3 Tips to Stay Savvy and Play Powerfully at Work

In the course of my law firm’s work with thousands of clients over the years, we have seen people learn a lot of lessons the hard way – by making critical mistakes that could have been avoided if only they knew what their bosses and companies were really asking. To help you avoid that trap, and hopefully stay on your career track, we offer the following 3 tips:

1.)    You don’t have real friends at work.  People you work with are work colleagues, not “friends”. So don’t “overshare” details about your personal life or vent your opinions about the boss, your colleagues or the company.    What you say can and will be leveraged against you if sentiments change, or if those “friends” see an opportunity to use your negative comments as a way to curry favor and perhaps elevate their own standing with the boss – by tanking your standing.

 2.)    HR is not your friend. There is no such thing as telling something to HR “in confidence.” Human Resources works for the management of the company and is charged with protecting the company’s best interests, not yours. If you think you are being treated unfairly or discriminated against, schedule a consultation with an external, independent lawyer who represents individuals, not companies, and have them help you analyze the facts of your situation and strategize how to best approach that situation. Then, and only then, go to HR and report your concerns in writing and on the record.

 3.)    If the company asks for “honest feedback,” they probably don’t really want it. Companies routinely reward “yes men” who fall in line with what management says it wants. Sometimes providing feedback is characterized as a confidential process, but more often than not, it is anything but - and what you say can and will get back to management. You can then find yourself being characterized as the problem child. If you want to give feedback to the boss or the company, get help from an employment lawyer in couching that feedback in a way that touches on critical points of the company culture and has a chance of being positively received.