Proven Not Perfect
Proven Not Perfect
7 Proven Lessons in a "Not Perfect" Career
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Have you ever noticed that some colleagues who never seem to burn the midnight oil still progress faster in their careers? Or wondered why that person who knows everything isn't actually the one in charge? These puzzling workplace dynamics stem from unwritten rules and counterintuitive truths that can take years to discover.
When I entered the professional world, I was convinced that visible hustle—early mornings, late nights, working weekends—was the formula for success. I was working hard, carrying my laptop on family vacations, and making sure everyone knew it. Yet somehow, colleagues who maintained normal hours were advancing alongside me or even surpassing me. The revelation? Smart work beats hard work every time. The most successful professionals identify the few truly important priorities and excel in those areas, rather than trying to do everything.
Similarly, I discovered that leaders at the top don't succeed by knowing everything—they win through curiosity and discernment. They surround themselves with subject-matter experts and focus on asking powerful questions rather than having all the answers. And perhaps most importantly, I learned that your personal values serve as the ultimate career compass. When faced with difficult decisions or disappointing outcomes, aligning your choices with your core values provides clarity that no career handbook can offer.
Whether you're just starting your career journey or looking to course-correct midway, these seven hard-earned lessons provide a roadmap for navigating professional life with greater wisdom and purpose. Which of these principles could transform your approach to work? Take a moment to reflect on how you might implement one this week.
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Hey, proven Not Perfect. This is Chandra Powell. I hope you guys are doing well. Today I want to share with you seven of the not-so-perfect lessons that I learned in my career. I hope that this is one of those times where, if you're new, listening to proven not perfect, to give you some, gives you an opportunity to understand a little bit more about who you're listening to. And if you've been rocking with me for a while, it also makes you chuckle, makes you laugh, because maybe you've experienced some of the same things in your own career journey and on this road that we're on. All right, so here we go, the seven not so perfect experiences and lessons that I believe I had to learn. I'm just going to just note them for you.
Speaker 1So the first one, and they're they're in no particular order. Ok, please understand that. This is not like you know. One is one is higher rank than the other, although maybe the seventh one the seventh one actually might be the star. Um, that's a little teaser for you to keep listening. The seventh one is a star, but the rest of them, they can be thrown on the floor and pick them up like pixie. Six, right, it could be any one of them, all right. So here we go.
Working Harder Isn't the Secret
Speaker 1So the first one working harder was not the sauce, harder was not the sauce. Let's say that again. Working harder was not the sauce. And when I say working harder was not the sauce, I go back to a time in my career when I tell you that I had this notion that if I just was seen to be working hard now, I certainly was working hard, but it was important for me to never stop, like literally never stop. I was in early, I was at the office late, I was in the office on weekends. I was seen to be carrying a laptop around family vacations. When I tell you, I worked hard, literally hard. Here was the kicker. As I would grow and pay attention, I noticed I was being acknowledged, I was being promoted, all those things were true. But when I looked over and I realized that some of the people that I never saw working late I certainly never saw on the weekend seemed to be at parity with me and in some instances they were further ahead.
Speaker 1So let's unpack that how is it that you can be in early, you can be there late, you can be over the weekend and you can be so committed that you don't even know how to spell the word vacation. How is it that that can happen? And you would not continually see yourself just shining and rising. You know why? Because I would come to learn that the best in the game they are working, but they are working smart.
Leaders Don't Know Everything
Speaker 1What does working smart mean? They're clear on what the priorities are, period clear on them, and not all of the work is important the same way. So when you're spending all of your time trying to get it all done, you can essentially be missing the point. Get the three most important things, maybe five. Get the three to five most important things. Make it your priority to understand and position and excel in those and watch yourself fly period. So I guess I would say the punchline is there are no frequent flyer miles that you're going to get to cash in by working extra hard, so let that whole notion just fly away. Smart, not hard. And the reality is now we have the productivity tools that help you to work very smart, very efficiently, and I think if there's one thing that everybody can do right now is you can start to lean into those tools, understand those tools and figure out how to make those tools continue to make you better. So that would be the first one.
