The ultimate way to build loyalty: Share what you have learned & achieved

The career advice no one tells you - wait, what?

Years ago, I read an article that's been on my mind again lately. It was called "The career advice no one tells you" or something similarly nonsensical. At the time, I didn't even realize how little sense that title made considering it was literally an article giving career advice. Oh well, don't judge little me too harshly. I had just started working and really didn’t know what I was doing. Which is kind of the point, but we'll get to that.

While most of the advice was reasonably unhelpful, there was a gem in that article that has stuck with me since: It said

"After you accomplish anything professionally, get online and write about it. As someone who was once in their shoes, help others who are trying to figure things out."

I think it was related to building your personal brand, however it stuck with me for different reasons. Now, why would that piece of advice lodge itself in my brain so deeply, to still be remembered now, years later? You see, at the time I wasn't someone who could have shared or contributed anything, really. I had just started working my dream job, was feeling imposter syndrome on a daily basis and was sure I'd be found out and thrown out of my dream profession with an angry mob shaking their fiery torches at me any second now. We've all been there, haven't we? No? Just me? Nevermind then (I may have a thing for the dramatics at times).

As you know, I'm still here, and still love my work and career. What was it that got me through those rough beginnings? Well, I benefited incredibly from others living by that motto. Not necessarily, because they posted about their achievements online (I don't think they did), but because they each took the time to “help others who are trying to figure things out”. They shared their experiences, talked to me about what they had learned in their careers, they made an effort to give me feedback on a regular basis, pointed out my mistakes and showed me how to do better.  Just in general, they taught me everything I needed to know in order to become a better consultant every day. To this day, I'm still learning and still using the tools they showed me - I don't think it'll ever stop.

The importance of learning and teaching

A partner at my firm recently reminded me of the importance of learning and teaching - and not forgetting about where we came from. He told me "I'll make you successful - We are only going to be successful as a team if each member of our team is successful." It wasn't just words, either. They were followed up consistently with action and it's probably what would make me follow him into battle. I've seen too many people who forget that they made basic mistakes at some point as well - that they didn't come in knowing everything. We don’t come in knowing what to look for and what to be aware of. And, especially in Consulting, but also in other industries, it is part of our job to teach junior colleagues and it's an honor and a responsibility that's unfortunately often not taken seriously enough.

Which brings me back to where we started this post. We're all starting somewhere. Most of us start out not knowing much about how the world we're about to enter truly works (The corporate world, the working world, the first day of the rest of your life, whatever you want to call it). University can only do so much to prepare us, so we all need those wonderful, incredible, amazing people who show us the ropes and give us the tools to figure out things on our own. Most importantly, we need them to explain those things that are completely normal within the industry but feel like metaphysics in Ewokese (Star Wars, anyone?) to anyone outside of it.

The effect of having someone honestly invested in your learning, in your development and in your success will make you want to be the best you can be. Will make you and your team stronger, better, more effective. Most importantly, it'll create a loyalty that's hard to beat and hard to build otherwise.

So! This turned out slightly more mushy than I intended. It’s a topic that’s so close to my heart and I truly enjoy success stories of people helping and teaching each other. Is there anyone who helped you build the career skills that are still helping you today? What did they teach you? And what is the one thing you want junior colleagues just starting out to know about your work and industry?