Now and then

Newly hired grads should embrace today with an eye toward tomorrow

By Marco Buscaglia (From May 2018)

As new college graduates enter the workforce, some soon realize that the nuts and bolts of the workday don’t necessarily match up with the employment nirvana they once envisioned. Sure, the direct deposits are great but getting bogged down in daily responsibilities can restrict and muffle their creativity. This isn’t about entitlement, either. These new grads want a seat at the table sooner than later because they know they have much to offer. Adhering to traditional elements of the workday like method, teamwork and attention to detail—even in non-traditional settings—can be frustrating. So is there a way to focus on today’s work, prepare for tomorrow and still get an opportunity to offer up the next big thing? T’Shaka Lee, a partner in Deloitte’s Los Angeles office, thinks so. Lee helps run one of the professional services firm’s leadership development programs, which tags promising college students and helps them through their initial years at Deloitte. In a conversation about today’s newly hired graduates, Lee offered his thoughts on expectations, curiosity and why we need to read more books:

‘Be very present’
“When you join the workforce, there should be a focus on enjoying and embracing the journey, being flexible with that journey and not being too focused on the destination. It's good to have goals and it’s good to have objectives—all those things are very, very healthy—but you can lose a lot of very important developmental and enriching experiences along the way if you're too focused on what's next. Be open to other things but more importantly, even if the path never changes, be very present. If you're too focused on the outcome, those things that are extremely developmental don't get as amplified so some of the skills you need for your day-to-day experiences don’t get developed enough for you to get the maximum benefit.”

‘Don’t be afraid to unlearn’
“Be actively and genuinely curious. Embrace discomfort and don’t be afraid to unlearn what you think is important. We focus a lot on the accumulation of knowledge but we're in this environment now where long-held views about the way we do things change very quickly. It's actually equally important that you're skilled at unlearning as much as you’re skilled at learning. You have to be willing to let go of things in order to have a more meaningful impact going forward. New grads might join an organization and say, ‘this is what we’ve learned and this is the way it should be done.’ And the organization also might hold on to those orthodoxies as well. As a result, it can be very hard to see and accept a new way of doing things. The suspension of disbelief and the vulnerability that comes with the idea that you may be wrong is actually more valuable in today's environment than the strengths that you come with and the knowledge that you carry.”

‘Challenge the status quo in an appropriate way’
“I think expressing thoughts and views is always important but I would say given the stage in your career, it should be a supported point of view. It must be founded in something that’s not just the flavor of the day. It's certainly appropriate to challenge the status quo but challenge the status quo in an appropriate way. Part of what you're hired for is your point of view but you have to decide the best way to deliver that point of view.”

‘Be adaptable, flexible’
“There are a lot of very successful organizations that are polar opposites of each other and on different ends of the spectrum but there’s equal space in the world for all to co-exist. For new grads who are entering into the workforce, it’s perhaps less about trying to force and bend the organization to adapt to you. It’s more important for you to be adaptable and flexible and to learn very quickly what it takes to be successful in the environment that you're in. It’s also equally important to have a sense of self and to ask yourself if you’re in an environment that you actually want to operate in. You should be asking how the environment fits with your own set of values. Does it align with the way that you feel you can be your best self?”

‘Get clear on your motivations’
“One of the things that early-career individuals should do is spend a lot of time getting clear on their strengths—the things that energize them, not the things that they’re good at. We're all good at a whole lot of things but that doesn't mean that they give us a whole lot of energy. Get clear on your motivations, those things that make you feel like ‘I can have a lot of this and it wouldn't be enough.’ We generally don't create a whole lot of space to do that early in our careers because largely, we're subordinate. We try to fit in and try to a good job but if portions of your day are filled with things that energize you, you're spending your time how you want to spend your time. You’re living the life you want.”

‘Ask for feedback’
“Curiosity is not just being curious about others. It’s being curious about yourself and how others are experiencing you. You have to be a little vulnerable and regularly ask for feedback. And not just from your supervisors but also from your peers and anyone that you interact with. They’ll give the good news about the things that they perceive to be your strengths, which you can use for validation, even if they’re telling you you’re good at something you don’t necessarily like doing.” 

‘Read more books’
“We don’t read enough books. We read a whole lot of Twitter feeds but people need to read books. There's a lot of great thinking out there from multiple generations about getting to know thyself. I think that very early in your career, you should be exploring who you are. Books can help you do that. Read books with advice, and biographies. Just read more books. There's no shortage of resources that are available for professionals to use to enhance their knowledge and experiences in life.” 

‘Create your personal board of advisers’
“Young professionals should have a personal board, a group of people who can offer input, advice and experiences. Your personal board should be a group of people who are in a different place in their lives than you are, people who can use the wealth of their experiences to help you in your own personal journey. I would say between three and seven people is effective. You should strive for diversity—you shouldn’t have three of your uncles or five of your college professors. One of them could be your supervisor, another could be the parent of a friend that you admire and another could be someone you think does meaningful work. You can go to all of them with the same topics or questions and you’ll get a diversity of answers. Create your personal board of advisors that you should manage no differently than other aspects of your career. Schedule times to speak to each of them and to listen to them. Ask for book recommendations. Ask about certain experiences. If you have issues with your job, you can go to them for advice. You’ll get the wisdom of their experiences and, if you start young, the benefits of long-term, mentoring relationships. You’ll benefit from what they’ve learned and how they’ve learned it. Their experiences can help shape and guide your career for years.”