10 Years Later: Lessons From My Global Career So Far

September 2019 made 10 years that I’ve worked at the firm. Gosh, I remember my eyes widening when anyone told me they’d done anything for ten years, but here we are and I’m officially one of those people. Fun fact: I went home crying after my first day or work, a story for another day.

 

A decade is a good time to reflect and I’ve been thinking about some of the lessons I’ve picked up along the course of building a global career. In ten years, I’ve worked on 4 continents, led several teams, and messed up a bit too to be honest.  It is a journey that I’m thankful for and that has taken me places that I only dreamed and prayed for. Here are some of the lessons I’ve picked up along the way, lessons I wish were spelled out to me earlier. I hope you find it helpful regardless of your current career stage.

 

1. Be Strategic, Not Manipulative

Yes, there’s a difference but I wasn’t always clear about this. To be manipulative is to attempt to influence the behavior of others for one’s purposes. Being manipulative obviously has negative connotation, and rightfully so. To be strategic is to have a plan or method to obtaining a specific goal. The key difference between being manipulative vs. being strategic is the HOW. In competitive organizations with a lot of high performers, you will encounter people that are strategic and those that are manipulative. I personally wasn’t always strategic out of fear that it would be considered manipulative but I now know better. 

Here’s an example of how to be strategic. Anna wants to be given an opportunity to present on a certain topic. Anna recognizes the perfect speaking opportunity a year in advance and takes steps to make herself the best person for the job. She joins the toastmasters’ team, she learns the topic at hand more than her peers, and joins the planning committee for the upcoming event. When the time comes, Anna has done the work and strategically positioned herself for the opportunity.

2. Doing Good Work Is The Bare Minimum

This goes without saying and I’ll always say it again. Don’t do good work, do excellent work and build goodwill but don’t stop there. Raise your hands for opportunities that will CHALLENGE you. Being excellent at work of low to medium difficulty will not set you apart from your peers or cause you to be singled out for exceptional opportunities. Take the time to hone and learn your craft and be known for something. Yes, it does mean you will work harder and/or smarter than the average person, but you’re not after average results, are you?

3. When Working in Chile

It’s expected that you kiss everyone on each cheek to say hello and good-bye daily. It might take some getting used to, but you’ll get used to it. You’re the outsider, you can adjust to the norm, and YES people notice and appreciate the effort.

4. You Really Are The Driver Of Your Career

I heard this often early in my career but I didn’t really know what it meant or what it meant for me. When you drive your career, you have clarity of who you are (strengths, weaknesses), what you bring to the table, and where you want to grow and have a decent idea of what you want out of your career and life. On the contrary a career ‘passenger’ waits for things to happen to them as their employer dictates where they go.

Someone in a driver capacity makes the most of every role/opportunity even if that role is not his or her final destination. They build and use their network, they are aware of and seek opportunities actively, and ask for promotions based on performance and value (not tenure). While its easy to complain about what isn’t perfect, always ask yourself “Have I made the most of this role/opportunity to develop myself?”

5. The Same Company in a Different Country Is Not The Same.

When working with global organizations, while there’ll be standard global processes, the dynamics will differ from one location to the other. Don’t assume that what made you successful in one place will do so elsewhere. 

Learn how things operate, what motivates your team, learn the cultural nuances, and know what success looks like. Learn the game on every field you’re on and tailor your approach accordingly. All pitches are different (get it, get it?). For you to succeed while working in different countries, you have to be open to new approaches towards work.

6. When Working In Europe

Don’t expect people to respond to emails while on holiday. Moving from the US to the UK, I quickly earned a ‘workaholic/always on’ reputation. To be honest, I quite shocked to find out that people did not respond to emails while they were on vacation. I had to quickly learn to shift my expectation if I wanted to be in a position to lead and inspire a high performing team. 

It took unlearning the lack of boundaries I built early on in my career but it was for the better for me, and for my team. I’m definitely better about creating and respecting boundaries around personal time. And yes, things still get done and I left knowing that if sh*t hit the fan and the team needed to come through on a weekend or whenever, they absolutely would!

7. Assess Your Career (& Life) In Seasons

I always share this when I’m asked one of my biggest career lessons and it was shared with me by my someone I look up to. What does this mean exactly? It means that you shouldn’t make decisions based on one good or bad day. One bad day does not make your entire experience. Decide on what a ‘season’ is for you: a quarter or every six months. At the end of each season, assess how things went. Ask yourself the following questions:

Am I proud of the effort I am putting in, and the results? Are there opportunities to grow on my team and at this organization and what I can do to step into these opportunities? Have I met my own standards and my company’s standards? If I need help, have I asked for help? What can I do differently in this next season to learn and grow X skill? Am I able to also show up for my family, friends, and community or is my career the single focus now and am I okay with that in THIS season?

Be as honest and objective in your assessment as possible and you’ll be clear on what you need to focus on next, you’ll also be clear on when its time to pivot and take your skills elsewhere.

8. Raise Your Head Up and Remember Your Personal ‘Why.’

It’s VERY easy to get into the everyday routine of work work work and life life life. I fall into this trap more often than I’d like. Then one day you raise your head up after months or even years of going with the flow of work and life and you may realize…hold up, the life I’m living is not reflective of what is important to me.