Speaker 1The second one, I don't know about you, but I used to look up to the top in my organization and assume that in order to be there, you must literally know everything. You have mastered every step of the rung of the ladder and you are able to get there and stay there. You demonstrate a curiosity and a willingness to continue to learn, a keen sense of questioning and a clear mindset around the information that you see and have received, and your understanding of the environment and your ability to question and consider alternatives. That's how you get there and stay there. You don't know everything. In fact, if you are a know-it-all, you don't know everything. In fact, if you are a know-it-all, you will not be there very long because the masters of the game command an understanding that anything you think you know, there's something new that's just come up that you've missed. Surrounding yourself with people that are thinkers. Surrounding yourself with people that are thinkers, surrounding yourself with people who understand the subject matter, expert expertise, and they are themselves experts. That is the mark of a leader Heck. When you're really good, you surround yourself with people that are so much smarter than you. Because you know, because you know, you just know, you just know. There's more to learn, there's more to understand. So if you had that thought that you look at the top of an organization and man, wizard of Oz, they know everything, they have a firm understanding of most things. But that comes through an ability to question, stay curious and to decipher and understand of information, with proof and evidence of what they're seeing and hearing. Environmentally, it's a keen skill, but the skill is not to be a know-it-all, all right.
Being Liked vs. Being Right
Speaker 1Number three being liked versus being right. Hmm, being liked versus being right. Hmm, being liked versus being right. Now, that's an interesting one, because I've heard it very clearly stated that it's important to be right. It's important to have your facts, it's important to know what you're talking about. It's important to present from a space of you know what you know and you have the data that says it. And then I've also heard that you can have the best data. Data will be taken and you will be left as the roadkill. You're not going up with the data, the data is going up without you. So, being liked versus being right? I think the dynamic is a very, very important one to be considered. It's important to double click and think on.
Embracing Work-Life Flow, Not Balance
Speaker 1Okay, how do I present things in such a way that the people that listen are inspired, that the people that listen want to talk to me about it, that the people that listen believe in the credibility that I'm putting forth and they want to get that more and more from me? I am a source, I'm an expert, I'm building as an expert, but they're coming to me because not only do they see that I'm a source and I'm building as an expert, but they like me. The like piece really comes into play when you have the opportunity to grow in your leadership. Folks follow you because they choose to, not because you have a title. Folks follow you because they choose to. So for somebody, this is an important reminder.
Speaker 1The next one number four work and life cannot balance. Yeah, right, that's you know. Some people feel that the perpetual quest for work-life balance is a worthy thing to do, but I tend to believe that it's not a worthy thing to do because you just don't balance. However, I believe that work and life can flow and you have to get used to and comfortable with the movement and you have to stay open to the flow of the whole thing, right? And so the image that comes to mind is when you think of jungle, you safaris and sometimes in Africa, you see where, in certain parts, you can take these walking bridges that suspend in the sky, usually tethered to big trees, from one side of the forest to the other side of the forest, and it has an insane drop underneath it. It usually has like wood plaits and just sort of some wiry suspension that goes from side to side, because they know that if you were to do a more solid bridge, it would not sustain winds, it would not sustain changes and shifts in the environment. However, these movable ones allow that levity to flow and to go.
Maximizing Mentor and Sponsor Relationships
Speaker 1I actually think that's the way to think about work and life right Having that movement, getting comfortable with that movement, staying willing to sort of let the flow happen, right. I think when you do that I know when I learned to do that, it was a game changer, right. So that means that you don't always have the perfect split of time amongst family, amongst work. Sometimes it might feel like it shifts and pivots to one side a little bit more than the other. But I tell you what being intentional with where you are and what you're focused on at any given time will always serve you. Intentionality will always serve you. I used to, when I was traveling quite a bit and I had young kids at home. I used to have an approach that when I'm home, I am home, young kids at home. I used to have an approach that when I'm home, I am home, 100% home. When I am in China on business, I'm in China on business. Of course I tap in and I check into home, but I allow business to be handled and handled well so that when I get home, I can be home, 100% home. So reframe the way you think about work-life balance. I would suggest, if you think about it differently and instead of trying to keep it in balance, think about that flow, think about that movement, be open to that and allow that to actually lead and drive your own personal success and achievement there. Okay, moving right along.
