Why your Career is a game?

Posted on September 26, 2019 by Kishore Yasarapu -YK, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

“Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.” -Katherine Whitehorn

This class is not just any other boring course, but a gift of my most earnest and heartfelt advice. Thank you for accepting it. I am not a seasoned writer, but what I’ve written is the time-tested wisdom I’ve gained from 20 years of survival in the corporate world. Why do I speak of “survival”? I could say “experience”, “exposure”, or “challenges and successes” instead. But the truth is that the corporate career is a game where you may only thrive, survive, or lose depending on how well you play. No one told me this when I started and I had to learn the rules the hard way, over time.

Since you’ve chosen to read this, I’m assuming that you either want to be a better corporate citizen or are aspiring to be a great corporate leader. I hope I can teach you to play at your greatest potential, and at the very least, avoid making the mistakes that most other people make. As you read the rest of the lessons, you might find things that you already knew or sub-consciously agreed with. Maybe you’ll even disagree with other things. Regardless of this or your level of experience, you will improve your corporate awareness quotient significantly. I can even guarantee that if you consider my advice with an open mind, and practice what you learn with patience and courage, you will come out on top.

One day several years ago, I was waiting in my office for a highly qualified employee to discuss the prospect of his joining my team. I was quite excited because he had degrees from both IIT and IIM, and his work experience suggested that he was the best-suited candidate for the position. After he came in, we started discussing his skill set, our requirements, etc. But I repeatedly got the feeling that he was answering my questions in such a way as to break the rapport I was trying to build with him. I even changed my communication style in an attempt to build an understanding with him, but nothing worked. Finally, I told him that I would get back to him, but I didn’t mean it.

After the interview, I asked a few people in private about this person. I wasn’t surprised to get negative feedback about him. This small incident played itself over in my mind and I puzzled over why such an academically brilliant person was not able to understand what was required of him to succeed in the corporate world. I began to consciously observe the people who were very successful at their corporate careers. Now, I know that you may think that everyone has their own definitions of success, and someone I may think of as “successful” may not be so from your perspective. So for the sake of having a common understanding, I will define here a successful person as someone who is able to deliver the results that their organization expects by embodying the leadership qualities that its mission deserves.

Initially, I thought I would pen my insights as blog posts or articles. However, there are many of these freely available on the Internet and none can give you a comprehensive and complete view on the subject. The same goes for the various leadership training courses and seminars commonly found on the corporate training circuit. As our economy grows, more and more corporate citizens are emerging, most of whom aren’t getting the expert guidance they are worthy of. Yet I couldn’t find any relevant books in the market that were appropriate to the Indian corporate context. I finally made this course because I felt a responsibility to share my deep expertise on strategies for success in the corporate world, and also because I wished someone had gifted me this when I started out.