Being grounded in your WHY will help you navigate life’s phases. Write down what’s important to you and the kind of life you want to live, the impact you want to have and compare that to how you’re spending your time and resources. Remembering your why will help you figure out when you’re going off course, and will push you to stay the course when disappointments may tempt you to give up.

 

9. When Working In India

Plan for breaks to chat, drink chai or snack on samosas (my favorite) throughout the day. Ask your team open-ended questions (not yes or no), be intentional about checking in and soliciting feedback or you may not receive it. 

Plan for traffic in major cities or just have a plan to be productive while in traffic because it WILL be a while. There’s a good chance you’ll be invited to a wedding, Go!

10. Grit and Consistency Will Take You Far

Remember that a career is a marathon not a sprint. Don’t expect opportunities you want to fall into your lap the minute (or even the year) you desire them. That’s not the case 99% of the time. Be patient.

Grit: firmness of character; indomitable spirit;

Consistency: steadfast adherence to the same principle

Being consistent at anything is how you build a reputation. Having an indomitable spirit will get you through tougher patches along your path.

 

Your Career is Just That, Remember To Build a Life

No further explanation needed on that. Build a full LIFE based on the things that matter to YOU personally, not based on what society or your company says should matter to you. For me, thats my faith, family,and my community (specifically supporting women, underrepresented minorities, and the underserved in careers, travel, entrepreneurship and education).

12. When In The USA

You’ve got to be visible in the work place, as your work will only speak for you to an extent. This is not only true in the USA, but in my experience, it is more pronounced and I learned this here first.

13. Prioritize Rest

There are no awards for hustling without end, or for having no hobbies or interests outside of work. Making time for rest and for the things that matter to you will help you show up better at work. There’s a time to grind but the grind should not be endless. 

Show me a high performer that takes no breaks and I’ll show you someone that has too much of their sense of self/worth/accomplishment tied to feeling needed at work. I’ve been there and it took me a while (a few years and a move to another country) to figure this out.

14. You Will Mess Up And The World Will Not End

Yes, even you the all-star perfectionist. You will make mistakes, you will mess up, and you’ll be okay. Forgive yourself, and give yourself grace. Put your ego aside as you listen to constructive feedback. Take the time to process the feedback, then fix it, and move forward. If you take a wrong turn, you can always turn around. Remember this, but whatever you do, move forward

15. Relationships Are Key

The best time to build a network is when you DON’T need it; the second best time is NOW. I didn’t always focus on this, and this is one of the things I tell younger associates that care to listen. Network upwards by all means but it is so much easier to network with your peers. 

Guess what, your peers will be doing amazing things in a decade and if you build relationships with them now, they’ll be in your network forever. These friendships could lead to new confidants, travel buddies, new roles, business opportunities, or heck, new love connections. Get out there, show up for people and things will fall into place when they need to.

16. Build and Guard Your Reputation

The reputation you build will open (or close) doors of opportunities for you. There’s time to build goodwill, and there’s time to draw on the goodwill that you have built. Your reputation is not built on words; it is built on consistent action/behavior over time. Show up; be about it before you talk about it.

If your reputation were a word or phrase, what would it be? If you don’t know, ask a few people around you. If their responses aren’t in line with what you’d hoped for then I invite you to approach every encounter with that word or phrase in mind.

If your word is excellence, how can you strive for excellence in the big things and small things regardless of who is watching? If your word is warmth, how can you radiate warmth in all interactions?

17. Value & Impact
Matter

At the end of the day, we are compensated as employees for the value we bring to the organizations we work for. Do you know what value you bring, What your ‘magic’ is? Your value might be your technical expertise, your sales acumen, your business and personal relationships, your project management skills etc. Until you know your value, you actually don’t know what your negotiating power is. Know this, and then actively seek to bring more value, or go where the value you have to offer is sought after.

 

Impact can be both within the organization and outside of it. There’s always time to have a positive/lasting impact and there’s no need to wait until you have a certain title or a grand stage to do so. If you aren’t having an impact on anyone other than yourself, then you’re living small. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’re making yourself indispensable by hoarding your knowledge. Quite the opposite, if you don’t teach others with what you know now, how will you ever create time/room for yourself to do something else at the next level?

 

18. I’ve Got a Long Way To Go

Ten years in and I’ve learnt a lot but I’m also well aware that I don’t it all figured out. There’s so much to learn and unlearn. The workforce is changing; the expectations at my level are changing. I’ve acquired certain skills but what got me here won’t get me to the next level. So it isn’t time to sit back and get lazy.

So what ‘s next? One thing I’m doing is drafting emails to reach out to a few people that have supported me throughout the journey so far to thank them for their support, their leadership, or just for their existence. There are certain things I want to be intentional over the next season/decade. But first, I’ll take this moment to celebrate the journey, the lessons, the mistakes, and the people, and to thank God (My ultimate source).

I’m committing to being intentional about what I say yes to, to be intentional about identifying my gaps and learning needs, and doing more stints abroad at the right time. Oh, and now that I’ve written this post, I can actually pick out my 10-year gift that the firm gives me.

What have you learned in your career journey so far? What questions do you have for me? What do you wish you knew earlier? What are you committing to?

If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, hit the share button and share with ONE person in your world, and don’t forget to subscribe to the blog on the right! Thank you for reading, this was a lengthy one!

 

Till Next Week

Dee (Ms. Heels).