whiner.
This is so true. They don't want you to step outside of the boxes because then you might piss someone else off in the organisaton. It's only when you quit they will really notice... I got people teaming up against me because I got too much done. Lesson learned
I did exactly that, I had half the company employees asking when was I getting fired for missing so many days lol but I did so much they couldn't handle a day without me lol the year I left COVID hit and they lost their jobs I actually decided to leave...life hits you unexpectedly so always be kind to your peers
Yes that's one reason to take on a project. I think the broader point here is to not take projects because they're "interesting" but rather that they have an impact on your career goals which may include learning a new skill you need. Still, it's better to put the "new skill" project into one of your main "3" projects instead of "extra".
These types of people always get used and abused, and their higher ups always use them as a stepping stone and they never get what they’re promised I know someone like this and it’s frustrating that they don’t see what a terrible idea it is to say yes to everyone and everything
Yes - this is a good point! What I've found in my career is that when your boss asks you to take on a "special project" 9 times out of 10 it's something that he/she can use to make himself look better/promote his own career, but it will leave you in the same exact position as you were before. Or possibly worse, because you're not compensated for that "extra" work you did.
At my current company I was pumping out value at a crazy rate. Solving all sorts of problems. I was labeled the genius in my area. This was terrible for my career. I was working on so much stuff that I lost sight of what was important to my manager and their leadership. I dropped most of the extra fluff and laser focused on just what my manager and their leadership are concerned with and now I've been promoted last year and will soon be up for promotion again next month. Give your leaders what they think they need not what you think they need. You can always try to change their mind but usually they only care about their leadership's opinion.
@@BrokeAgain Sacrifice for what? Political/Corporate financial gain power and resources. I've got a 90% medical discharge from the military from 2003 and I haven't received any compensation. 2 severe concussions a permanently debilitating leg injury and 2 times dislocation of left shoulder which is now developing into arthritis through my entire left arm. I've got a nationwide BAR advocate yet his firms list is so long they estimate it's going to take 10 to 20 years to get to my case! The VA referred me to this advocate firm the closest one 250 miles away. The VA said there is literally nothing they can do due to care facility overcapacity and lack of needed specialists that could help. I literally have to go through private sector insurance to get anything done and oh yeah I'm also 100% SSDI from brain aneurisms along with ongoing stokes and seizures for the past 10 years! Take your statement and shove it where the sun don't shine!
Doing too much at work decrease your own value as an employee. People with self discipline and high value learn to say NO, also tend to invest in themselves. Do extra courses outside your work hours, management & leadership courses etc.
This. If you are paid by the hour.... then think of it more as being paid per task (ratio or distribution). The more stuff you do in a given hour, when your pay doesn't increase... the same pay has to be split into more things, at a lower rate per thing. If/when part of your job (if not the whole job) gets automated or eliminated; they will not increase your pay. Instead you will "work back" to the same pay-to-workload ratio you should have never diluted for yourself... and that's if they don't slash the wages for the job to reflect the reduced demand IE: firing you because they're "restructuring", then asking if you'll come back, but now at less pay than before. Always say no btw; If they valued you or your work, you wouldn't have been let go in the first place.
100%! Focus on personal growth. Being the top performer does not pay off. Do a good job when it counts focus on being likeable and your personal brand. Sadly, sometimes perception is valued over productivity. That's why the most liked person is promoted.
Im about to quit a job as an engineering project coordinator (now manager) where i kept saying yes to upper management for years and ended up with 6 projects. I helped lots of people and thought they would have input on my performance review. Instead, management focused on one deadline i ran late on and fixated on that during my review now im frustrated and burned out. I just started interviewing for a much higher position that pays 30% more and they seem ecstatic about me so far. Dont do what i did folks, this guy knows his stuff
I really like the way you lay out these topics. I've learned this the hard way. Saved my company $6 million in 6 months and found a flaw in the system that once fixed will bring in $2 million annually in perpetuity. Both projects were my initiative and I was excited to see the impact. After an annual review, my annual raise was $6k 🙄
Yup.. as a 21 year old working my first year in corporate, I volunteered so much that I eventually got "promoted" to a new role. What that means is just more work with the same amount of pay. I am never making this mistake again. I am applying to new jobs and rather spend that volunteering energy on myself instead. Thank you for this video and I hope others can learn from this video as well 🙏
@@Nature-ep5cu I was told that I could have the option to stay with the same responsibilities or move up with responsibilities. I thought that more responsibilities and work must mean more pay. When I brought it up with my manager, he told me that the company is going through an acquisition and doing internal layoffs so a 10% raise would be out of the question. He also told me that I haven't been putting in much overtime hours so I don't really "qualify" in HR's eyes for a raise during this acquisition/merging time. It's been taking a toll on me mentally but I've been using my free time to apply to other jobs and using this as a lesson to NOT repeat this mistake.
19 mins video condensed to 30s: i) focus on 3 big goals max. ii) other employees will resent you for stepping on their turf iii) you'll become the doormat for projects no one wants
This video has opened my eyes tremendously . I went through this recently and it has caused me to quit my job, as I was doing more and more projects with not recognition. This has caused me to question everything I believe before. your video is helping me make a sense of it all now. Thank you very much. I needed to see this.
Glad it resonated and is supported by the evidence in your life. It’s good to question everything. That’s how we get to the answers that are best for us.
I volunteered for 2 years on a 'soaring to serve' committee (our company mascot is an eagle). This was your typical 'giving back to the community' crap. Go out and pick up trash while taking picture in our branded clothing...Volunteer at a food bank, again taking pictures so we can plaster the crap online. Ect ect. I got my review back on my second year and was told that management noticed that I had left early and/or not been at work for 12 days throughout the year...I VOLUNTEERED FOR 12 DAYS AS PER THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SOARING TO SERVE COMMITTEE. Moral of the story. NEVER volunteer for anything beyond your assigned duties. And if asked to do ANYTHING extra, demand it in writing and keep documentation of it. Modern workplaces are like criminal trials. Anything you do or say can and WILL be used AGAINST you.
What a fuckin waste of time. Volunteer work? Yeah you are volunteering but if it's an organization then SOMEONE is getting paid. 2 years? What's the point. You should have been a garbage man or instead and bought a house by now.
Oh god I'm so guilty of this. I got promoted to a supervisor role at my work and I've tried so hard to impress everyone. People have referred to me as the "yes man" because I never complain or question management when they ask me to do extra things. But recently, I've been getting very frustrated at the fact that it seems like a lot of other people aren't as committed to their job as I am. They're not coming to work early, planning everything in advance, focusing on the work, going above and beyond, etc. They just don't care. And it made me self-reflect... why do I care so much? Why don't I have the same mentality as the rest of them, when we're all earning the same pay?
