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Discretion still matters

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Discretion still matters

Don’t ruin your career by sharing too much

Smash Company,

5 min read
5 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Treating your co-workers as if they were your friends is bad career advice.

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Eye Opening
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Common office etiquette has it that the workplace is not a place to share your feelings – especially negative ones. Among millennials, however, some have come to consider the notion of splitting yourself into a “work self” and a “private self” as being both disingenuous and emotionally unhealthy. But for long-time management consultant and start-up co-founder Lawrence Krubner, trying to relate to your co-workers the same way you interact with your buddies won’t get you very far in the world of work. He has written a passionate defense of discretion in the workplace as a way of both protecting yourself and advancing your career. Whether you are a millennial or work with millennials, getAbstract considers Krubner’s opinion piece an excellent conversation starter.

Summary

Start-up co-founder Lawrence Krubner and his partner interviewed a job candidate in her early 20s named Lisa for a programmer position. During the interview, Lisa openly shared her doubts about her ability to meet the position’s many technical challenges. Instead of exuding confidence, Lisa was inadvertently undermining her prospects for getting the job. Yet Krubner, who was familiar with Deborah Tannen’s work on how men and women communicate differently, was able to correctly interpret Lisa’s behavior. Lisa, like many women, showed vulnerability and openly...

About the Author

Lawrence Krubner is a software development consultant at Smash Company and co-founder of three start-ups.

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    N. M. 7 years ago
    I’m not sure if I got the gist of the authors intended outcome. Perhaps this time the abstract is too short. Having said that there are some key points for everybody, executive men and women as well as millennials entering the work place.