Whats the biggest lesson I have learned in Corporate!

What's the biggest lesson I have learned in Corporate! Corporate World is not as small as the length of the word corporate. The level of scopes, opportunities, growth, ploy, insecurities and dirt is way level deep. It take years to understand actually what and how things work here. Its such a wide and interesting topic that I even started a blog on it. Its like a big beautiful cake with pretty frosting and dressing on the top which looks tempting from way behind. Similar are those sky high corporate buildings with shining world leader names on the top. Like any other kid who gets tempted for that cake we also feel tempted when we saw those buildings, and we promise ourselves one day I’ll be in those buildings.

But as you take the piece of cake sooner you realise that the frosting is just few layer deep beneath is the actual material, which is not as pretty, which is dry and may be a different taste that you actually opted for. Exactly same is the corporate world you get fascinated, you work your ass off to get an entry to those shiny tall buildings, to wear that brand logo around your neck but sooner you realise the exact taste of that thing.  I have been only few years into this world but can bet you its not easy to survive here and things are not exactly the way they look. Here are few of the lessons I have adopted in my brief stay here:

Its never black or white

When you work in corporate sooner you’ll realise that its neither black nor white, its literally 1000 shades of grey. In simple terms nothing or no one is right or wrong its just perception. From my point of view my manager is wrong when he gives me petty increment in appraisal, from my manager’s point of view this is the best he can do.

Its plastic world

My brother most of the times taunt me saying you corporate people are actually plastic and some ways its very right. After all We can’t react as per situation, we can’t emote, we can’t say openly that I don’t like you, sometimes it becomes that worse that we have to sit along and eat with the same person with whom we just had world war 3.

You just can’t afford to raise your voice

Trust me sometimes I feel like scream my pitch to the highest and tell exactly the person his real worth but instead I have to take all of the shit with a smile on my face and that hurts like hell. Wondering why? Well you just can’t afford to even change your tone as soon enough it will become a public scene and an hour later you will be called by HR.

Early shift is half shift

It’s a conventional rule in corporate that the people in 8-5 shift are considered as early goers . People will point out saying “oh so you are leaving “early”” even if they are completing their whole 9 hours of shift. I never understood what exactly can be done better in late hours that can’t be done in early hours.

There are no “Friends” there are “Colleagues”

My good friend( when we were working together)once referred  me as colleague than his friend and it stung me a little then but gradually and eventually I learned this rule that any emotional attachment is bad attachment here. What helped me learning is my “friend’s” appreciation mails in my time of misery, my opportunities to him, my promotion to him and so on.

Learning means extra work

If you are signing up some new work for learning purpose always bear in mind its an added work over your current work. So if you are working 9 hours now it will be 9+n not total 9 hours.

The opportunists

Don’t feel surprised if you find a sudden change in behaviour of people or if someone start behaving very nice to you. Soon enough you’ll sense the intentions , the best you can do is get something for yourself out of that.

Whatever’s visible is happening, what’s not visible is definitely happening

Don’t for a second believe that whatever is visible is the start and end of the story there is always more to it. Most of the cases there are layers of truth hidden behind what’s visible on the grounds.