Another excellent video. I’ve just started watching your channel about a week ago and have been implementing many changes. I’ve been doing it all wrong for 12 years. It’s amazing how my stress levels have gone down almost immediately and I actually have mental energy at the end of the day to engage with my wife and kids. Please keep them coming. Thanks, Rich!
Forget extra work and complex projects, i was the one being taken for granted and dumped on with more work slung aside by lazy coworkers and even blamed out of proportion when i was trying to help out with pending work from previous employees which was mandatory. I learned it da hard way!
Did that twice. As you said corporate jobs are easy and if you are smart you just need a fraction of time. So I did several projects simultaneously. As I maxed out my position I did it just because of the technologies and subject domain. The performance reviews are rigged anyways and only cost everyone and the organisation only time and money with zero benefit. I don't care for the performance reviews any more. I managed to finish my projects with minimal resouces but don't expect much help from the organisation.
So, only work on 2-3 high value projects. If your boss asks you to leave your box, say that your box needs to be made bigger to include the role along with a step up in authority. Also, make sure the new project is actually valuable. Think about whether this is helping resolve gaps or increase efficiency or something.
Where was this video last year? 😢😢😂 True story: I volunteered so much at my last workplace - leading Christmas planning, training new people, creating training videos etc. And when it came to my performance review my manager said “These were extra curriculars and they didn’t count towards my promotion/pay”. I quit and literally took me 3 months to realise what this guy is speaking 😭❤️ The guilt and shame and the feeling of betrayal took me months to get over! GOLDEN ADVICE! Thank you so so much for making this video ❤
With all do respect, it will become an issue at small organizations too. It generally manifests as being taken advantage of and you must be able to discern who you're doing it for and set boundaries early and often. I was working where it was just me and the guy who started the business. I wasn't paid much and was the go to for pretty much everything for his business, from web design, multimedia, event coordinator, instructor, gallery director, down to low level tasks like driver, landscaper, even house keeping and baby sitting. A couple years in when I approached to suggest I be more like a partner so he could focus on even less, he didn't want to do that nor pay me anywhere near a fair wage and outright insulted me for even suggesting it. He was someone I looked up to and I mistakenly thought if I put in all the work and made myself as valuable as possible he would respect and recognize it. In the end, though, he acted like I was the one trying to take advantage of him. Moral is, be mindful who you're working for and advocate yourself at any sized business. Do extra sparingly and at your own risk unless you have no doubt in the quality of your relationship with your work/ employers.
This is an excellent point. While the work might be “appreciated”, it doesn’t often translate to highly pay - large or small company. And often you get taken advantage of. Thank you for sharing your story!
You are correct, I have found that if you volunteer too much you will just get used by some and resented by others out of jealousy. Plus people will think that you must not have a real job because if you did you wouldn't have time to do all of that volunteering if you actually were busy.
I used to work with someone like this in accounting. She would volunteer for everything then complain she had too much work. She was really good at her job but ended up burning out and leaving the company which was a shame since I have no doubt she had the potential to eventually run the entire company... if she could have gotten better about delegating work and setting boundaries. In her case it seemed like she just had trouble saying "no" or just put too much of her identify in work, or perhaps some underlying anxiety issue. She seemed really nice but could be hard to work with because everything was an emergency. It's accounting we aren't saving lives here ol
The biggest reason I take on extra projects/volunteer is to build equity/experience under my belt for when I move on to the next job. I can leverage that & gain a higher salary rather than sitting around hoping & waiting for a promotion from the current job. But I agree, choose wisely what to take on. If it's even worth the extra hassle.
Nothing wrong with doing extra work if you’re wise about it. I’m moving jobs, you’ll probably have the same challenge of translating your 50 projects onto a scannable resume. Something to be aware of. Thanks for the comment! Glad you’re here!
@RichGilbert I agree. I was thinking more of using those projects & wins as talking points in an interview to upsell yourself. Bonus points! But thanks!
I learned this the hard way volunteering for a project in another department hoping it would help lead to promotion, failed, and ever since have never volunteered EVER.
I was that guy, too 😂 Worse when I was younger, but I learned in that first job that the first time you step up, it's recognized and appreciated - the next time it won't be, because now it's "your job". Woe be to you that you get a manager that's trying to make a name for himself and volunteering his team for all sorts of things just so HE looks good. As you said, the correct response is to say "no".
So true, I believe this is the reason large corporations slowly migrate to being supper unproductive and slow to react to changes, with good people moving on or learning the game of, I am busy and the gene pool of doers is further diluted. This becomes a perpetuating the culture, where it attracts manipulative and lazy people and those involved become part of what is for all those involved, a gravy train with little real output.
Wow i wish i had these videos when i was working corp. THE BIG issue is that if you have shaky self esteem, you will think something is wrong with you. What really happened is you got fired by someone dummer then you but was at the company longer (and firmly know and believe that). My wakeup call finally came with other managers and HR actually agreed with me. That was the lesson it had nothing to do with how smart or capable you are, and more with politics.
Super skeptical that this guy would be yet another hack spouting generalaties about corporate life. Pleasantly surprised to see instead an experienced, down to earth, and well spoken individual whom I now have a lot of admiration for. New sub.
Wonderful advice. It sounds harsh to say this, but a lot of people are very small minded and jealous. If you walk into a new job and you are cheerful and upbeat, people will badmouth you just because you are laughing and joking with customers and workmates, even if your sales figures are sky high and your work is impeccable. God forbid you have a go-getter I-can-do-this attitude. A lot of people adopt an anonymous, bland look, I guess they know not to stand out. Perhaps they're saving all their energy for their families and don't want to burn themselves out at work. Don't be a live-wire super-high performer unless you can see a really clear reward for it - really great people get burnt out and destroyed by jealous, bitter, small minded non-achivers. Watch out for the group of negative Nancys - they'll hunt down and destroy good people. If you're gonna have an incredible work ethic, best be self employed. Best wishes all!
True. If you do too much for the same pay, your employer will want to keep you in your role and not release you for a higher paying role. Why would they when you do it for less pay. I know someone that experienced this first hand. I told her to stop doing other peoples jobs. She was so frustrated because she couldn’t move up even though she was very knowledgeable and the higher ups kept singing her praises but didn’t show their appreciation by compensating her and/or promoting her.
