Hi welcome back to another episode of the corporate Cowboys podcast my name is Alex I’m your host today’s date is Tuesday August 1 2023. if you’re not familiar with this podcast the corporate Cowboys are oriented toward professional development we are consultants for professionals we can be legal Consultants but I’m gonna
Give you the disclaimer up front anything you hear come across these um Audio Waves or anything that is posted or distributed across our various platforms and social media accounts and profiles anything that you see here or listen to on our part none of it is legal advice to you
Unless you’ve retained Us in some capacity and we are working for you we work for No One we’re in the business of business of Better Business at that so we strive to be consummate professionals and as consummate professionals we want to deal with other like-minded individuals we want to create
More corporate Cowboys and inculcate in those individuals that we associate with the values and still in them those values of consummate professionalism so we’ll answer questions in a rather General manner we’ll give you an inside look on what uh what the uh organization the infrastructure looks like when Consulting with yourself
And we’ll do it through the lens of a hypothetical right we take these questions from online more often than not they’re from Reddit so because we have limited information we don’t have this hypothetical client in front of us to be asking them questions but to make a long story short
You want to treat this podcast like the friend that you don’t have like the friend you don’t have to come to and talk about business talk about a career talk about your livelihood and the moves you ought to make to improve on it to grow to expand to be more productive
To become stronger more influential inside or outside of corporate in your personal life because the two bleed into one another the personal and the professional the public and the private they influence one another today’s question is coming from r slash career guidance and they’re asking here they work from home
Making six figures due to a recent promotion they only have about 10 hours a week of work to do damn sounds like a rather cushy job if you have 10 hours of work to do a week you get it done within 10 hours of what you’ve got
Approximately 30 hours a week to work on yourself or to plot and plan within corporate to make moves within your organization man that is a nice place to be in but the question here is I’m paranoid it’s not even a question it’s a sentence with a question mark at
The end I’m paranoid that I’m going to be bagged I had to give it that little upward inflection I’m paranoid that I’m going to be bagged [ __ ] I only have about 10 hours of work 10 hours a week of work to do I’m paranoid that I’m going to be bagged
So essentially the question is should they be what paranoid should they be working toward something should they be preparing for the worst and I guess in their world because if they’re paranoid about this that might be the worst thing to happen to them but a corporate cowboy
What would a corporate Cowboy do how would a corporate Cowboy view this situation is that just additional opportunity would you be paranoid about being let go not at all because you’ve only got 10 hours of work to do every week and the other 30 or however many it is
That you might have to log and report to your supervisor you have that added time to create additional value if not for your organization and for yourself which in turn will benefit the organization because of your continued professional development you becoming a better professional never hurts you becoming a more virtuous
A more integral a more reliable more dependable professional never hurts neither yourself your livelihood or your career with the organization so let me start reading the body here a bit so there’s some rumbling there’s some butterflies hatching springing from what a cocoon doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve
Done any that they’ve embarked on any personal growth right so let’s read this body a bit find out what they what they tell us and whether or not we can make any reasonable inferences or come up with some appropriate questions to ask if we had the hypothetical clients in front of us
I say they write or they start with this has been going on for almost seven months okay so relevant to the title making those six figures working from home due to a recent promotion I mean it’s kind of up in the air whether or not they would knock you down
Or cut you out after a promotion it’s possible [ __ ] anything is possible in corporate and I’ve said time and time again it’s been an overarching theme to the podcast is that everyone is entry level forever no one is necessarily guaranteed a position for life and corporate right because you’re dealing not only
With business but you’re dealing with politics I mean business will take care of itself you take care of business and business will necessarily take care of itself but you’ve got that human element that’s political component right and as much as folks claim to hate the office politics you don’t see people
Rebelling against this often you don’t see people going against the grain of this quote-unquote office politics that they so claim to hate but learning to navigate it learning to yeah to navigate it to work with it instead of being subordinated to it instead of working for it will put you
On a level of professionalism that’s unparalleled with anyone else so that’s essentially what we’re striving for as a corporate Cowboy not necessarily have to answer to anyone else but you’re in a league of professionals of your own caliber where you can deal directly with corporations and not have to rely on a
Manager not have to rely on on a uh what’s the term called on a representative on a shop representative right so you don’t need anybody putting in the work for you if you are capable Willy and Abel of doing it yourself so you’re right this has been going on for almost seven months
I don’t have [ __ ] to do and spend most days napping or sleeping off a hangover wow I attend all calls and appear available but I keep getting this nagging feeling that I will be found out well that’s just that is called tuition and your tuition knows that you’re [ __ ] up if
You’re sleeping all day and nursing a hangover it means that you’re a piece of [ __ ] and not building on yourself right if those are the only things you’re doing right if we had the hypothetical clients in front of us we would ask them how else they fill their day
