January 22, 2024 • 14 mins
Episode 45: Top Five Mistakes New Employees Make In Corporate America
Welcome to Career Coaching Xs and Os, the podcast that helps you navigate the challenges of working with extraordinary people. I'm your host, Mark Anthony Peterson, and today we discuss the “Top Five Mistakes New Employees Make In Corporate America.”
The top mistakes are:
Want to improve your negotiation skills? Take the 100 Days of Rejection Therapy Challenge. The goal of the 100 Days of Rejection Therapy Challenge is to desensitize yourself to the pain of rejection and to overcome fear. Check out the website at https://www.rejectiontherapy.com/100-days-of-rejection-therapy. I took several challenges. Click the links to see if I got rejected during my negotiations: (1) Rejection 7: Speak Over Costco's Intercom - https://youtu.be/AycKKgP21fQ (2) Rejection 43: Hug a Walmart Greeter - https://youtu.be/GSjyly_C8pM
Subscribe to Ceyero Consulting's YouTube Channel. Track my progress as I complete all 100 Challenges.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7lxMSEtBOAgNBOPrmA9O_w
Need help to develop a business pitch for your startup or small business? Check out my online course "How To Develop A Winning Business Pitch" https://ceyero-consulting-eschool.thinkific.com/courses/how-to-develop-a-winning-business-pitch. The course is only $139.00. Are you thinking of launching a business? Please check out my book, #Guerrillapreneur: Small Business Strategy for Davids Wanting to Defeat Goliath, available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes - shorturl.at/tvLM9
If you like this episode, please subscribe to this podcast and leave us a comment. Please share this episode with your colleagues. Follow us on Twitter @ceyeroconsltg, Instagram, and Facebook @ceyeroconsulting. Please find us on the web at https://www.ceyero.com.
If you like Career Coaching Xs and Os, then you might also like my other two business podcasts, #Guerrillapreneur: The Art of Waging Small Business Warfare (Mastermind Interviews with Entrepreneurs, Consultants, and Business Mavericks) and #Gigging: Everything and Sharing Economy (news and predictions about the Sharing Economy).
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/career-coaching-xs-and-os--3047801/support.
Welcome to Career Coaching Xs and Os, the podcast that helps you navigate the challenges of working with extraordinary people. I'm your host, Mark Anthony Peterson, and today we discuss the “Top Five Mistakes New Employees Make In Corporate America.”
The top mistakes are:
- Not Asking Questions At Weekly Corporate Teams Meetings.
- Talking Too Much at Weekly Corporate Teams Meetings.
- Not Taking Notes When Your Boss Assigns You A Project.
- Not Taking Initiative
- Being Too Informal With Senior Executives
Want to improve your negotiation skills? Take the 100 Days of Rejection Therapy Challenge. The goal of the 100 Days of Rejection Therapy Challenge is to desensitize yourself to the pain of rejection and to overcome fear. Check out the website at https://www.rejectiontherapy.com/100-days-of-rejection-therapy. I took several challenges. Click the links to see if I got rejected during my negotiations: (1) Rejection 7: Speak Over Costco's Intercom - https://youtu.be/AycKKgP21fQ (2) Rejection 43: Hug a Walmart Greeter - https://youtu.be/GSjyly_C8pM
Subscribe to Ceyero Consulting's YouTube Channel. Track my progress as I complete all 100 Challenges.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7lxMSEtBOAgNBOPrmA9O_w
Need help to develop a business pitch for your startup or small business? Check out my online course "How To Develop A Winning Business Pitch" https://ceyero-consulting-eschool.thinkific.com/courses/how-to-develop-a-winning-business-pitch. The course is only $139.00. Are you thinking of launching a business? Please check out my book, #Guerrillapreneur: Small Business Strategy for Davids Wanting to Defeat Goliath, available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes - shorturl.at/tvLM9
If you like this episode, please subscribe to this podcast and leave us a comment. Please share this episode with your colleagues. Follow us on Twitter @ceyeroconsltg, Instagram, and Facebook @ceyeroconsulting. Please find us on the web at https://www.ceyero.com.