I have mastered the art of looking busy even though I am not 😅 I am not ever going to tell people I am bored because I don't want them giving me more work LOL. I will happily use my down time to work on my side business and listen to youtube videos to expand my knowledge on the topics I am interested in
This resonated so much, and is such valuable advice. I have spent this last year taking on so many projects, stretching myself thin, attending meetings early AM, and late night with international time zones, working on the weekend to catch up on the workload, and the financial benefit might not be there come review time early next year. All this time, I see so many "coasters" all around me, who come in for a few hours, get out quietly (heck some don't even come in for weeks or months and seem to get away with a doctors note for "anxiety"). While people around me and my my manager do appreciate the work I do, I doubt I will be financially rewarded to the extent that my peers are senior than I am and control larger teams and resources. I don't have any budget or control of resources, my team is small and junior, and my role is not visible as I'm focused on delivery of the roadmap. I need to see how the year end review pans out but in my heart I already have a sinking feeling that doing more is probably not going to help me. I guess if the outcome is "meets expectations" then I need to cut back and only do the 20% that matters most. Thank you for posting such valuable content. Nobody lets us in on these things, and I think I come from a naive point of view, having worked at startups and smaller companies all my life before moving into a mega corp. The one good thing is I've been able to meet many new smart people across the org while working on these projects, so at least it has been beneficial from that perspective.
This was a very good video. I however am in a lucky situation where my company is between being super corporate and not (about 350 employees) I started out as a grunt, I was the “operations manager” that mostly involved doing inventory counts shipping and receiving deliveries and almost anything the non “grunts” wanted to do. After a year of doing that and also landing sales opportunities by taking on “jobs that were not mine” I’m finally being recognized and moving to a sales role
Thank you so much for this. I came from the non-profit sphere and I have dealt with these issues. Corporate is a beast! I was happy wearing so many hats but now I can’t wear all these hats in corporate.
If you’re competent you’re risking being isolated. Hive mind works very well. I used to work for FAANG but I stopped performing because everyone on my team was insinuating dislike towards hard working and eager to help. I’ve always received compliments like you are really smart but you have to learn how to slow down and like he mentioned it hurts my brain(boring). Recently I worked on important project and my manager was happy that I speed up things however, my coworkers were mad as hell. I’m happy to see that I’m not the only one
This is amazing that I stumbled upon your video! I was rethinking my strategy since i had been performing extremely well but now I'm planning to just enjoy the passing of time while working and not thinking about of getting recognized or being promoted. It's chill from now on.
This is so accurate. I had this experience at a FAANG and another big tech company. Even if you are doing your job + amazing XFN side-projects, the side projects will overshadow everything else in a negative way and might hurt your perf review. In my case, the other orgs were very appreciative and even asked for more help but my own (new) org leadership wasn’t very happy about it.
Subscribed. Was just talking with my dad about this as I fell into the trap you described at my first job. Decided in my new role I'll be coasting and spending the extra bandwidth on my own side project rather than pouring discretionary effort into an environment that doesnt want it. Great video, keep it up.
My friend gave ne this advice when I got my first job as a teacher. Being a former people pleaser, this was the golden advice. The thing was, my resume was way too strong for the position, and I ended up working on promotional videos and teaching works too. And I couldn't sleep. And I did not even ask or volunteer for such extra work. So, let me just add more to the advice: keep your resume strong enough to land the job and weak enough to never give anyone the chance to raise your workload. And never ever see the company or the workers as your family. When push comes to shove, they wouldn't hesitate to fire your ass.
I worked for a fortune 100 compnay for 5 years. For the first 4, I took on extra projects. My boss and site management was very happy and I was compensated appropriately. At the beginning of year 5 we had a reorg and I was put under management from a site in another state. I even lost my direct boss and took over mostly managing my own work in addition to all the extra projects I had been doing. After 6 months my whole department was demoted to fit that site's org chart and pay scales but we were expected to do the same work we all had been doing in the past. I left that compnay 3 months later having learned the lesson outlined in this video the hard way.
I like your content man. I haven't been a corporate man for decades at this point but your perspective I find cynical but practical. You know what I'm saying? It's a hard look at how things really work and optimizing for best personal ROI. Because you can blow a whole lotta effort into the corporate machinery for NO GAINZ!
Thanks so much for this video - it's made so much sense of certain experiences I've had in the last few years. All of the work in tech these days seems to entail negotiating the internal politics, rather than adding value to the company. The importance put on meetings that don't achieve anything is astonishing to me in the last number of years. I mean, they don't even fulfill the function of achieving team cohesion anymore. They're just pointless exercises in pretending workmates are family members (when clearly, that's not the case). I was already in the process of realising I wasn't suited to this sector anymore, but this has definitely helped to accelerate that. Thankfully, I'm in the process of orchestrating a transition.
learned it the hard way. i learned to pretend to be busy, even when i had nothing on my plate at that time, and i actually wanted to help. people appreciate your help more that way.
So true. On top of everything mentioned, once the management sees you are capable to perform various additional tasks rather well, you are going to be asked to participate each time any task out of the ordinary comes along, whereas Bob sitting next to you doing bare minimum will never get asked for some project as they afraid he's more than likely to fuck up
I grew up on a farm and went from small company culture to large company culture. I had to learn the hard way that i was no longer a problem solver but a cog in the machine. I don't feel resentful because it makes sense why corporate is the way it is and to be real, I just drew the short straw, nobody was being malicious. I enjoyed being a problem solver in a small company, but i've learned to enjoy working 2-3 hours a day at my WFH job. I will occasionally step up to do something extra, but that's only because it's has to be done and the consequences of it not being done create problems that just means more work in the future.
Great advice. I made this type of mistake when I was young and very early in my career. The only thing worse than being wage slave is to want to be an even bigger wage slave for no extra benefit.
Great video . When some employers give raises they do not look at the individual person they give you the same amount of money as other people in your position. It is good to not do extra you’re not going to get paid extra for doing extra.
Great content, engagingly presented. I like the 1 long take, not quick cuts which I find very distracting on TH-cam. I work in a company with 30 staff and wear multiple hats, so it's become the norm for me. But if I move to a corporate environment I will have to change my mindset.
God. I am taking a managing essentials class next month. I wish we could all watch this. If for nothing else, just to be able to sit in silence and think about all the people that are screwed over every day.
He describes the context of the advice. That is important to the message. I would add this caveat-- if volunteering for the work will provide new skills, it is well-worth considering.
This honestly applies to almost any level of job. Countless times I and even my Mom had this issue. If your too good at things, you end up doing every thing. If you work a retail job and can do the register, you will find yourself stuck there a lot as no one else wants to do it. Once you learn a task you all but lose the right to refuse to do it in the future. This is even worse for management type work. If you learn to help count inventory, fill out some weekly paper work, count the safe at night etc.... you will find yourself doing it quite often. Basically doing management work without the pay and position to with it. It scales up from there as well. If you are a manager and help out your boss once with say covering for his vacation, doing his paper work, interviewing new managers what ever it takes. Suddenly he will be dumping more work on you, again with no extra pay or position to reflect this new level of responsibility. The worst scam is being "trained" in a new position for months, doing the job day after day again without the benefits and raise to go with it.
