Perhaps so, because as the author describes, “the more expensive your education, the more time you’ve spent luxuriating in the highbrow, chasing idiosyncratic intellectual fascinations down rabbit holes, and watching subtitled films.”

Another culprit could be the advice the young get: ‘Just be yourself.’ The author reasons that part of the problem with being yourself is that you could be anyone. “You could dress badly. You could be a shy daydreamer, or you could be a bubblehead.”

Instead, striking a pose may be the best route for anyone hoping to emerge from ‘corporate underlinghood’ with their dignity intact, she suggests. One such pose could be to ‘wear your learning lightly,’ because “in jobs and life, people who try hard to show how very smart they are often get passed over for someone who’s equally bright but easier to get along with.”

Dodge the ‘Great Failure Army’ advises a whole chapter, which has valuable tips such as ‘don’t affix labels to people you don’t get along with,’ and ‘do criticise artfully.’ If your job is less than gratifying intellectually, you may try to exercise critical muscles wherever you can, as a small compensation for the fact that you’re low on the totem pole, reasons Hustad. “And in some sense it seems like the only means of deflecting the power some people have over you.”

Hating can’t be avoided, especially if you’re going places, she says in a chapter titled ‘When it’s just not about you.’ Understanding how prevalent resentment is, and how some people might enjoy disliking you, and how little you can do about it sometimes, gets you halfway toward not letting the hatred keep you awake at night, Hustad counsels.

If you are faced with an unsatisfactory work situation, her instruction can come handy: do use ‘I feel’ phrasing so that you don’t ascribe motives to anyone but yourself.

D. MURALI

More Stories on : Books | Career Crossroads | Human Resources

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page