If you like Career Coaching Xs and Os, then you might also like my other two business podcasts, #Guerrillapreneur: The Art of Waging Small Business Warfare (Mastermind Interviews with Entrepreneurs, Consultants, and Business Mavericks) and #Gigging: Everything and Sharing Economy (news and predictions about the Sharing Economy).
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/career-coaching-xs-and-os--3047801/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This is career coaching x's and o's, and I'm your host, Mark Anthony
Peterson, Founder and thought leader atSierra Consulting, a small business strategy and
technology consulting firm. A small partof our practice is executive coaching. These
episodes are the summation of some ofthose sessions. Happy New Year, everyone,
(00:26):
and welcome to episode forty five entitledthe Top five Mistakes New Employees Make
in Corporate America. Let me repeatthat, the top five mistakes new employees
Make in Corporate America. Now Icould easily rename the podcast the top five
(00:48):
mistakes that I made, but someof these I got a little coaching on
before I started my corporate career.But I still want to share these mistakes
with some of you new junior executivesso that you don't hit pitfalls as you
try to get that corner office.Let's jump right in. What's the number
(01:11):
one mistake? Not asking any questionsat your weekly team meetings. Most corporate
teams get together and strategize at thebeginning or ending of each week. I
participated in several team meetings, andthe worst thing you could do is get
(01:37):
lost at that meeting. Being visibleat that meeting by not asking any questions.
Now, I'm going to stress thatfor brown and black employees, you
need to underline this particular mistake becauseit will be amplified. Individuals, particularly
(02:05):
the senior members of the team,will definitely know if you don't ask questions,
make comments, and add value atthe weekly team meeting. So before
those meetings, you need to comeup with a plan, a strategy of
(02:25):
how you're going to attack the meeting. You write down two to three good
questions, comments or thoughts that youcan make about whatever the key projects are
that the team is working on.Why two or three here, You're not
(02:50):
the only smart person on the team. Someone else may think of a question
or comment that you plan to make, and if you don't have a backup
question, again, you're going tobe left silent at the meeting and looking
unprepared. What's the second mistake anew employee can make in corporate America talking
(03:17):
too much at the team weekly meeting. I was watching football last weekend and
one of the commentators made a verygood point about c. J. Stroud,
the quarterback of the Houston Texans.They said he endeared himself to the
(03:39):
rest of the locker room by listeningand only giving input where he had expertise.
That approach gave him a chance tolearn the room, learn the person
(04:00):
personalities, and not look like ashow off or know it all or a
person that's coming in to quote unquoteturn everything around because you're the kid with
new ideas. Even if you arethe kid with the new ideas, the
worst thing you can do is shinea bright light in a darker room.
(04:24):
Most people are going to turn theirheads as their eyes adjust to the light.
So take the approach that we talkedabout with the first mistake and plan
out your comments and more importantly,get to know the room before you try
to dominate the room. Learn thepersonalities, learn the people who are going
(04:49):
to compete with you and those whoare gonna support you before you turn the
lights on bright. What's the thirdthing? Not taking notes When you are
assigned a project, Many times newemployees get so excited about trying to show
(05:18):
what they can accomplish that they missthe nuanced directions that are given to them
about a specific project. And it'sthose nuanced directions that are critical to the
success of the project. And soyou want to make sure that when you
(05:38):
are assigned a project that you takethe notes, you summarize the notes,
and you email the directions back toyour boss or direct report and confirm that
you heard everything that was asked ofyou. That way, you can make
(06:01):
sure you deliver what's being asked.You've probably heard me say this many times
on this podcast. If you dowork and nobody hears it, it's like
the work never got done right.That's a comparison to if a tree falls
in the woods and no one hearsit, that did the tree fall.