All this rings 100% true, from my experience. I'm 54, and I've had to deprogram myself from all the messages my early Baby-Boomer (overachieving) parents stuffed into my head when I was a kid/in my early 20s. On this topic of "extra projects" most of their advice then (and now) would run directly opposite of what you're saying ... they would say that the more projects you do, the more you'll get noticed, blah blah blah. Even now, they would defend that position but I agree with you. Sure ... you'll get noticed. But is it a good kind of attention, or is it a bad kind of attention? And with regard to all that extra time and energy you put in to these "volunteer" projects, it's got to come from somewhere. What's the opportunity cost of making that investment in projects that aren't even in your "swim-lane", and is it really worth it? I agree with you 100%. It's better to be strategic and intentional about how you spend your time and effort, than it is to just give it away for free.
"rom all the messages my early Baby-Boomer (overachieving) parents stuffed into" To be fair to them, they got that advice from the greatest generation, who actually valued hard work. That's one of the few things boomers borrowed. They ruined that idea, but the blame can't be placed 100% on them.
Yesss if you volunteer too much, people will have the impression that your actual job is worthless or you have too much free time. Learned that the hard way
that's depressive
True.
So true.
I'm just a janitor and I don't care what people think I work the max hours and pace myself for a normal 72 hour work week under are union. So I can get my pension as soon as possible as it's work hour related and charted.
@@MentalJanitoryou are in a blue collar job paid by the hour.
When people ask you "Are you busy?" the correct answer is always "Yes"
This is especially true if you are WFH and the person asking you is your wife
Making “I’m busy” the default answer because the moment people think their time more important than your, they will try to steal your time for their own gain.
Even if you are interested in the project or the offer the right answer is still to say you are busy. Then ask why anyway and determine if doing this project will benefit you. Sometimes they do.
@@richardwallis9374I've learned to always say I'm busy and never pick up the phone always return phone calls 15 minutes later🎉 it took me like 15 years to learn this🎉 never show anybody shortcuts🎉 they will run to the boss and tell them🎉 bosses like if you act like your job is difficult🎉 and usually the guy that tries to do everything gets burnt out and it's gone in 6 months anyway
Really helps if you're always busy anyway.
I have never been promoted, NEVER, BUT, I have changed companies and jobs and gotten 30-40% more money. See yourself as a free agent and 0 loyalty to anybody. That's my advice.
Yup. You are wise.
I do follow and share the same principles as you
was the fact you were not promoted in a current role when you were going for another ever come up? I’ve had it drilled in me that I wont get a pay or title bump if I change jobs until I show promotions. So glad I found this page!
@midlifecrisis7888 There's another one you did not mention, but I'm following as a religion is : stop where the amount of responsibilities does pay off the amount of stress. In my case, I never wanted to get promoted above the senior level, too much responsibility for a too low compensation. Not worth it at all.
I once volunteered to develop a system that helped out multiple departments. My reward was supporting the app going forward. My manager got a several thousand dollar bonus for the efficiency gain of the system. She felt bad that I did all the work and bought me a mug as a reward. You are correct sir, no good deed goes unpunished.
You were the mug 😂
@@nick000002 100% correct! But at least I learned a valuable lesson.
Give someone a finger and they'll take your whole arm.
I updated and significantly improved a worksheet used by nurses aides at the VA hospital. It began to be used by employees. Never got credit for it and a charge nurse even tried to take credit for my work.
Yeah, this is all resounding true for me.
@@buddykerr1 and got a free mug too! 😼👍
Do not do more for a large corporation than what you are paid to do. The time is better spent on side hustles or personal projects.
5:42 this is insane, i am working for my self in a creative field. I can see that i am outworking my competition. Both in output and quality.
But the clients, they still unconsciously associate less - with a better quality.
,, Oh, he has less ? It must be better and harder to make, i guess ''
So i started doing less. And results are the same & even better. Of-course, the clients that were there because of your insane output (during first few months when you sacrifice everything to outwork your competition), - those clients leave.
But the new ones show up (8 bil people out there...)
And they're like ,, Woah, your work and work ethic is insane ! ''
And i am like ,, Yeah... Thanks :) ''
Doing more, sometimes, > hurts. The phenomena.
p.s
Consistency is the key, just making sure that each week something new is there.
Yep!!!
@@nobertstanel9428I just noticed I think this way when I go out to eat… I never go to restaurants to have extensive menus, only those with short ones.
We intuitively think that a jack of all trades is a master of none, even though this is not the case
not when they give out stock options!
This is also true for a small corp. A capitalist, is a capitalist, is a capitalist. Their job is to get as much out of you for as little as possible.
Remember, the Atlantic slave trade was a capitalist venture that elevated the lowly merchant to the new ruling class, surpassing the old emperors of Europe in wealth and power.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
If you do someone a favor, first they'll be grateful, but next time they'll expect it
They will praise you, call you a saint, but then when you need a little extra consideration from them, they won't give it to you. At least , that was my experience. All my supervisors were female, which I think played into it as they thought I was the guy that always helped women. I am a male RN.
It's a psychological fact that people who do favors feel more indebted to the person they helped than the other way around.
In companies the exception always quickly becomes the unwritten rule..
"But he/she did it before... now he/she is blocking me by not doing it"
Don’t volunteer to do someone else’s job. It becomes your job for no extra pay and you piss off other employees.
And you keep raising the standard lol.
Unless it isnt someone elses job
@@vincentkingsdale8334 even then why put your hand up when some other sucker can put their hand up and over extend themselves.
@@vincentkingsdale8334 Then the company can hire someone to do it. New employee.
@@asadb1990 to be noticed for a future promotion
This wasn't so much a "volunteering" situation, but I worked super hard to turn around a team that was going nowhere for years.
Thanks to me, they succeeded and got a big recognition, including everyone in the team getting a special bonus.
I got nothing, even though I was the person who turned that team around. I actually complained, and everyone in that team backed me.
Even with all that, it took months for the corp to come up with a way to give me an equivalent bonus.
Remember, big corps are like the Titanic. They're extremely inflexible.
I’ve seen (and lived) this situation many times.
Love your job, not your employer. That is what I learned during my last 30 years. They will kick you out within seconds no matter how loyal you are.
This is the stuff working professionals NEED to know but often only learn the hard way. Thanks for all this incredible content.
As I did. This channel is great!
These workplace tips are incredibly useful. Please keep making more such videos. I am sure the views will pick up as the content is gold.
Thanks very much!
@RichGilbert Rich, would love to see a video on life after quitting corporate. How is your startup coming along? When to quit a job and start your own business? Just some suggestions for next videos.
He is describing the worst case places. Typically the worst places are those companies that are struggling to stay afloat. I have been to a few companies that everyone has heard about, and the conditions were nowhere as bad as described in this video. Some people can be nasty, but then some are ok, most of the time it averages out and it's ok.
Yes it’s awesome!! I need this so much !
@@LindseyObrooke he is not a youtube guru he went through this in real life and has experience
The more you do, you raise the bar every year for what they consider "meets expectations."