Speaker 1Number five mentors and sponsors can only work with what you give them. That's it. They can only work with what you give them. Too often we look to others to give us a pathway, give us a blueprint to share with us. Excuse me for a moment back how they did what they did, and while I think it's very important to understand other stories, clearly I do, because that's why I podcast, that's why I share stories, that's why I share my own personal experiences. I think that's very important, but you have to keep it it in context, okay.
Speaker 1When you are being mentored, it is important that you not only contract clearly with your mentor with what your desires and ambitions and goals and objectives are, but it's also very important that you show up ready to receive the feedback. Ready to receive the feedback, because if you don't, the relationship probably isn't going to serve you and you will not reap the benefits of the great opportunity that you have as a gift from another person to give you focus, to give you and share with you the experiences and tools that they have earned, sometimes the hard way themselves. Man, I'm telling you, show up, lean into it, let go and share completely yourself and receive, receive, receive. You must. And when it comes to a sponsor man, there is nothing that can replace another person going into the room when you're not there and showing up on your behalf. How will they do that? By you making sure that people understand what it is that's important to you, what it is you're good at important to you, what it is you're good at, where it is you aspire to be and how it is you aspire to invest your skills and talents. Being open and honest and clear with those things first of all, knowing them and understanding them yourself, but secondly, being open and honest with those things will open doors for you. It will Okay.
Stand Out, Not Apart
Speaker 1Number six the best experiences allow you to stand out and not apart. The best experiences that you will have allow you to stand out and not apart. Allow you to stand out and not apart. I think it gives back to really understanding that when you ascend in your career whatever that is, absolutely there will be opportunities for your unique gifts and talents to go overdrive and to work for you in spaces and places, and that is a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1But when you find yourself in competitor mode versus team mode and you start setting yourself apart from others perhaps not constructively instead of standing out with your unique talents and skills, man, you set landmines and you burn down bridges. Not a good thing. I've seen it. I've seen people fizzle out because of it. It's just not a good thing. I'll tell you what. Here's the thing. Some people will say that you know what? She's just not. She's not fierce enough, she's just not. She's not ready for this. It would be better, all day long for this. It would be better all day long, all day long, for you to find a new place where you can be completely, 100% yourself, your whole self, that knows how to stand out but not stand apart from others. Run to that place and run from a place that requires you to compete at all costs and tearing down the bridges that we should all be building. All right enough there.
Define and Live Your Values
Speaker 1Number seven Remember, I told you I thought number seven was the actually most important one, most important point of all here. It is number seven. If there is a top one out of the whole list, it's actually this one. Define your values, your personal values, know them, believe them, live them in every single fiber of your being and then, when you're up against any decision, when you've had any experience that didn't leave you feeling so good, go back to your values and line it up. Line up the experience to your values and use it as your own personal measure and metric.
Speaker 1For did I show up in a way that I can be proud, in a way that align with my values? Yes or no? If yes, then know that you are in integrity and you did good. If the answer is no, then really understand. Is it because the environment doesn't align with my values or is it because I have lost sight of my values? Which one is it At the core? If you think about your career journey and whatever you're trying to accomplish, being your best at it, with a groundedness and knowing your values, you will win. That's it, you're going to win, all right. So those are the seven not perfect, perfect lessons learned from proving not perfect. From me, shantrapal, I hope you're well, I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to your feedback. Take care, see you soon. Proving not perfect Isn't that perfect?