The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right, authored by Gorick Ng, offers life-changing advice on how to proliferate your career by working on your three C’s: Competence (“Can you do the job well?”), Commitment (“Are you excited to be here?”), and Compatibility (“Do you get along with us?”). These tips will help you make a good first impression on your first day at work, get promoted, and achieve other ambitious goals you may be planning.
In essence, the book tells us that we need to make other people’s jobs easier, mirror others if unsure while protecting what you value the most. The book is based on numerous interviews with people from various professions and backgrounds. Their seniority ranges from interns to CEOs of companies, with working cultures ranging from traditional to more casual and forgiving, such as in IT.
Gorick was an immigrant himself who learned these unspoken rules the “hard” way. He had a moment where he struggled to perform at his peak and thought he didn’t fit in, even though he was accepted into one of the most prestigious schools today. As he shares his wisdom with the rest of the world, he urges us to be allies and not to forget about those who remain behind by “[answering] that cold email” and “[mentoring] that stranger”. As an immigrant myself, his story deeply resonated with me. It’s been just over ten years living in Canada, but still, you often feel excluded. This feeling affects your work life since you can’t single-handedly build your career. Reading this book has been a great assurance that I’m not the only one feeling this way and that there are ways to overcome these hurdles in life.
I love how the book doesn’t dictate, “You need to do this or else you won’t get promoted”. At every opportunity, Gorick emphasizes how important it is to “bend the rule” when needed: you should take the advice and make it your own instead of blindly acting upon what is said. Most importantly, Gorick tells us not to give up what’s important to us, whether it’s where we came from or what we believe, just to impress someone at work. He teaches us how to approach conflicts of interest in a way that minimizes disruption while still achieving what we want. For instance, if you value working out at the gym every day after work, you could block off an hour from your calendar to reserve time right away as you start a new position at a company with a traditional work culture. This might raise some questions, and people may question your commitment (one of your three C’s). Instead, you could spend some time getting to know your coworkers and letting them learn that you’re an enthusiastic athlete, which would make them more willing to embrace who you are and what you value.
Overall, I found The Unspoken Rules to be a valuable resource, and I intend to apply its principles in my career journey while also supporting others who may benefit from its insights. Check out https://www.gorick.com/ to follow his latest work.
