Coming to terms with working life

Nathan Maximus
Sep 3, 2018 · 3 min read
“woman sitting on bed with flying books” by Lacie Slezak on Unsplash

As a student, school was a chore.

I had assignments that I was rewarded with intangible marks and “good jobs”. Endless after school activities. Handling and navigating friendships. Identity crises and puberty. I often exclaimed, “uhhhhhhhh… I don’t want to study anymore… Iwanted to work and earn money!” Manyof my adult relatives would laugh and reply that they would much rather be a student again, there were no worries.

I didn’t believe them, of course. How bad can working be? Earning money, buying what I wanted with that money, being able to take leave and play when I wanted and being in charge of my life.

Or, so I dreamed.

In my 4th year of working, I am starting to feel the full force of what working life is like. Smashing all my wonderful perceptions of what working life was supposed to be like.

Part I

I was working under a boss who is an incredibly nice person but a lousy boss. He couldn’t say no to our director when his subordinates were overworked, wouldn’t make decisions out of fear of it being the wrong one, would never challenge the status quo even though there could be a better way of doing things, among other traits. One can never say that you learn nothing. If you didn’t learn anything positive or constructive, you learn how not to be a bad leader and it helps you be a better leader.

1. Help potential leaders see from a different perspective (They aren’t at your level yet, so they need to know what goes on in your mind. Why you doing what you are doing as a leader.)

2. As a leader for leaders you are a perfect example of what is good and what is bad. People notice what you do and don’t do.

3. Care and be interested in the people you are in charge of. Know their story, you will appreciate them better and see them as people rather than see them as a headcount.

Part II

There was also this major d***. You know, that guy who thinks he knows everything. All his superiors like him except his peers and subordinates because he delegates his own work and then claims credit for it. In my organization where doing exceptional in your core work isn’t enough, he does everything BUT his core work. Uses his rank to force people to do things for him and thinks he is this God sent worker. (OK rant stops here)

The main thing is that I learned that work politics exist where insecure people exist. If a person realizes that he isn’t as good as everyone else then he has no choice but to play games and come up with other non-work ways (backstabbing, gossiping, lying, etc) to get ahead.

Part III

The ugly truth is that my relatives were right. The working world is more complicated and a harsher place, you cannot fail and no one is gonna be there to be in charge of your nurturing. A far cry from what school was like. I guess after coming to terms with what working life is like, the next phase of is: how to survive and thrive.

To be continued…

fromthereddot

Views from an average, technically millenial but feel more like a xennial, Singaporean

Nathan Maximus

Written by

fromthereddot

Views from an average, technically millenial but feel more like a xennial, Singaporean

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