181: Understanding the Unspoken Rules That Lead to Top Career Success, with Gorick Ng

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“Once you’re in the real world, there’s so much ambiguity. There’s so much less structure, and as a result it’s not necessarily about keeping up, but it’s about stepping up. It’s about navigating this wilderness expedition that is our career.” - Gorick Ng

In today’s workplace, there are many “unspoken rules” that aren’t spelled out clearly but early career professionals need to understand and navigate through them to set themselves up for great success. Although these rules may appear to be common sense, or known by everyone, in reality they may not be understood or even be in the consciousness of the people who would benefit most by applying them. And they most likely will ever be articulated verbally by your manager. Today’s guest -- with an inspiring backstory that demonstrates why he’s passionate about this topic -- reveals what these unspoken rules are and how they can be used. His messages will not only benefit recent grads, but also all contributors, leaders and managers in any organization.

Gorick Ng is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right, a terrific new book published by Harvard Business Review Press. It is a practical guide to help early career professionals become top performers at work and create work that is fulfilling and rewarding, based on 500+ interviews with professionals across geographies, industries, and job types. Gorick's book is quickly becoming required reading for students, interns, employees, and managers across Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, and educational institutions around the world. And this year, Harvard Business School gave Gorick's book to every MBA student to give them an edge in their internships and full-time jobs.

Gorick is a career adviser at Harvard College, specializing in coaching first-generation, low-income students. He has managed new employees at Boston Consulting Group, worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse, and is also a researcher with the Managing the Future of Work project at Harvard Business School. He has been featured in The Today Show, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Fast Company, and CNBC. Gorick, a first-generation college student, is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School.

I encourage you to read a copy of Gorick’s incredible new book, and both of us want to hear from you, our listeners. What are the unspoken rules you struggle with? Do you disagree with any of them, and which ones moved the needle the most for you? We want this conversation to inspire you to rock your career at the highest level, in a way that is authentic to you.

To learn more about today's guest, visit: https://gorick.com/