Lesson 1

Instead of waiting until the beginning of 2010 to start this thing off, I am posting the first lesson today.
I had coffee/beer with a friend of mine yesterday and the entire conversation was based on the importance of respect in the workplace and how he has yet to have a boss that has the ability to treat people "right". Hence the importance of...Lesson 1:

"Treat others how you like to be treated; someone needs to let the business world in on it."

Warning: Treating others how you would like to be treated is NOT the golden rule in business.

I repeat: Not the golden rule in business.

Unfortunately for young graduates, the rule your parents have been stressing to you for the past 20 some odd years does not apply to the business world and the phrase, "do as I say not as I do", has replaced it. Young graduates need to know that 99% of office workers are out for number one, and don't give a rats ass about helping you along in your job. You are a threat to them, and unless you have an amazing boss that recognizes your talents as an asset to the company and nurtures your growth (which most people do not), you better understand three things:

1. You and only you, better figure out how to succeed on your own, and quick.
2. Understand that the company that just hired you knows that you will probably be switching jobs within the year. With that being, they are going to take everything they can from you to maximize revenues because they don't know if you are an asset or a liability yet.
3. If you are going to make it at your first job, watch what you say. Everything you say will become an office rumor, and whatever you don't say can come back to haunt you later on.

My first job taught me about respect and the respect of others. I worked for a young woman at a mortgage bank and it taught me more in the six months I worked there than in my four years in college.
Respect and the almighty dollar are "IT" in business, whether you are fighting for it or to maintain it. Look at every young business person that tries to "fake it until they make it". They are doing this because they associate success with wealth and respect.

Worrying about how other people are feeling no longer plays a role in the overall success of a young graduate. The focus needs to be about yourself and your own personal survival. The theory that people still abide by "treat others how you would like to be treated" is unfortunately false. Those who still abide by that theory instead of understanding the golden rule of business and the "you come first" mentality, fall into a group that will eventually have two things happen to them:

1. Become insanely successful by starting their own business and running things how they deem adequate
2. Choose to uphold their moral and ethical standards while working in the confines of a cubicle for the rest of their lives, never achieving what goals they once had.

Here is a tip, make your own "Golden Rule". Trust your gut and the rest will fall into place.

The start of something important for 2010

I was recently promoted at my "day job" and put into a managerial role...after meeting with the people that I would be working with and observing them in the workplace, it reminded me of a project I created two years ago... "The Enlightened Graduate"
As an oldest brother, I am constantly giving advice on life and business and two years ago I decided to start writing it down. After about 12 lessons, I decided I needed to start typing it. 30 lessons later, I realized I had an instruction manual on my hands for young college grads adventuring into the business world. A book on what NOT to do and what to expect.
I searched my emails for about two hours and found the "book" I had written and decided it was time to let the world know.
Re inspired with the project and the sudden need to let strangers know my business, I am going to post a "lesson" a month and update it daily with the trials and tribulations of my life in BUSINESS.

Intro to the Enlightened Graduate

This book was written to help every ambitious college graduate get a REAL understanding of post-college life in the corporate world.
____________

One million dollars.

That was my goal by age 25.

Nothing but dollar signs, big desks, and endless possibilities. That was all that ran through my ambitious mind during my senior year in college. People warned me it was going to take a couple of years to make my fortune. I just chuckeled and brushed them off, knowing that I was going to make my million in record time.

Once graduation was over, I wasted no time in jumping head first into the business world. Two weeks later, I landed my first job and the rude awakening of reality soon followed. My days were now planned out with an 8-5 job with a one minute lunch. Not to mention being so busy I wouldn't see daylight for days at a time.

I was starting at the bottom of the totem pole and to add more stress to my life, I was working for someone that had no idea how to succeed. How the hell was I supposed to become a business giant by learning from someone that wasn't one? The thought of failure popped into my heard for the first time, and I realized this job might be heading down shit's creek without a paddle. After a month of work, I began to realize that I had no idea of what was on the horizon, how to REALLY make money, or what the hell to do next. My expectation of being the rookie phenom right of college was quickly fading and for the first time I had doubts about my future.

I was lost; the money was not flowing, and those hundreds of stories of "life" that my father told me about in college were true: It only gets harder.

Harder!

How could it get any harder? I was a young innocent, inexperienced 22 year old, with no real idea about life's real trials and tribulations, and unaware that every assumed cliche that I had ever heard about working was in fact, true. All that I had now was acceptance that I was within the infamous "rat race" and there was no turning back.