What else do they do with the time available that they have from work right if it’s only taking Shooters and and dozing off then yeah we could objectively say that they are a piece of [ __ ] but if they’re working if they’re working if they’re Moonlighting on the
Side they have a side hustle some kind of gig that they do or they’re attending an online course of some kind or taking on an independent study that they’re work at their company is just not privy to right because they’re they’re building themselves in secret and private then
We might argue that they’re not a piece of [ __ ] in reality and that they’re actually kind of smart because they’re double dipping on the time available that they have from work and necessarily getting paid for it the right basically I cannot do this job due to data Integrity issues
I don’t know that doesn’t make sense okay so but I keep eating this nagging feeling that I will be found out basically I cannot do this job due to data Integrity issues today I offered my boss to step in for another colleague on maternity leave and handle her work well
Because I need things to do to keep me disciplined not sure if I should have just kept rioting the wave but I’m getting kind of paranoid now I have six years experience and due to a restructure I was given a job with my parent company at a great raise
But it just seems like a [ __ ] show that is so disorganized I’ve been keeping a low profile because well I figured at first this is great I basically work two days a week let me just interject real quick here is that the writing structure I don’t know if this is coming across
If this is translating but the writing structure also kind of reads like they haven’t been sharpening any skill set or honing their ability to write even if they work from home you would think that the primary method of communication is going to be uh either writing or I mean it could
Also be some type of virtual meeting like a zoom or a Google meets or a teams of some kind right but the writing here they’re not abysmal but it is reflective of the fact that they’re sitting around the way the way that they’re using well because and because well and well because
And but well because kinda well because so they’re right now not sure if I should have just kept riding the wave but I’m getting kind of paranoid now I have six years experience and due to a restructure I was given a job with my parents company at a great raise but it
Just seems like a [ __ ] show that is so disorganized I’ve been keeping a low profile because well I figured at first this is great I basically work two days a week but I just had the nagging feeling that I need to speak up so I did it’s just been a complete [ __ ] show
After Mass layoffs this year nobody responds to me even if I try to call them we work in different areas of the country so I can’t just go to the office and ask in person their last paragraph here they write just not sure what to do at this point I
Had an hour talk with a colleague today and she is feeling the same thing I wasn’t too honest I didn’t mention how little I have to do but she mentioned to me she’s been doing managerial work was denied a promotion and asked me if I got
A promotion with my raise I was honest and said yeah I had to offer to cover another division because I can’t do my job in hours so there is some background information that we need right because this uh hypothetical client writes as if we already know what’s taking place
Within their organization so we would need to fill out get a little better picture a clearer picture of the organizational chart if you will and how the hierarchical structure actually works and interacts within this organization otherwise I mean we don’t we don’t really know who manages who who manages
What though the hypothetical client does tell us that there have been Mass layoffs this year for me just off top just off the Dome just a knee-jerk reaction is that you probably shouldn’t worry right this is the third chord is it a third quarter I think we are now we have another quarter
Well the third quarters begin I suppose right no we’ll begin thinking of I’m thinking of thirds so we’re still in yeah we’re in the third quarter and uh in the fourth quarter you may see another light no the light cycle of uh layoffs it’s possible it is possible so it’s not like
They’re in the clear because the organization experience layoffs and they somehow survived it right now that they’re growing paranoid to me that tells me that they should be kicking something into gear something else into gear and more often than not something that will not hurt you but will actually help
You in your work is going to be self-education independent study something that will improve and build on your skills as a professional and as a manager apparently because they’re working with a colleague who was in a similar position to them apparently what is it four or five six months ago
When our hypothetical client was promoted and they were denied a promotion and they were denied a raise right so because they the hypothetical clients because the hypothetical client was able to benefit from both a promotion and a raise it is it is somewhat logical for a
Manager to have to do less leg work less actual technical work and more managerial work more work of the reporting kind more work of like the disciplinary kind more work of the motivational kind right I mean in no particular order but a manager should be competent in all those areas
So the fact that they are not taking it upon themselves we’re not taking this promotion seriously to me to me tells me that they’re not an immediate Danger of getting cut but they do open the door to the possibility that a higher up a superior to themselves will see
That the ticker has not moved on this hypothetical client and even though corporate more often than not claims to want managers claims to want the status quo what they want is improvement over time no matter what so if you’re able to provide it to them they would be more willing to hear you
Out and to keep you employed otherwise you’re looking at you’re looking at the the possibility of getting let go the next round of layoffs which is not something people want right I mean bar be it for me to advise this hypothetical client to reach out and ask
For more work I feel like that raises more questions than provides answers right I think it brings on additional scrutiny you want to work to the letter you want to work though if you’re not well you want to satisfy your your employment’s duties your obligations as they appear in
Your contract your employment agreement right so they’re not necessarily only working to the letter but you want to build yourself want to build your reputation you want to build your skill set you want to build out your capabilities so that your effectiveness increases with time it doesn’t just
