Doing your job well may seem like the most important thing at work, but one woman says she learnt that it is not always enough. According to her, employees also have to be visible, vocal and good at building relationships if they want to move ahead.
For an introvert, she says, that can make corporate life particularly exhausting.
The Instagram user, @mtnotemptyy, shared her thoughts in a video as part of her series called “No More Sunday Scaries”. She said she quit her corporate job two months ago and wanted to talk honestly about what she learnt during her time in the workplace.
‘You can’t just be good at your job’
According to her, there is an “unspoken rule” in corporate life that doing your job well is only one part of getting ahead.
“You also have to be vocal, visible, constantly networking and building relationships with people three levels above you,” she said.
She admitted that visibility and networking can be important, but questioned what happens when they are valued more than an employee’s actual work.
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The woman recalled a performance review where her manager praised her for meeting her goals and doing a good job. However, she was also told that she needed to build her personal brand and increase her visibility across the team to reach the next level.
“I remember thinking, ‘Ugh, I’m already working so hard, and I’m already doing a good job, too. But on top of that, I’ve got to do all of this extra performative labour?’” she said.
She argued that corporate workplaces can favour people who are naturally comfortable speaking up, networking and making themselves visible.
Take a look:
‘You are not the problem’
The woman said this can leave introverts feeling as though they need to change their personalities to succeed.
“Corporate is not a neutral system. It was built by extroverts for extroverts,” she said, adding that she eventually became tired of feeling like she had to “mask” who she was.
Her comments resonated with several people online.
“I actually got fired from a corporate job once because I was ‘too quiet and nobody knew what I was thinking’. Their words, not mine,” one person commented.
Another wrote, “Real! It feels performative, which is so exhausting.”
“I love what I do but man, I’m exhausted of being in the office and having to socialise that much as an introvert,” another person said.
Someone else added, “This comment section just makes me feel so happy. Glad to know I’m not the only one and there are people who have similar experiences as me.”
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For the Instagram user, the message to other introverts was simple. “You are not the problem. You’re just playing a game that was never built for you,” she said.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
