to more people, to share with you what those I've mentored have learned.
After so many years in tech, I now see my career as a series of software upgrades. Aliza 1.0 was consulting and financial services; 2.0 was tech. What you're holding in your hands now is part of Aliza 3.0, the third iteration of my working life. I'm still experimenting with what I want to do, and this book is part of this third phase. It's a way to continue my greatest work passion: sharing lessons learned from decades of leading US companies across new frontiers while building and maintaining strong connections between teams around the world. In a world where ‘remote workforce’ defines more of us than ever before, this background allows me to offer insight and wisdom as a leader who has been in charge of far‐flung workforces for years.
In many ways, now is the best time ever to be looking for a job or seeking a better one. It seems like you can't read the news without seeing an article about how much work is changing, both the structure within offices, and what people want and expect from their jobs. We are in a moment of real dynamism at work. Companies that once required everyone to be physically present at headquarters or in one of their offices around the globe are going remote or adopting hybrid models. Employees who never had the flexibility to work from home are now considering it, or even making it a condition of employment.
COVID‐19 has forced, or allowed, people to re‐evaluate their careers and values, their trajectory and even what a career path means for them. Nobel prize winner and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman summed up the general sentiment, ‘It seems quite possible that the pandemic, by upending many Americans’ lives, also caused some of them to reconsider their life choices.’3
In many fields, employers are scrambling to fill roles. The demand for workers affects everything from salary and bonuses to in‐office perks, flexible work arrangements and even time off. This gives would‐be employees leverage that didn't exist for most of my time at work.
Additionally, corporations, non‐profits, government agencies and universities are investing resources in expanding the diversity of job candidates, employees and leaders, and rightly so. This opens exciting opportunities for many people who may have felt shut out of top jobs in the past, and is leading to an improved workplace.
Diversity also boosts the bottom line, an undeniable motivator for firms. Take gender diversity, as one example: a Peterson Institute for International Economics survey of nearly 20 000 firms operating in 91 countries found a repeated, demonstrable correlation between women at the C‐suite level and higher profitability:
… and the magnitude of the estimated effects is not small. For example, a profitable firm at which 30 percent of leaders are women could expect to add more than 1 percentage point to its net margin compared with an otherwise similar firm with no female leaders.4
Even if, in your own life, you've experienced the push for diversity as more talk than action, a more diverse workforce is absolutely the direction of the future.
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Career success increasingly depends on working well with others within an organisation. For me, this book could also be called, How to Succeed in Business by Being Your Best Self. It describes a way of rising in your career that hinges on exhibiting the attributes we ascribe to being a good person, colleague and friend: being reliable and trustworthy, encouraging of others and making time for yourself.
This advice comes not only from my work experience, but also from my deep belief in the value of caring about others while also advocating for yourself; of seeing the world as full of opportunities, not a zero‐sum‐game; the options plentiful, not scarce. You can thrive in your career without adopting a narrow‐eyed, cutthroat, winner‐take‐all approach. Yes, work is highly competitive, and you can't expect anyone else to look out for you, but you. A career is not a family; your boss doesn't love you like a good parent, and may not even like you. Your boss doesn't have to be your friend, but they do need to value the work you're doing and respect your contribution.
There certainly are people who are jerks and succeed. They have personal goals and they go after them; if they step on a few people along the way, that doesn't deter them. Nasty people can do well in business. As much as I'd like to believe that the people who climb on others are miserable at home, they may not be. Some may even be happy with their lives. But this overly self‐focused approach to success is not mine, and not the vision of this book. (It is, however, one reason you need stamina, which I cover in chapter 2. Part of thriving is surviving, including being able to process unfairness and refocus on your own path.)
The strategy in this book is not about using others to get ahead. This is not Sun Tzu's The Art of War, nor Machiavelli's The Prince. It's an approach that involves being open and enthusiastic about work and those around you, learning the power structure within your place of business, making sure you find supporters at work and outside of your job, and being a mentor and supporter for those coming up after you. It's about making a choice and throwing yourself into it, getting out of a role or company if it becomes clear that you can't get ahead within it, and being flexible about your dreams. It advocates being open to the serendipity around you, the people you meet and the personal passions that are part of a full life.
The book could also, perhaps, be called, Getting In and Staying In. So many of these mindsets require stamina, and while chapter 2 focuses specifically on this attribute, as you'll see, a long, rewarding career requires being able to deal with setbacks, to refocus and continue to do what's needed to thrive.
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The six mindshifts, in brief
I see the mindshifts in this book as timeless. They are based on my 40 years of work and of listening to and guiding people at all stages of their careers, from recent college grads and mid‐career professionals to leaders within Fortune 100 firms. It includes my stories and those of numerous people who represent a wide range of backgrounds and professions. Each chapter ends with specific takeaways you can apply in your own life. The world of work is always changing, but these essential mindshifts remain the same.
Organisational life is appreciably better now for many than in the recent past. Piruze, who you meet in chapter 1, is an example of how people today are endeavouring to improve the work environment — and winning. She focused on doing an excellent job at work and at home, and designing a role that would not mean forfeiting the time she needed in either realm. As she discovered, thriving in both worlds is easier if you are very clear about what you want, present your desires to your boss professionally and clearly (backed by data, if you can find it), and remain flexible and willing to work with the firm to make it a success for everyone.
Stamina is a career superpower and, as I explain in chapter 2, stamina can be built. One important mindset to help build stamina: don't over‐focus on the negative. Another: remember that you have options. As Mariabrisa discovered when she did some ‘job dating’ to see what other options might exist, her skills and experience were far more valuable in the marketplace than she knew.
In chapter 3, you will meet Rahul and learn why I offered him a job while we were walking through a revolving door together in Beijing (hint: we formed a bond while travelling). You will learn that connections with peers and leaders can be as significant as work performance when it comes to rising and thriving,