(06:26):
So if you do a project thatnobody asked for, you get no credit
for that work. You get blamedfor wasting people's times and not delivering a
key input that's needed for your team. Now, what's the fourth big mistake
(06:47):
that a new employee can make?Not taking the initiative? Not taking the
initiative As a new employee, Iwant you to spend more time with your
mouth closed and more time with yourhands raised. When the bosses ask who
(07:12):
can stick around and do this project? Who is willing to go this extra
mile? I want your hand up. I don't want it down, and
I don't want you copying the behaviorof senior employees. Even if those employees
(07:33):
tell you to not take the initiative, you need to be raising your hand.
Why Because it's critical in the earlymonths of your employment to build your
brand, particularly with the senior bosses. And if you're avoiding work, you're
(07:56):
cementing your career path at that company. Okay, we've hit the fifth and
final big mistake a new employee canmake in corporate America, and that is
(08:18):
being too informed with senior executives.I've seen it happen dozens of times,
and as a senior executive myself,when I am in the presence of more
senior executives, I either chief operatingofficer the chief executive officer. Particularly if
(08:43):
I am in company with people whoare not senior, I am calling the
executive by his or her last name, mister Smith, mister Johnson, missus
Craig. Being too informal is anindication that you don't know how to adjust
(09:11):
your approach in the appropriate company.I've told this story in the podcast before.
When I was working at one ofthe largest law firms in the country
and I was preparing to go offto graduate school and hiring my replacement.
(09:31):
A young man from Harvard had allthe credentials in the world and a great
replacement for the job that I wasdoing. He knocked the interviews out the
park with every member of the teamuntil we reached the most senior member of
the team, a nearly eighty yearold war veteran who loved everything about being
(09:58):
eighty years old. When I methim, he asked me to call him
by his first name. Little didI know that was part of his test
in the interview to see if Iwould do it, and I responded with
no, mister Johnson, I wasraised to respect someone who has accomplished as
(10:22):
much as you have accomplished, andwho has served this country in the way
that you have served this country.I brought the candidate into mister Johnson's office.
I warned him before we walked inthat mister Johnson is old school.
(10:43):
Don't fall for the traps of himasking you to be informed. And as
soon as we walked in, misterJohnson said, Hey, call me by
my first name. The young manleaned back in his chair and proceeded to
answer requestion, to start every answerwith the first name of the most senior
(11:05):
executive. His answers were stellar,his relationships were second to none. His
father had friends that knew mister Johnson. As soon as I escorted the young
man to the elevator, mister Johnsonsaid, don't ever bring him back to
(11:26):
this firm again. So know theroom in terms of who you're dealing with,
and if you need to error onthe side of being respectful to senior
executives, it can only help,it can't hurt. When I left the
(11:50):
firm, mister Johnson said, areyou gonna finally call me by my first
name? And I responded, whenI have a cheer as much as you
have, I'll finally call you byyour first name. But I don't think
that's gonna happen. He and Istayed in touch up until his death,
(12:13):
and it was one of the greatestrelationships that I have corporate relationships that I've
had tremendous mentor one who helped mesee the broader, bigger picture on how
to navigate the choppy waters that arecorporate America. I hope you found this
episode helpful. If so, hitsubscribe. I know you would share this
(12:39):
episode with your colleagues, because thebest people listen to this podcast tell us
the issues that you're struggling with inyour career and we will research them and
might even do a podcast episode aboutthem. If you need more support in
your career, please find us onthe web at c dot com, ce
(13:01):
ye ro dot com and let ushelp you develop a plan for your career.