Yes - it becomes "the new normal". And because it's the new normal, significance and complexity of whatever you've just accomplished almost immediately fades into the background. And if you try to say otherwise, you look either like a self-promoting AH or a whiner.
Yep. You’re both right. Then you can be resented if you slow it down a bit.
This is so true. They don't want you to step outside of the boxes because then you might piss someone else off in the organisaton. It's only when you quit they will really notice... I got people teaming up against me because I got too much done. Lesson learned
Same. Like a pack of effin hyena’s.
I did exactly that, I had half the company employees asking when was I getting fired for missing so many days lol but I did so much they couldn't handle a day without me lol the year I left COVID hit and they lost their jobs I actually decided to leave...life hits you unexpectedly so always be kind to your peers
Same
We're not even cogs in a machine, we're the oil...😢
@@ocd9656😂😂🙄 I hate part timers.
Extra work is for learning new skills to put on your resume. When you move on you can genuinely say you did this new skill. You shouldn’t stagnate.
Yes that's one reason to take on a project. I think the broader point here is to not take projects because they're "interesting" but rather that they have an impact on your career goals which may include learning a new skill you need. Still, it's better to put the "new skill" project into one of your main "3" projects instead of "extra".
Yep. I agree with you both. 👍
True, the other side of the coin. Just be *very* selective.
Yes look at the market value of the skill you will learn and then decide if you need to take on another projects.
Always ask how these projects will make money or save money for the company.
These types of people always get used and abused, and their higher ups always use them as a stepping stone and they never get what they’re promised
I know someone like this and it’s frustrating that they don’t see what a terrible idea it is to say yes to everyone and everything
Yes - this is a good point! What I've found in my career is that when your boss asks you to take on a "special project" 9 times out of 10 it's something that he/she can use to make himself look better/promote his own career, but it will leave you in the same exact position as you were before. Or possibly worse, because you're not compensated for that "extra" work you did.
Send them the video 😂
At my current company I was pumping out value at a crazy rate. Solving all sorts of problems. I was labeled the genius in my area. This was terrible for my career. I was working on so much stuff that I lost sight of what was important to my manager and their leadership. I dropped most of the extra fluff and laser focused on just what my manager and their leadership are concerned with and now I've been promoted last year and will soon be up for promotion again next month.
Give your leaders what they think they need not what you think they need. You can always try to change their mind but usually they only care about their leadership's opinion.
I use to love saying the word no when I was a kids and no even more as an adult
I'm a US NAVY Veteran. We turned the name of our branch into an acronym. NEVER AGAIN VOLUNTEER YOURSELF!
thats why its a sacrifice
@@BrokeAgain Sacrifice for what? Political/Corporate financial gain power and resources. I've got a 90% medical discharge from the military from 2003 and I haven't received any compensation. 2 severe concussions a permanently debilitating leg injury and 2 times dislocation of left shoulder which is now developing into arthritis through my entire left arm. I've got a nationwide BAR advocate yet his firms list is so long they estimate it's going to take 10 to 20 years to get to my case! The VA referred me to this advocate firm the closest one 250 miles away. The VA said there is literally nothing they can do due to care facility overcapacity and lack of needed specialists that could help. I literally have to go through private sector insurance to get anything done and oh yeah I'm also 100% SSDI from brain aneurisms along with ongoing stokes and seizures for the past 10 years! Take your statement and shove it where the sun don't shine!
Doing too much at work decrease your own value as an employee. People with self discipline and high value learn to say NO, also tend to invest in themselves. Do extra courses outside your work hours, management & leadership courses etc.
This. If you are paid by the hour.... then think of it more as being paid per task (ratio or distribution). The more stuff you do in a given hour, when your pay doesn't increase... the same pay has to be split into more things, at a lower rate per thing.
If/when part of your job (if not the whole job) gets automated or eliminated; they will not increase your pay. Instead you will "work back" to the same pay-to-workload ratio you should have never diluted for yourself... and that's if they don't slash the wages for the job to reflect the reduced demand IE: firing you because they're "restructuring", then asking if you'll come back, but now at less pay than before. Always say no btw; If they valued you or your work, you wouldn't have been let go in the first place.
100%! Focus on personal growth. Being the top performer does not pay off. Do a good job when it counts focus on being likeable and your personal brand. Sadly, sometimes perception is valued over productivity. That's why the most liked person is promoted.
That’s why I tell everyone I’m a master at staying in my lane
Back in your box please
and not a squeak
Corporate culture is so fundamentally counterproductive it's amazing
This is the kind of wisdom you need to hear as a young person but can’t appreciate until you’re older.. thank you!
Thanks! There’s so much wisdom like that!
Im about to quit a job as an engineering project coordinator (now manager) where i kept saying yes to upper management for years and ended up with 6 projects. I helped lots of people and thought they would have input on my performance review. Instead, management focused on one deadline i ran late on and fixated on that during my review now im frustrated and burned out. I just started interviewing for a much higher position that pays 30% more and they seem ecstatic about me so far. Dont do what i did folks, this guy knows his stuff
I really like the way you lay out these topics. I've learned this the hard way. Saved my company $6 million in 6 months and found a flaw in the system that once fixed will bring in $2 million annually in perpetuity. Both projects were my initiative and I was excited to see the impact. After an annual review, my annual raise was $6k 🙄
Always under promise and over deliver. Best advice I’ve ever received.
I learned to be very careful promising anything as it's very easy to over promise and under deliver.
Yup.. as a 21 year old working my first year in corporate, I volunteered so much that I eventually got "promoted" to a new role. What that means is just more work with the same amount of pay. I am never making this mistake again. I am applying to new jobs and rather spend that volunteering energy on myself instead. Thank you for this video and I hope others can learn from this video as well 🙏
How nice it is to learn this in your 20s!
How did u accept a promotion with no increase in pay?
@@Nature-ep5cu I was told that I could have the option to stay with the same responsibilities or move up with responsibilities. I thought that more responsibilities and work must mean more pay. When I brought it up with my manager, he told me that the company is going through an acquisition and doing internal layoffs so a 10% raise would be out of the question. He also told me that I haven't been putting in much overtime hours so I don't really "qualify" in HR's eyes for a raise during this acquisition/merging time. It's been taking a toll on me mentally but I've been using my free time to apply to other jobs and using this as a lesson to NOT repeat this mistake.
@@pluderr3947 oh I see. Yeah they have the money but choose to exploit as usual
@@pluderr3947 I honestly would have said no ty to the promotion the second they tried to give me some bs about not being able to give me a raise.
19 mins video condensed to 30s: i) focus on 3 big goals max. ii) other employees will resent you for stepping on their turf iii) you'll become the doormat for projects no one wants
And yet you volunteered to write that useless summary no one asked for
Thanks for the wakeup call. I'm feeling specifically called out
This video has opened my eyes tremendously . I went through this recently and it has caused me to quit my job, as I was doing more and more projects with not recognition. This has caused me to question everything I believe before. your video is helping me make a sense of it all now. Thank you very much. I needed to see this.
