Golden Rules for Career Success

• Business is made up of ambiguous victories and nebulous defeats. Claim them all as victories.
  
• Keep track of what you do; someone is sure to ask.
  
• Be comfortable around senior managers, or learn to fake it.
• Never bring your boss a problem without some solution. You are getting paid to think, not to whine.
  
• Long hours don’t mean anything; results count, not effort.
• Write down ideas; they get lost, like good pens.
• Always arrive at work 30 minutes before your boss.
• Help other people network for jobs. You never know
  when your turn will come.
  
• Don’t take days off sick—unless you are.
• Assume no one can/will keep a secret.
• Know when you do your best—morning, night, under
  pressure, relaxed; schedule and prioritize your
  work accordingly.
  
• Treat everyone who works in the organization with
  respect and dignity, whether it be the cleaner or the
  managing director. 
• Don’t ever be patronizing.
• Never appear stressed in front of a client, a customer
  or your boss. Take a deep breath and ask yourself: In
  the course of human events, how important is this?
• If you get the entrepreneurial urge, visit someone
  who has his own business. It may cure you.
• Acknowledging someone else’s contribution will
  repay you doubly.
  
• Career planning is an oxymoron. The most exciting
  opportunities tend to be unplanned.
• Always choose to do what you’ll remember ten years
  from now.
  
• The size of your office is not as important as the size
  of your pay cheque.
  
• Understand what finished work looks like and deliver
  your work only when it is finished.
  
• The person who spends all of his or her time is not
  hard-working; he or she is boring.
  
• Know how to write business letters—including
  thank-you notes as well as proposals.
• Never confuse a memo with reality. Most memos
  from the top are political fantasy.
• Eliminate guilt. 
• Don’t fiddle expenses, taxes or
  benefits, and don’t cheat colleagues.
• Reorganizations mean that someone will lose his or
  her job. Get on the committee that will make the
  recommendations.
  
• Job security does not exist.
  Always have an answer to the question, “What
  would I do if I lost my job tomorrow?”
• Go to the company Christmas party.
  Don’t get drunk at the company Christmas party.
• Avoid working at weekends. Work longer during the
  week if you have to.
  
• The most successful people in business are interesting.
• Sometimes you’ll be on a winning streak and everything
  will click; take maximum advantage. When
  the opposite is true, hold steady and wait it out.
• Never in your life say, “It’s not my job.”
  
• Be loyal to your career, your interests and yourself.
• Understand the skills and abilities that set you apart.
  Use them whenever you have an opportunity.
• People remember the end of the project. As they say
  in boxing, “Always finish stronger than you start.”
  

References: Richard Moran.