Guess what, guys, I'm aboutto publish a new book and guess
what it's called Career Coaching x'es ando's. If you're interested in getting a
free digital copy when it's published,please reach out to us on one of
(13:24):
our social media platforms Twitter, Instagram, Facebook at Cerro Consulting and we'll get
you a copy as long as youpromise to give me a review honestly that
whatever you think of the book,just please give us that feedback so that
(13:46):
we can continue to make the podcastand future revisions of the book better so
it can help more people reach thatcorner office. This has been Career Coaching
x's and o's, and I'm yourhost, Mark Anthony Peterson, Founder and
thought leader at Seerra Consulting,
This is career coaching x's and o's, and I'm your host, Mark Anthony
Peterson, Founder and thought leader atSierra Consulting, a small business strategy and
technology consulting firm. A small partof our practice is executive coaching. These
episodes are the summation of some ofthose sessions. Happy New Year, everyone,
(00:26):
and welcome to episode forty five entitledthe Top five Mistakes New Employees Make
in Corporate America. Let me repeatthat, the top five mistakes new employees
Make in Corporate America. Now Icould easily rename the podcast the top five
(00:48):
mistakes that I made, but someof these I got a little coaching on
before I started my corporate career.But I still want to share these mistakes
with some of you new junior executivesso that you don't hit pitfalls as you
try to get that corner office.Let's jump right in. What's the number
(01:11):
one mistake? Not asking any questionsat your weekly team meetings. Most corporate
teams get together and strategize at thebeginning or ending of each week. I
participated in several team meetings, andthe worst thing you could do is get
(01:37):
lost at that meeting. Being visibleat that meeting by not asking any questions.
Now, I'm going to stress thatfor brown and black employees, you
need to underline this particular mistake becauseit will be amplified. Individuals, particularly
(02:05):
the senior members of the team,will definitely know if you don't ask questions,
make comments, and add value atthe weekly team meeting. So before
those meetings, you need to comeup with a plan, a strategy of
(02:25):
how you're going to attack the meeting. You write down two to three good
questions, comments or thoughts that youcan make about whatever the key projects are
that the team is working on.Why two or three here, You're not
(02:50):
the only smart person on the team. Someone else may think of a question
or comment that you plan to make, and if you don't have a backup
question, again, you're going tobe left silent at the meeting and looking
unprepared. What's the second mistake anew employee can make in corporate America talking
(03:17):
too much at the team weekly meeting. I was watching football last weekend and
one of the commentators made a verygood point about c. J. Stroud,
the quarterback of the Houston Texans.They said he endeared himself to the
(03:39):
rest of the locker room by listeningand only giving input where he had expertise.
That approach gave him a chance tolearn the room, learn the person
(04:00):
personalities, and not look like ashow off or know it all or a
person that's coming in to quote unquoteturn everything around because you're the kid with
new ideas. Even if you arethe kid with the new ideas, the
worst thing you can do is shinea bright light in a darker room.
(04:24):
Most people are going to turn theirheads as their eyes adjust to the light.
So take the approach that we talkedabout with the first mistake and plan
out your comments and more importantly,get to know the room before you try
to dominate the room. Learn thepersonalities, learn the people who are going
(04:49):
to compete with you and those whoare gonna support you before you turn the
lights on bright. What's the thirdthing? Not taking notes When you are
assigned a project, Many times newemployees get so excited about trying to show
(05:18):
what they can accomplish that they missthe nuanced directions that are given to them
about a specific project. And it'sthose nuanced directions that are critical to the
success of the project. And soyou want to make sure that when you
(05:38):
are assigned a project that you takethe notes, you summarize the notes,
and you email the directions back toyour boss or direct report and confirm that
you heard everything that was asked ofyou. That way, you can make
(06:01):
sure you deliver what's being asked.You've probably heard me say this many times
on this podcast. If you dowork and nobody hears it, it's like
the work never got done right.That's a comparison to if a tree falls
in the woods and no one hearsit, that did the tree fall.
