Work Coach Cafe

OK. First I gotta say I don’t always agree with Suze Orman. Yes…I know she is the Goddess of Financial Sanity and has helped many desperate people come back from the bottomless pit of perpetual debt. And yes…I know she is one sharp cookie.

But that said, there are times when she just scares the bejezus out of people (including me) with her dire forecasts of what might happen to them if they should even dare think about ever again spending on anything remotely frivolous.  “A new book? Didn’t you read one of those LAST month? DEnied!”

Sometimes I can almost see images of the poor callers trapped in debt hell with flames of “how could you be so stupid” licking at their heels as she makes them watch her burn their credit cards one by one while she screams “DENIED! DENIED! DENIED!” (Of course, for the purposes of FICO, a subsidiary of hell, the burned cards should still remain active.)

But I also gotta admit she has a lot of good solid advice to offer all of us. Even considering the few things we disagree on, most of the time she makes a lot of dollars and sense to me. And that brings me to some work-related advice I’ve heard her give more than once.

Just recently, a caller told Suze she’s working as an administrative assistant making about $35K, but feels she has so much more to give. Maybe she should go back to school, the caller wonders out loud – although she has no burning desire to pursue anything special.  Well, here’s where Suze steps up to the plate and hits a home run in my opinion.  While she’s a firm believer in investing in ourselves when it comes to education (especially when you have a clear goal in mind), in this case Suze gave the woman the best advice anyone could ever give any worker:

Put your all into the job you have now!

Dig in and show your boss how good you are. Take on extra projects. Shine at whatever you do. You’ll have to do that anyway even if you go back to school and get a degree.  No matter what field you’re in or what level of education you have, getting ahead requires the same basic skill. These are habits you can start now that will pay big dividends later on.

And that’s the secret to success? Yup. As zen philosophy tells us, when you make rice, make it the best you can.

Suze wisely pointed out that the woman is in a so-so admin job right now, but top admins can make well over $100k! That’s right. And if that woman wants to get there, she has to start where she is and act as if she already is that $100k plus employee. And then, she can work her way up to “the big time”. At that level, you often get to take on lots of interesting work – and you get compensated for it in ways beyond just the money. Although the money sure would be a great start.

Not that the caller shouldn’t also get a degree if she wants one. Education is a great thing for many reasons. But just to go to school half-heartedly with a vague hope of something better to come while putting yourself even further into debt won’t make you any more employable when you get out. The trick, especially in this caller’s case, is not what she gets out of her job, but what she puts into it!

In the end, it’s not the job. It’s us. And we can use any job…even the crappy ones…as stepping stones to where we eventually want to go. The power is in our hands – if we can just learn to play it smart.

So how’s that rice coming?

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And here are a couple of related posts you might find interesting:

Job Morphing: 20 Tips to Help You Promote Yourself

Zen and the Art of Being a Receptionist (and Other Under-Appreciated Jobs)

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New Work Coach Cafe Policy:

Although I had to stop answering individual questions (to preserve my sanity), your thoughts and stories are VERY welcome here.

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