Six Lessons for the Newest Members of Today’s Workforce

With graduation in the rearview, members of the class of 2022 are entering a corporate workplace unlike any other in the history of work. And yet, as much as today’s challenges are unique, some advice transcends. Here are six learnings that are as applicable in the workplace today as they were in eighties when I first pounded the pavement in Manhattan fresh out of college.  

Hustle will take you farther than talent.    

The through-line across my entire career has been hustle. Early on in life, I found my outlet in work. I saved enough from part-time jobs like delivering newspapers to buy a deli when I was 16. What I realized from that experience, was that if I was willing to differentiate myself by outworking everybody else, I could actually create something. That was only a steppingstone.   

What I really wanted was get into the corporate world—put on a suit and tie every day and conquer Manhattan. One step begets another, but nobody ever out hustled me, nobody. I don't think anybody wanted it as much as me. That really was the difference. It wasn’t talent; I was in a sea of talent. It was the endurance of wanting it more, then just relentlessly showing up every day. That was my ticket out. It's not going to be the ticket out for everybody—but for me it was.   

I came into the workplace in an analog world, and everything was brute force. It was manual, it was labor intensive. In today's world everything is sophisticated. It’s finesse, it’s digital. You really must be systems literate, a digital citizen of the world, no matter what the profession is. Back then, you could go into a building to cold call every door with a bucket full of brochures. Now, you can't even get past the security guard. But on the other hand, today, I could have found a way to build a digital connection with everybody in the building. I could probably cover 10 times the territory. Analog or digital, that same principle of hustle transcends. 

Build your career around an audacious goal.  

Everybody who was ever successful in life started with an audacious goal. I developed mine from working a lot of part time jobs as a teen. I watched my savings grow. But I realized that this steady accumulation of earnings over time wasn’t going to get me to where I needed to go. I needed a dream. If you're going to succeed, you need a dream to get there. Mine was to make a significant impact in the business world.   

At the same time, be agile. The dreams that you have at 21 may be very different than the dreams you have at 30, the thing you think you want to do at age 30 may shift by the time you're 40. Be comfortable adjusting your point of view. Most importantly, don’t give up on your dreams, so your dreams don’t give up on you.  

Let go of the losses.  

Not everything will work out. But don't hold on to the losses too long or beat yourself up for thinking you did a bad job. Don’t waste time on it because time is the most precious of all gifts. I remember kicking myself for days after I gave a presentation in the boardroom. I thought it was the worst presentation of my life until somebody who was in the room told me he thought the presentation was fantastic. In my head, I had been living in that boardroom for days, going over and over what had gone wrong. I had over-processed it. This was just another reminder of the importance of letting things go.   

Ghosts weigh us down.  

There will always be moments in life when your interactions with others do not live up to your own expectations. Rather than letting it haunt you, go back the next day to that person, acknowledge what you did, apologize. You’d be surprised at how much respect people have for you when you’re human. Be the first to apologize, the first to forgive. Don’t carry a lot of ghosts around with you because they will weigh you down. You think that they’re light, but they’re heavy.  

Trust is the ultimate human currency.   

You’re entering the workforce right in the middle of the return-to-office debate we’re all having right now. At the core is an age-old concept that many seem to be missing—that’s trust. I think we can all agree that if we trust people, then we should give them environments to do their absolute best work so they can be the absolute best versions of themselves. The office is ultimately a business tool, a tool that employers can use to bring their teams together to make magic happen. They should be empowered to determine the best way to utilize their time to give the best impact to the company. Companies need to understand that when you give people trust, they'll double down for you. They will give it back to you in countless ways—because the human spirit has no boundaries.   

The secret to leadership...is not what you think.  

Throughout my career, I’ve never felt very far removed from being that young kid who was starving for a break. Whether it was getting the job at the supermarket or the restaurant or pumping gas or ultimately owning the deli as a teen, I was never very far removed from that feeling where you are just so hungry for a chance. Over time, I realized that when you're fortunate enough to make something of yourself, the real joy is finding that moment where you can give someone else their opportunity.  

If you really think about it, that’s the secret to leadership. It’s the giving that recharges leaders. It certainly recharges me. It is something we should all aspire to, whether guiding your own early career forward, or leading thousands of employees. A good friend of mine once told me there are three types of people in this world: the givers, the takers and the caretakers. The world really does need more givers. The true measure of a leader isn’t what they take from this world, it’s what they give it.

This piece first ran in the Silicon Valley Business Journal, June 17, 2022.