Remain the same remain stagnant remain unchanged because change especially positive changes never a bad thing but it is a little bit more work it’s the type of work that your manager won’t assign you few very rare very rare that a manager will assign you work to develop yourself professionally that type
Of move comes from self-initiation by you the professional taking the initiative to become better and that Improvement later transfers to the organization whether you choose to do it or not it happens almost subconsciously as you become better your work demonstrates it your work shows it and as your work product gets better
Work relations also improve and that’s what we’re striving for at the end of the day I don’t know if you’re applying to another job how How Deeply rooted is this paranoia that you’ll be let go but if you’re not applying for work outside consider it maybe you want to
Jump ship maybe the responsibilities that you’re taking on right now simply aren’t satisfying you I mean if you have if you have time if you have the motivation to go out and get drunk weekly to be able to nurse your hangover to me to me that tells me that you’re bored that you’re
Unfulfilled that you’re not realizing your potential as a professional now that might be an oversight by your manager for not following up with you but like I said it is rare few and far very few and far in between will a manager care about the leadership potential and the leadership development in their
Subordinates I mean don’t don’t uh don’t necessarily rely on my opinion that it’s it’s a matter of ego and politics because it’s in the same vein as training your replacement right where you’re kept on just long enough to train your wrist placement and then you’re let go but I’ve
Only had one or two I could count them on my hand I could count them on one hand the number of managers who positively cared about my development and necessarily told me actually told me that they are willing to let me stand on their shoulders but not walk on their back right
Don’t don’t step on their back don’t stab them in the back but they’ll give me the hand up it will give me the hand up because they see that I’m an individual with Drive that I’m a professional on a mission and they want to help they want to assist me in some way
And the best really the best way is going to be the hand up is creating that connection organizing arranging for a sit down between managers let me read uh one or two comments here and I will uh give my take on them sometimes these comments are good sometimes these
Comments are mad because you know it’s Reddit Reddit tends to skew on in certain ways depending on the users so the first comment here says save as much as you can if you really have a gut feeling about being bagged are you sure you’re not having imposter syndrome
And POS and posterson I think everyone has a sense of imposter syndrome I think it’s cute that they’ve now been able to codify now been able to isolate compartmentalize this concept of imposter syndrome in actuality you think back to when you were a child growing into your consciousness becoming aware of your self
Identifying yourself as a as a person as a professional right and you grow into an adult and you realize that [ __ ] even adults are necessarily imposters right we grow with those past understandings with a background and knowledge that for the most part we all tend to share
Now nobody nobody wants to get called out and say they don’t know what they’re talking about but generally adults are still growing a legal adults are still growing some may have the mind of an adolescent some may never grow out of being a petty piece of [ __ ] like they might have been
As an adolescent but that doesn’t mean that their actions don’t have consequences just the same and they’ve got to face the repercussions as they’re dealt out imposter syndrome in this context I think really is something internal and it can be regulated and they can be mitigated I I’m not going to
I’m not going to pretend that it doesn’t exist and and uh claim it not to be a factor but I’m also not going to um but I I will I will discount it I will discount it to the extent that a person like our hypothetical client in this situation
Is uh is aware as cognizant of the fact that their compensation and their work duties their obligations even though there is a disconnect in their mind doesn’t mean that they’re not worth that amount of money right it’s just that the time commitment to them seems unreal and for me at least they’re not
Utilizing all the time that they have available to them so I can definitely I can definitely see why imposter syndrome may be called in the question because they maybe feel undeserving of the amount of money that they make given this promotion that they were just given
And the amounts of hours that they have to work every week seems unreal to some and it seems unreal to this hypothetical client I think the only uh the only area with Slack that they could afford to pick up is going to be developments always always development investing in yourself building yourself
Personally professionally never hurts ever it makes you better makes you better at business makes you better at networking makes you better at marketing makes you better at confronting challenges and resolving issues in daily life be it personal or professional so it’s definitely not a bad place to start
I mean this person is saying this first commenter is saying to save as much money as they can I mean if they’re not already saving if they’re not already budgeting I mean if they’re getting wasted every week having to nurse a hangover I mean they’re already making some rather poor
Decisions and poor choices there might be a habit of theirs but if they’re saving money that let them spend it how they please let them spend it how they wish otherwise yeah they should be saving the money in case uh late year layoffs come rolling around before the holidays but do not stop
Improving on yourself the moment you stop is when you become complacent and you lose your Edge yeah well-rounded professionals are okay but those professionals that want to cut through the noise and set themselves apart as a professional worth their weight they’re going to invest heavily in their future
That is by way of skills abilities Talent practice training education those things that will edify you and make you not only a better person but a capable competent consummate professional
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