Glad it resonated and is supported by the evidence in your life. It’s good to question everything. That’s how we get to the answers that are best for us.
I volunteered for 2 years on a 'soaring to serve' committee (our company mascot is an eagle). This was your typical 'giving back to the community' crap. Go out and pick up trash while taking picture in our branded clothing...Volunteer at a food bank, again taking pictures so we can plaster the crap online. Ect ect. I got my review back on my second year and was told that management noticed that I had left early and/or not been at work for 12 days throughout the year...I VOLUNTEERED FOR 12 DAYS AS PER THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SOARING TO SERVE COMMITTEE.
Moral of the story. NEVER volunteer for anything beyond your assigned duties. And if asked to do ANYTHING extra, demand it in writing and keep documentation of it. Modern workplaces are like criminal trials. Anything you do or say can and WILL be used AGAINST you.
Man, sorry to hear that.
This is why the World is in the Shitter. When the works of good people are overlooked and unnoticed.
Ouch. Sorry to hear that. Not surprised. But certainly sorry. It’s a good lesson anyway. So there’s some bright side.
What a fuckin waste of time. Volunteer work? Yeah you are volunteering but if it's an organization then SOMEONE is getting paid. 2 years? What's the point. You should have been a garbage man or instead and bought a house by now.
Actually you served on a "being fucked up the arse" committee.
Brutally honest. This man knows human nature.
Oh god I'm so guilty of this. I got promoted to a supervisor role at my work and I've tried so hard to impress everyone. People have referred to me as the "yes man" because I never complain or question management when they ask me to do extra things.
But recently, I've been getting very frustrated at the fact that it seems like a lot of other people aren't as committed to their job as I am. They're not coming to work early, planning everything in advance, focusing on the work, going above and beyond, etc. They just don't care.
And it made me self-reflect... why do I care so much? Why don't I have the same mentality as the rest of them, when we're all earning the same pay?
Because you're naive. A job is the method you use to get money, your family/yourself is who you work for.
and then during performance review, your manager still has the nerve to say that you “lack ownership “
The term is "Work Ethic. " Unfortunately and generally speaking, having a strong work ethic is no longer appreciated but abused.
It's all about balance. Also sounds like you are in a bad organization. Go join a better company
@@bridgettstephens5582 No, the term is MUG!
It's incredible that your videos have confirmed every single conclusion I came to about my company.
This guy speaks the absolute truth. “No good deed goes unpunished” is especially true for volunteering for work.
Another excellent video. I’ve just started watching your channel about a week ago and have been implementing many changes. I’ve been doing it all wrong for 12 years. It’s amazing how my stress levels have gone down almost immediately and I actually have mental energy at the end of the day to engage with my wife and kids. Please keep them coming. Thanks, Rich!
Forget extra work and complex projects, i was the one being taken for granted and dumped on with more work slung aside by lazy coworkers and even blamed out of proportion when i was trying to help out with pending work from previous employees which was mandatory. I learned it da hard way!
Did that twice. As you said corporate jobs are easy and if you are smart you just need a fraction of time. So I did several projects simultaneously. As I maxed out my position I did it just because of the technologies and subject domain. The performance reviews are rigged anyways and only cost everyone and the organisation only time and money with zero benefit. I don't care for the performance reviews any more. I managed to finish my projects with minimal resouces but don't expect much help from the organisation.
The fact is that companies cannot measure performance nor productivity. It’s a periodic ritual to make us think we can.
So, only work on 2-3 high value projects. If your boss asks you to leave your box, say that your box needs to be made bigger to include the role along with a step up in authority. Also, make sure the new project is actually valuable. Think about whether this is helping resolve gaps or increase efficiency or something.
Where was this video last year? 😢😢😂 True story: I volunteered so much at my last workplace - leading Christmas planning, training new people, creating training videos etc. And when it came to my performance review my manager said “These were extra curriculars and they didn’t count towards my promotion/pay”. I quit and literally took me 3 months to realise what this guy is speaking 😭❤️ The guilt and shame and the feeling of betrayal took me months to get over!
GOLDEN ADVICE! Thank you so so much for making this video ❤
With all do respect, it will become an issue at small organizations too. It generally manifests as being taken advantage of and you must be able to discern who you're doing it for and set boundaries early and often.
I was working where it was just me and the guy who started the business. I wasn't paid much and was the go to for pretty much everything for his business, from web design, multimedia, event coordinator, instructor, gallery director, down to low level tasks like driver, landscaper, even house keeping and baby sitting. A couple years in when I approached to suggest I be more like a partner so he could focus on even less, he didn't want to do that nor pay me anywhere near a fair wage and outright insulted me for even suggesting it.
He was someone I looked up to and I mistakenly thought if I put in all the work and made myself as valuable as possible he would respect and recognize it. In the end, though, he acted like I was the one trying to take advantage of him.
Moral is, be mindful who you're working for and advocate yourself at any sized business. Do extra sparingly and at your own risk unless you have no doubt in the quality of your relationship with your work/ employers.
This is an excellent point. While the work might be “appreciated”, it doesn’t often translate to highly pay - large or small company. And often you get taken advantage of.
Thank you for sharing your story!
You are correct, I have found that if you volunteer too much you will just get used by some and resented by others out of jealousy. Plus people will think that you must not have a real job because if you did you wouldn't have time to do all of that volunteering if you actually were busy.
I used to work with someone like this in accounting. She would volunteer for everything then complain she had too much work. She was really good at her job but ended up burning out and leaving the company which was a shame since I have no doubt she had the potential to eventually run the entire company... if she could have gotten better about delegating work and setting boundaries.
In her case it seemed like she just had trouble saying "no" or just put too much of her identify in work, or perhaps some underlying anxiety issue. She seemed really nice but could be hard to work with because everything was an emergency.
It's accounting we aren't saving lives here ol
You're saying the stuff that everyone kinda senses -- but no one dare say out loud. Kudos to you!
Not everyone senses this. They sense everyone not trying and wonder why..?
Rich I love these videos and how you talk off the cuff. These candid talks and insights really resonate with me.
That’s great to hear!
This spoke to me. It’s so relevant to me today.
The biggest reason I take on extra projects/volunteer is to build equity/experience under my belt for when I move on to the next job. I can leverage that & gain a higher salary rather than sitting around hoping & waiting for a promotion from the current job. But I agree, choose wisely what to take on. If it's even worth the extra hassle.
Nothing wrong with doing extra work if you’re wise about it. I’m moving jobs, you’ll probably have the same challenge of translating your 50 projects onto a scannable resume. Something to be aware of.
