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AFTER 45 YEARS OF WORK, WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?

                                                                                                                      by Alex Hutchins

In order to answer this question, I must first return to my observation of my father after he retired at the age of 62. He was a hard-working man in that he worked from 9am to 5pm most of his working career until he was working for the US Embassies overseas and then his job was going to parties to get information from drunk foreign diplomats in addition to his 9am to 5pm routine. But, once he was done, he put his career behind him so quick it would make your head spin.

Why do I say that?

He hated his job, what he did, and the people he worked with as well as the people for which he worked.

Why is that?

Because, he was a man of integrity and these people made him violate his integrity almost every day. He also said that most of the people with whom he worked or for whom he worked were incompetent; yet, he had to “suck it up” each day and act like there was nothing wrong or that everyone was getting along just dandy.

One of his biggest complaints he implied after he retired was the fact that work was always a power struggle in one way or another where someone was always trying to exert power over someone else or at the very least, showing others that they had more power than they did and set about proving that fact every day.

One comment that my father made that I did not understand until later, was the fact that he preferred to party with labor rather than management as management was superficial, dishonest, and hypocritical.  I always thought this was rather amusing since my father was always considered to be management.  However, 38 of my 45 years was also spend in management and when I retired 3 years ago, I found myself agreeing with him 100%.

So, my first learned fact is that: MANAGEMENT CANNOT BE TRUSTED

In support of this first learned fact, I would have to say that one of the reasons that this is true is the “bottom line” theory of management where the only concern of management is the generation of money, hence “bottom line” or income.

Management is rated every 90 days (stock dividends are paid quarterly) so the decisions that they make are predicated upon stock price/dividends rather than what might be best for the company or the employees…  hence no trust.

My second learned fact is that: EVERYONE IS REPLACEABLE

In support of this second learned fact, I would like to say that going “above and beyond” might keep you employed another year, might get you a promotion, and might get you a raise; but it provides you with no loyalty, especially if you are middle management. Lower management is pretty much screwed either way and upper management is based upon which VP you have supported and/or how many friends that you might have on the Board of Directors. Businesses are full of politics and those who play these political games are much better off than those who do not. 

Management must learn the “kiss the asses” of other management types and not “rock the boat” if they want to remain employed…  and, this brings me to…

My third learned fact which is: LEARN TO KISS ASS

To be quite honest with you (implying that I have not been honest with you up to this point), I have never quite learned to “kiss ass” which is largely responsible for me having so many bosses and so many types of jobs throughout my 45-year career.

So, this observational awareness leads me to:

My fourth learned fact which is: LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN

My fifth learned fact which is: VOLUNTEER FOR EVERYTHING

It is a pretty safe bet to assume that one is going to be employed at any given employer for at least 3 years but probably not more than 5 years; consequently, during those first 3 years one must acquire as much knowledge as one can as quick as one can.  And, this has nothing to do with “memorize and forget” like one did in college, but it has everything to do with “learn and retain”.

One must also be aware that one must keep all one’s training manuals at home, rather than in one’s office in case one is separated from one’s employer prematurely. 

When one is terminated, laid off, or resigns, what the company loses is that individual’s “intellectual property,” and it is this “intellectual property” that will be used to acquire you next place of employment… so, this property must be guarded with your life and/or by making sure that you keep very little in your office.

My sixth learned fact is: KEEP METHODICAL NOTES OF EVERYTHING

You must remember to take a legal pad with you to every meeting regardless of how many are in that meeting, so you can list the participants and write down a general description of the important “things” that took place, including any action items, who is responsible for those action items, and due dates. These notes are your legal protection regarding what someone said or told you to do. I would also keep track of phone calls as well. I would also get into the habit of forwarding email to your private email address along with keeping a flash drive so that you can download important documents that are not considered to be proprietary information.

My seventh learned fact is: GET TO KNOW VENDORS VERY WELL

It is incredibly important to become friends with as many vendors as you can so that they can provide you with a network of support/referrals should anything happen to you that might cause you to lose your job. They know your work habits, your ethics, your integrity and the strength of your convictions as you continue to interface with them. Going to lunch with them gets you away from work and into a “safe zone” where you can speak freely.

My eighth learned fact is: INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

Possessing these skills is often underrated but is oftentimes what separates you from the rest of crowd and endears you to the workforce that you supervise. More often than not, management typically does not possess these interpersonal skills and could care less because they use their power to get things done; but enlightened employers seek out those with good to excellent interpersonal skills.

My ninth learned fact is: DEVELOP EXCELLENT ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS

This skill is not really taught in Business Schools and is oftentimes assumed that high school graduate already possess these skills but that is simply not true. Most of my junior/senior business students in the college and/or university classes that I teach write and communicate on a 10th level. Online classes have a multitude of papers associated with each class but the instructors are Business majors not English majors and do not really check the grammar unless it is obvious.

My tenth and final learned fact is: PROBLEM SOLVING/DRILL DOWN/TEAMWORK

Most employers these days place employees in work which is where 80% of the work typically gets done and these teams work on projects that revolve around solving problems which inevitably causes the team to drill down on the problem. This is oftentimes called “root cause analysis”. If your company does not have work teams, then you should “teach yourself,” because this is where the money is in business, especially if you think you are going to be a consultant one day