(06:26):
So if you do a project thatnobody asked for, you get no credit
for that work. You get blamedfor wasting people's times and not delivering a
key input that's needed for your team. Now, what's the fourth big mistake
(06:47):
that a new employee can make?Not taking the initiative? Not taking the
initiative As a new employee, Iwant you to spend more time with your
mouth closed and more time with yourhands raised. When the bosses ask who
(07:12):
can stick around and do this project? Who is willing to go this extra
mile? I want your hand up. I don't want it down, and
I don't want you copying the behaviorof senior employees. Even if those employees
(07:33):
tell you to not take the initiative, you need to be raising your hand.
Why Because it's critical in the earlymonths of your employment to build your
brand, particularly with the senior bosses. And if you're avoiding work, you're
(07:56):
cementing your career path at that company. Okay, we've hit the fifth and
final big mistake a new employee canmake in corporate America, and that is
(08:18):
being too informed with senior executives.I've seen it happen dozens of times,
and as a senior executive myself,when I am in the presence of more
senior executives, I either chief operatingofficer the chief executive officer. Particularly if
(08:43):
I am in company with people whoare not senior, I am calling the
executive by his or her last name, mister Smith, mister Johnson, missus
Craig. Being too informal is anindication that you don't know how to adjust
(09:11):
your approach in the appropriate company.I've told this story in the podcast before.
When I was working at one ofthe largest law firms in the country
and I was preparing to go offto graduate school and hiring my replacement.
(09:31):
A young man from Harvard had allthe credentials in the world and a great
replacement for the job that I wasdoing. He knocked the interviews out the
park with every member of the teamuntil we reached the most senior member of
the team, a nearly eighty yearold war veteran who loved everything about being
(09:58):
eighty years old. When I methim, he asked me to call him
by his first name. Little didI know that was part of his test
in the interview to see if Iwould do it, and I responded with
no, mister Johnson, I wasraised to respect someone who has accomplished as
(10:22):
much as you have accomplished, andwho has served this country in the way
that you have served this country.I brought the candidate into mister Johnson's office.
I warned him before we walked inthat mister Johnson is old school.
(10:43):
Don't fall for the traps of himasking you to be informed. And as
soon as we walked in, misterJohnson said, Hey, call me by
my first name. The young manleaned back in his chair and proceeded to
answer requestion, to start every answerwith the first name of the most senior
(11:05):
executive. His answers were stellar,his relationships were second to none. His
father had friends that knew mister Johnson. As soon as I escorted the young
man to the elevator, mister Johnsonsaid, don't ever bring him back to
(11:26):
this firm again. So know theroom in terms of who you're dealing with,
and if you need to error onthe side of being respectful to senior
executives, it can only help,it can't hurt. When I left the
(11:50):
firm, mister Johnson said, areyou gonna finally call me by my first
name? And I responded, whenI have a cheer as much as you
have, I'll finally call you byyour first name. But I don't think
that's gonna happen. He and Istayed in touch up until his death,
(12:13):
and it was one of the greatestrelationships that I have corporate relationships that I've
had tremendous mentor one who helped mesee the broader, bigger picture on how
to navigate the choppy waters that arecorporate America. I hope you found this
episode helpful. If so, hitsubscribe. I know you would share this
(12:39):
episode with your colleagues, because thebest people listen to this podcast tell us
the issues that you're struggling with inyour career and we will research them and
might even do a podcast episode aboutthem. If you need more support in
your career, please find us onthe web at c dot com, ce
(13:01):
ye ro dot com and let ushelp you develop a plan for your career.
Guess what, guys, I'm aboutto publish a new book and guess
what it's called Career Coaching x'es ando's. If you're interested in getting a
free digital copy when it's published,please reach out to us on one of
(13:24):
our social media platforms Twitter, Instagram, Facebook at Cerro Consulting and we'll get
you a copy as long as youpromise to give me a review honestly that
whatever you think of the book,just please give us that feedback so that
(13:46):
we can continue to make the podcastand future revisions of the book better so
it can help more people reach thatcorner office. This has been Career Coaching
x's and o's, and I'm yourhost, Mark Anthony Peterson, Founder and
thought leader at Seerra Consulting,
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