Thanks for the comment! Glad you’re here!
@RichGilbert I agree. I was thinking more of using those projects & wins as talking points in an interview to upsell yourself. Bonus points! But thanks!
as an engineer at facebook - i took too long to understand this.
i’m still trying to recover from this mentality to do tons of small stuff
I learned this the hard way volunteering for a project in another department hoping it would help lead to promotion, failed, and ever since have never volunteered EVER.
I was that guy, too 😂
Worse when I was younger, but I learned in that first job that the first time you step up, it's recognized and appreciated - the next time it won't be, because now it's "your job".
Woe be to you that you get a manager that's trying to make a name for himself and volunteering his team for all sorts of things just so HE looks good. As you said, the correct response is to say "no".
So true, I believe this is the reason large corporations slowly migrate to being supper unproductive and slow to react to changes, with good people moving on or learning the game of, I am busy and the gene pool of doers is further diluted.
This becomes a perpetuating the culture, where it attracts manipulative and lazy people and those involved become part of what is for all those involved, a gravy train with little real output.
Wow i wish i had these videos when i was working corp. THE BIG issue is that if you have shaky self esteem, you will think something is wrong with you. What really happened is you got fired by someone dummer then you but was at the company longer (and firmly know and believe that). My wakeup call finally came with other managers and HR actually agreed with me. That was the lesson it had nothing to do with how smart or capable you are, and more with politics.
Super skeptical that this guy would be yet another hack spouting generalaties about corporate life. Pleasantly surprised to see instead an experienced, down to earth, and well spoken individual whom I now have a lot of admiration for. New sub.
Wonderful advice. It sounds harsh to say this, but a lot of people are very small minded and jealous. If you walk into a new job and you are cheerful and upbeat, people will badmouth you just because you are laughing and joking with customers and workmates, even if your sales figures are sky high and your work is impeccable. God forbid you have a go-getter I-can-do-this attitude. A lot of people adopt an anonymous, bland look, I guess they know not to stand out. Perhaps they're saving all their energy for their families and don't want to burn themselves out at work. Don't be a live-wire super-high performer unless you can see a really clear reward for it - really great people get burnt out and destroyed by jealous, bitter, small minded non-achivers. Watch out for the group of negative Nancys - they'll hunt down and destroy good people. If you're gonna have an incredible work ethic, best be self employed. Best wishes all!
True. If you do too much for the same pay, your employer will want to keep you in your role and not release you for a higher paying role. Why would they when you do it for less pay. I know someone that experienced this first hand. I told her to stop doing other peoples jobs. She was so frustrated because she couldn’t move up even though she was very knowledgeable and the higher ups kept singing her praises but didn’t show their appreciation by compensating her and/or promoting her.
You are wise.
I have mastered the art of looking busy even though I am not 😅 I am not ever going to tell people I am bored because I don't want them giving me more work LOL. I will happily use my down time to work on my side business and listen to youtube videos to expand my knowledge on the topics I am interested in
This resonated so much, and is such valuable advice. I have spent this last year taking on so many projects, stretching myself thin, attending meetings early AM, and late night with international time zones, working on the weekend to catch up on the workload, and the financial benefit might not be there come review time early next year. All this time, I see so many "coasters" all around me, who come in for a few hours, get out quietly (heck some don't even come in for weeks or months and seem to get away with a doctors note for "anxiety"). While people around me and my my manager do appreciate the work I do, I doubt I will be financially rewarded to the extent that my peers are senior than I am and control larger teams and resources. I don't have any budget or control of resources, my team is small and junior, and my role is not visible as I'm focused on delivery of the roadmap. I need to see how the year end review pans out but in my heart I already have a sinking feeling that doing more is probably not going to help me. I guess if the outcome is "meets expectations" then I need to cut back and only do the 20% that matters most.
Thank you for posting such valuable content. Nobody lets us in on these things, and I think I come from a naive point of view, having worked at startups and smaller companies all my life before moving into a mega corp. The one good thing is I've been able to meet many new smart people across the org while working on these projects, so at least it has been beneficial from that perspective.
This was a very good video. I however am in a lucky situation where my company is between being super corporate and not (about 350 employees) I started out as a grunt, I was the “operations manager” that mostly involved doing inventory counts shipping and receiving deliveries and almost anything the non “grunts” wanted to do. After a year of doing that and also landing sales opportunities by taking on “jobs that were not mine” I’m finally being recognized and moving to a sales role
Thank you so much for this. I came from the non-profit sphere and I have dealt with these issues. Corporate is a beast! I was happy wearing so many hats but now I can’t wear all these hats in corporate.
I love the candid talk. Keeping it real about office bullsht 👍👏
Bro is saving my career
One of the best social skills, I'm now convinced, is in tactfully letting people know they've taken your kindness for weakness.
I wish I knew all of this earlier in my carrier! Your channel is sooooo important! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
These days it's more like 'Don't be competent'. It seems like being useless is the key to living in the 21st century.
If you’re competent you’re risking being isolated. Hive mind works very well. I used to work for FAANG but I stopped performing because everyone on my team was insinuating dislike towards hard working and eager to help. I’ve always received compliments like you are really smart but you have to learn how to slow down and like he mentioned it hurts my brain(boring). Recently I worked on important project and my manager was happy that I speed up things however, my coworkers were mad as hell. I’m happy to see that I’m not the only one
@@myworkout2502 Your coworkers were mad because you set an inhumanly possible amount of productivity expectation that can not be sustained long term.
You have to be dumb enough to not be the envy of your coworkers and a threat to your superior but not dumb enough to be deemed useless 😂
You can be competent, just don't go looking for work in someone else's portfolio. If someone needs help let them ask.
No, it's more about LOOKING competent without actually being so. A theater kid society
That’s why I love being a software engineer, I literally have no time to volunteer. But the shameless management obnoxiously asks anyway
You are absolutely right.I wish I knew it when I start my career in High tech.
As somebody who works in a soul-crushing corporate job, I can attest that this is 120% true.
This is amazing that I stumbled upon your video! I was rethinking my strategy since i had been performing extremely well but now I'm planning to just enjoy the passing of time while working and not thinking about of getting recognized or being promoted. It's chill from now on.
This content is gold. I am in the beginning of „corporate career” and I gonna implement all of them.
I was that guy once, ended up overworked and with a couple of health issues.
This is so accurate. I had this experience at a FAANG and another big tech company. Even if you are doing your job + amazing XFN side-projects, the side projects will overshadow everything else in a negative way and might hurt your perf review. In my case, the other orgs were very appreciative and even asked for more help but my own (new) org leadership wasn’t very happy about it.
I needed an advice, and you gave me gold. Thanks really appreciated.
Very glad it helps. That’s why I do this. 👍
Subscribed. Was just talking with my dad about this as I fell into the trap you described at my first job. Decided in my new role I'll be coasting and spending the extra bandwidth on my own side project rather than pouring discretionary effort into an environment that doesnt want it. Great video, keep it up.
