Tales, Truths, & Tolerisms

Everytime I go to Yahoo or CNN, there seems to always be someone peddling career or job hunting advice. Most of it is helpful and well-meaning but it got me thinking about all of the bad advice I have heard out there.

I had a buddy who said he received some of the “best” career advice when he was younger. That advice was “In meetings, always have something to say no matter what. People will think you are smart if you say something“.  Granted I don’t know if you co-workers will think you are smart, but they will defintely have an opinion of you.

Perhaps the worst advice I was ever given was as a college kid I worked at a national retailer over the summer and christmas breaks trying to make some extra money. I guess I was decent at customer service and found a way not alienate our customers so he felt that I had some potential. Anyways so one day a manager comes up to me and says, “Have you thought about quitting school and working here full time? After a year, maybe I can get you into the management training program, and then after a few years, you can be making the big bucks like me“.

Needless to say I didn’t take him up on the offer, especially if you knew what his version of “big bucks” was.

So I completed my MBA from Kennesaw State last month. While I received a good amount of congratulations from peers and friends, I also received one major question from everyone (except my boss). That question was “So does this mean you get a raise?”.

Fear the OWL

The question made me think a bit. While my boss had already told me that no raise in salary will come as a result of the MBA, I do feel that I did get a little raise in self confidence in the workplace. Granted I am making sure I am not being the annoying “I got an MBA so I know it all” guy like Ryan on The Office, but I do feel more confident in trying to find value in the projects that I am working on for the business as a whole.  Of course confidence does not have an intrinsic value, but it does translate into making a bigger contribution to the success of the company, which can lead to salary raises and/or promotions.

Of course as I mentioned before, I am making a concerted effort not be one of the “annoying MBA types” that we run into often in the Product Management / Online Marketing world. Here in Atlanta, these are the grads who feel as if the world is owed to them since they have a graduate degree.  I have worked with and for plenty of individuals with MBA’s and Masters in Marketing who were pretty much idiots and/or frauds.

Then again, if a company is willing to offer me six figures, a corner office, and an executive assistant…

If there is one thing that I learned from both growing up and working, its that results matter…and everything else is just additional info.  I  had a boss who once told me that someone’s detrimental actions were not my fault,  but since I was the project lead, it still was my fault because I let it happen on my watch.  In addition, once a mistake or negative action has happened, you learn from it, and move on.  In my mind, thats what a winner’s mentality is. You haven’t forgotten the teacher’s lesson, you simply have forgotten the math problems.

I think the same thing can be said about relationships as well.  When I was younger, I would blame many of my actions or attitudes on various bad experiences I had in the past. When in reality, my actions, attitudes, and emotions were really only owned and controlled by me.  Sure previous stimulii can influence future behavior, but in reality, the actual control of oneself is what makes us alive right? The concept of Free Will seems to be part of American Culture that is ingrained in almost every marketing message on television. (i.e Just Do It)

I guess in some way, Popular Culture has convinced us that we ourselves are not to blame for our own shortcomings. Parents, Neighborhoods, Status, and Ex- Boyfriends / Girlfriends/Spouses are to blame for us being unhappy, or unable to think positve thoughts or maintain positive relationships. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the concept of chemical inbalances, behavior disorders, etc, but at some point, when we think about who is responsible for the direction that we are going in life, or how we have reacted to our previous mistakes or misfortunes, I think the only being that can be found is the one in the mirror.