Succeeding in Different Environments

Episode 17 of The Young Leaders of Tomorrow is about learning to thrive when no one tells you how to.

The Young Leaders of Tomorrow features the amazing tales of young entrepreneurs, innovators, and activists who are defying expectations and making a name for themselves. Hosted by Julia Zucchi and Theo Nguyen, this podcast interviews outstanding young people who are changing the game, taking risks, and breaking boundaries. Each episode, we highlight their achievements, the challenges they've faced, and the unconventional paths they've followed to reach their destinations. We'll also share some of our own experiences and insights on crushing school, staying motivated, and changing what you believe is possible. We make tomorrow’s leaders, today’s stories. A new episode comes every 2 weeks.

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome back to the Young Leaders of Tomorrow, a podcast about inspiring the next generation of young leaders. I'm the UN and with your help, we've shared a mission to 19 countries and want to continue connecting with more people around the world. Maintaining the podcast isn't easy, so any support you can give means a lot to us. With that said, today's episode is about striving to succeed in different environments. For things like your grades, it's pretty straightforward. You can study, pay attention in class, and complete your assignments to earn a good GPA. But what about areas where you don't know what to do, how to learn, how to succeed? More often than not, being taught in a classroom versus the actual hands-on work is extremely different. You'll encounter these experiences in places like clubs or at work. As you grow up, the importance of learning to excel without being told how grows vital. So how can you do that? Let's break it down into a sequence of three major steps. At the beginning of joining a job-like environment, ask loads of questions. You hear this a lot in school, but it's not the same. You might be expected to just know or have something memorized by now and seem stupid for asking. This embarrassment is hard to push past, I know from experience, and it makes you want to quit and leaves you dreading it each day. For a long time, you'll be this annoying newbie who's clueless. It's important to stay and ask anyway. What's more embarrassing than being the new kid not knowing what to do is being years in and not knowing because you didn't ask. This is a crucial time to gain as much knowledge before your experience really matters. In the future, you really will be expected to just know something, so make sure you're ready. Next, look for patterns and make yourself useful. At this point, you probably shouldn't have to ask as many questions, and now you have the knowledge to make a small impact. For me, no one I knew trusted the newbies to do the work that mattered. Even if I had done my very best, your veterans of the program will usually take the bulk of it. As an overachiever, I wanted to assert myself but learned that behavior, especially in the beginning, comes off as disrespectful rather than admirable. The way I've learned to do it is to look for patterns. If someone always cleans this piece after they finish, offer to clean it for them. If it's unspoken, but most people do this one action, you should do it too. You can get obsessed up to the point where you know the order in which anyone does anything, or do small things like clean up after them. One thing I've realized is that while a what can I do to help is great in the beginning, you only evolve when you can figure that question out for yourself. The first time my superior really acknowledged me was when I had gotten so used to the flow of the space that my presence made things simpler for everyone. Looking at the finer details gives you experience and makes you appear engaged. If you want a bigger assignment, start there. Finally, it's a moment where you've asked the questions and done the dirty work. It's time to be promoted to where you can succeed. Talking about your skills is one thing many high achievers learn quickly, but it means nothing if you can't back it up. Your experience and knowledge mean you can pitch ideas and advise without disrespect. Up until now, things have seemed slow going and a bit pointless, but now is the time to thrive. Most likely you've made connections with the others. They see you as an equal and maybe even have some respect for you. This is the sweet spot for excelling. Do their charge for them, begin tasks without needing permission or direction, and guide other newbies. Show you can take on more. In no time, people will consider you for leadership, and when you are, you'll be qualified. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Young Leaders of Tomorrow. If you have an initiative of your own or a friend that you want to spread the word of, please email us at theyoungleaders of tomorrow at gmail.com. We'd love to have you on. Continue succeeding and see you next time.