My friend gave ne this advice when I got my first job as a teacher. Being a former people pleaser, this was the golden advice. The thing was, my resume was way too strong for the position, and I ended up working on promotional videos and teaching works too. And I couldn't sleep. And I did not even ask or volunteer for such extra work. So, let me just add more to the advice: keep your resume strong enough to land the job and weak enough to never give anyone the chance to raise your workload. And never ever see the company or the workers as your family. When push comes to shove, they wouldn't hesitate to fire your ass.
Great info- I wish I’d heard this kind of thing twenty five years ago.
Great video. It reminds of what we said after voluntarily joining the Navy. Never Again Volunteer Yourself.
I worked for a fortune 100 compnay for 5 years. For the first 4, I took on extra projects. My boss and site management was very happy and I was compensated appropriately. At the beginning of year 5 we had a reorg and I was put under management from a site in another state. I even lost my direct boss and took over mostly managing my own work in addition to all the extra projects I had been doing. After 6 months my whole department was demoted to fit that site's org chart and pay scales but we were expected to do the same work we all had been doing in the past. I left that compnay 3 months later having learned the lesson outlined in this video the hard way.
I like your content man. I haven't been a corporate man for decades at this point but your perspective I find cynical but practical. You know what I'm saying? It's a hard look at how things really work and optimizing for best personal ROI. Because you can blow a whole lotta effort into the corporate machinery for NO GAINZ!
Appreciate the feedback. “Cynical yet practical”. Maybe I’ll put that on a t-shirt. Haha thanks for the comment! Glad it resonated with you.
These videos are very useful. The right thing to do is almost never what you think. I intimidate everyone 😅
Been in corporate America more than half of my life. You have to play the game. Only take on projects that matter to leadership.
I worked at Nestle 4 years and your videos speak about my experience there. Now I am back to startup world :)
Thanks so much for this video - it's made so much sense of certain experiences I've had in the last few years. All of the work in tech these days seems to entail negotiating the internal politics, rather than adding value to the company. The importance put on meetings that don't achieve anything is astonishing to me in the last number of years. I mean, they don't even fulfill the function of achieving team cohesion anymore. They're just pointless exercises in pretending workmates are family members (when clearly, that's not the case). I was already in the process of realising I wasn't suited to this sector anymore, but this has definitely helped to accelerate that. Thankfully, I'm in the process of orchestrating a transition.
Great insights on the workplace culture.
On point I wonder how many of these type of people just lost their jobs and now regret going the extra mile.
Wow. This is solid advice. Thank you.
learned it the hard way.
i learned to pretend to be busy, even when i had nothing on my plate at that time, and i actually wanted to help.
people appreciate your help more that way.
So true. On top of everything mentioned, once the management sees you are capable to perform various additional tasks rather well, you are going to be asked to participate each time any task out of the ordinary comes along, whereas Bob sitting next to you doing bare minimum will never get asked for some project as they afraid he's more than likely to fuck up
I faced a lot of this and learned these things in my time at SRMC & RI. True to the bone.
this feels like the channel I never knew i needed…subscribed!
I grew up on a farm and went from small company culture to large company culture. I had to learn the hard way that i was no longer a problem solver but a cog in the machine. I don't feel resentful because it makes sense why corporate is the way it is and to be real, I just drew the short straw, nobody was being malicious. I enjoyed being a problem solver in a small company, but i've learned to enjoy working 2-3 hours a day at my WFH job. I will occasionally step up to do something extra, but that's only because it's has to be done and the consequences of it not being done create problems that just means more work in the future.
I love this guy! Emotional and straight info will shot you out.
Great advice. I made this type of mistake when I was young and very early in my career. The only thing worse than being wage slave is to want to be an even bigger wage slave for no extra benefit.
Great video . When some employers give raises they do not look at the individual person they give you the same amount of money as other people in your position. It is good to not do extra you’re not going to get paid extra for doing extra.
E.X.A.C.T.L.Y... my experience both before AND after being in management positions. Awesome advice... folks ... listen to this video! Cheers!
Thank you so much for these videos, should have needed them in school as well navigating the teachers...
True. School is just training for saying yes in corporations.
Great content, engagingly presented. I like the 1 long take, not quick cuts which I find very distracting on TH-cam. I work in a company with 30 staff and wear multiple hats, so it's become the norm for me. But if I move to a corporate environment I will have to change my mindset.
God. I am taking a managing essentials class next month. I wish we could all watch this. If for nothing else, just to be able to sit in silence and think about all the people that are screwed over every day.
Your Videos feel like my future self time traveling to warn me about all of the mistakes I am making, thank you!
He describes the context of the advice. That is important to the message. I would add this caveat-- if volunteering for the work will provide new skills, it is well-worth considering.
And if you miss a deadline on a volunteer project, it counts against you...
Thanks for this advice. I’m unfortunately stepping on toes already so guess I better curb my enthusiasm.
This honestly applies to almost any level of job. Countless times I and even my Mom had this issue. If your too good at things, you end up doing every thing. If you work a retail job and can do the register, you will find yourself stuck there a lot as no one else wants to do it. Once you learn a task you all but lose the right to refuse to do it in the future.
This is even worse for management type work. If you learn to help count inventory, fill out some weekly paper work, count the safe at night etc.... you will find yourself doing it quite often. Basically doing management work without the pay and position to with it. It scales up from there as well. If you are a manager and help out your boss once with say covering for his vacation, doing his paper work, interviewing new managers what ever it takes. Suddenly he will be dumping more work on you, again with no extra pay or position to reflect this new level of responsibility.
The worst scam is being "trained" in a new position for months, doing the job day after day again without the benefits and raise to go with it.
All this rings 100% true, from my experience. I'm 54, and I've had to deprogram myself from all the messages my early Baby-Boomer (overachieving) parents stuffed into my head when I was a kid/in my early 20s. On this topic of "extra projects" most of their advice then (and now) would run directly opposite of what you're saying ... they would say that the more projects you do, the more you'll get noticed, blah blah blah. Even now, they would defend that position but I agree with you.
Sure ... you'll get noticed. But is it a good kind of attention, or is it a bad kind of attention? And with regard to all that extra time and energy you put in to these "volunteer" projects, it's got to come from somewhere. What's the opportunity cost of making that investment in projects that aren't even in your "swim-lane", and is it really worth it?
I agree with you 100%. It's better to be strategic and intentional about how you spend your time and effort, than it is to just give it away for free.
"rom all the messages my early Baby-Boomer (overachieving) parents stuffed into"
To be fair to them, they got that advice from the greatest generation, who actually valued hard work. That's one of the few things boomers borrowed. They ruined that idea, but the blame can't be placed 100% on them.