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How Work Works
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How Work Works

The Subtle Science of Getting Ahead Without Losing Yourself

Michelle P. King
HarperBusiness, 2023
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Dive deep into the pivotal skill of “reading the air” – gaining a profound understanding of your workplace’s shared norms and unspoken dynamics. Corporate culture expert Michelle P. King, PhD portrays this skill as a prime requirement for advancement and happiness at work since it enables you to navigate cultural shifts and build crucial informal networks. King demystifies the elusive factors that make up a company’s culture, revealing the unwritten rules that govern many workplace interactions. If you can analyze and adapt to the inner workings and values of your firm’s culture – the way power, priorities and relationships ebb and flow – then you can thrive and lead anywhere.

Summary

Getting ahead in your career requires understanding the subtle nuances of your work environment.

Navigating the ladder of upward mobility can seem like picking through a minefield of secret rules available only to those who already have executive titles. Beyond explicit rules and tasks, any workplace also has informal norms and expectations. These unspoken tenets may include the way colleagues interact and which behaviors earn rewards. 

The Japanese have a term for this ability to understand a culture’s context and nuances: “kuuki wo yomu,” or “reading the air.” Particularly when you are new, your happiness at work and your professional success may hinge on your ability to read between the lines and discern how your work environment really works.

Increase your sense of belonging by bolstering others’ connectedness.

To get ahead, ask how you fit in at your workplace. Feeling a sense of belonging and connectedness affects your engagement, morale and productivity. A 2019 Harvard Business Review study found that companies whose employees felt a sense of belonging...

About the Author

Corporate culture expert Michelle Penelope King, PhD, is also the author of The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers That Are Holding Women Back at Work and the host of The Fix podcast. Founder of The Culture Practice consultancy, she is a frequent public speaker whose work has been featured in The Economist, the Harvard Business Review, the Financial Times, and many other publications.

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