Larry Smith

Strange Career Mistake Number 8
Helping a coworker, without anyone noticing. If we lived in paradise, you would be helpful and not care who saw you. But in today’s world, you need to make sure the world, your employer, knows you are helpful. Otherwise, the person you helped might take credit for your contribution. But be discrete, noticed in an understated way. Nobody needs you pretending you are key to everything.
Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 8
Dress like everyone else, almost. Over dressing makes you look like you’re trying too hard; under dressing the company norm makes you look like you don’t care about the culture or the work. But you need to get noticed, without anyone noticing why they’re noticing you. So small, careful touches of accessories or colours or textures is all you need. Think this is too trivial to make a difference to your career? A smart person uses every tool available for advancement.

Strange Career Mistake Number 7
Believing that you are immune to the conditions of the global economy. No technical skill, no matter how strong the demand, can shield you from a macroeconomic ambush. Given that responsibility for the richest economy on earth now rests with an irrational and therefore completely unpredictable government, double down on your career plan. Warning, warning, danger, danger.

Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 7
Identify a piece of information that is important to your employer, but that is factually wrong. It will take a lot less time than you might suppose. Or do you really think you live in paradise, a place where no one is misinformed? Not on this planet. Take the documented correct answer to your boss, as an illustration of your commitment to the company and your abnormal insight. There are two outcomes. The boss thinks you are brilliant or a troublemaker. There is no reward without risk. But if you work for a company that does not value accurate information, your job is at risk in any event.

Strange Career Mistake Number 6
Agreeing with your boss on a major issue, even when you think he or she is wrong. [On minor issues, you are non-committal, saying “we could try that.” You do not argue with the boss about small stuff.] When you suppress your own judgment, you put yourself at risk if someone more powerful than your boss then decides you are either a fool or a liar. And if that more influential person is a senior consultant for your employer, you may find that few headhunters ever call you.

Kick-Ass Career Tip Number 6
From time to time, attend an art gallery or museum and comment on the latest exhibition in the workplace. If you are in a technical discipline, this tactic is especially useful. So attend a show about Caravaggio at the Galley for Intelligent People and tell your boss how amazing the paintings were. You are crafting your personal brand. You are becoming a person with “unexpected depth.”