Good networking skills a must-have for corporate career success

The book talks about how to find purpose and meaning in a corporate life that is full of pulls and pressures.(Representational image)

Are you on the verge of starting a corporate career? Or, are you at a mid-level position trying to figure out the way forward? Or, are you that corporate hotshot at the helm of affairs trying to negotiate the tricky terrain?

Whichever stage you are in, the demanding nature of the job and the dog-eat-dog competition all around make you realise — sooner than later — that you don’t just have to survive but succeed in this long journey.

So, how to find purpose and meaning in this corporate life that is full of pulls and pressures? At the end of the day, can you stay ahead of the curve, and still have a sense of contentment in what you do?

By any means it is not an easy job, but it’s always doable. That’s what Satyajit Senapati’s Work, Workmanship & Winning is all about. Full of anecdotes, real life examples, and case histories, it tells you how to achieve a sense of fulfilment in your corporate career.

Satyajit Senapati’s book 'Work, Workmanship & Winning'.

The book, as the author puts it, is a tool pack that offers practical hacks to make your job easy, and seamless. In an interview with Moneycontrol Pro’s Aurobindo Das, Senapati talks about a whole gamut of issues, ranging from networking skills, being an entrepreneur, re-learning, work-life balance, and workplace bullying, among others.

Edited excerpts:

According to you, amid the cut-throat competition in corporate life, one can still find the journey rewarding and fulfilling. How?

A corporate career is very rewarding — both personally and professionally. When an individual joins the workforce, they are full of dreams and want to make it big. Somewhere they miss a promotion, do not get that hike, and get disheartened. They continue and make it to the next level, and face new challenges both at work and on the personal front. They then move forward, and move to leadership where problems do not cease but they morph into new ones.

Amid all this, it is very easy to lose sight of the big picture. To be able to live a rewarding and fulfilling corporate life, one must have the complete picture at the very beginning. One must understand from the beginning that setbacks - small or big - will happen in a long career. It is only awareness that will build the required resilience to be able to remain engaged with your career and not just with your current job.

Is entrepreneurship turning out to be the magic bullet? Does it offer a solution to the rising corporate pressure?

Entrepreneurship is a dream many people wish to live. After all, there is nothing like being free and independent. However, most people can’t walk that path. Sometimes they don’t have the right idea, sometimes they have liabilities, sometimes they cannot assemble a team, and most times it is difficult to give up the comforts of a salary. So, entrepreneurship is not just ability, it is also about choices, and sacrifices to make.

There is nothing wrong in not being able to be an entrepreneur. In fact, as mentioned in my book, a corporate career can be very rewarding also. If you look around, there are a lot of successful executives. So, why should only a few have the privilege to call their career a success? Each of us who works in a job is entitled to be happy, engaged and fulfilled at the job. Whether corporate life or entrepreneurship, the key is to be engaged, and fulfilled in what we do.

You have called it a journey of a lifetime. How does one get ready for it?

I would say ‘awareness is the key’. When you are going from Point A to Point B, and you have a broad idea, isn’t the journey a bit easy as against if you are just going blindfolded? The best way to get ready is to prepare for the journey. Be aware of how a corporate career unfolds. How the expectations change with seniority, how personal life and professional life lock horns with each other, what is the professional etiquette required to be successful, how leadership can also have its challenges, so on and so forth.

Which skills do you believe are critical before taking that first step: being an apprentice?

These days, there is a lot of emphasis on learning skills. In fact, it is so much that every now and then you are asked to take up a new certification. I firmly believe that while this is required, it only helps in developing a skill that’s necessary. What is also needed is to develop professional aspects such as attitude, behaviour, outlook, response, etc. so that as an individual we are not only adept at skills but also have the right attitude, behaviour, and response in order to create the right experience for our organisation, clients, and team.

You have talked about improving one’s PQ. Where exactly does it fit into the scheme of networking?

PQ is simply your professional quotient. It is the sum total of your skills, attitude, behaviour, and response. When combined, it creates the right experience for you, and your team and organisation. In my book, I have defined sharp skills and smooth skills that align with PQ. As one progresses in their career, the expectation changes and hence, different levels of skills get into your PQ. People who are achievers in the corporate world demonstrate these sharp and smooth skills, and have evolved their PQ as they have progressed.

Networking is one of the most critical skills required to be successful in corporate career, and in life. I can’t stress enough on how networking becomes more and more important as you grow in your career. Today when we talk about networking, LinkedIn comes to our mind. But networking is beyond LinkedIn. People who are immensely successful have extremely good networking skills.

Being a master craftsman brings with it numerous challenges. What’s your prescription for navigating a career and life cycles with equal ease?

At the master craftsman stage or the mid-level stage, generally one goes the family way — get married, plan for kids, wants to be around parents, etc. It is also at this stage that one has a bit of financial stability. Hence, themes like buying a house, work-life balance, etc. start becoming important. When personal and professional lives are at crossroads, it can surely be stressful. In my book, I have spoken about a few examples. Those examples are not exhaustive, but they underscore a point. They make you aware of the kind of situations that you may get into and they also tell you how some people have handled it well. These can then be used as guiding points for us when confronted with challenges.

Your book has talked about speed breakers, lane changes, pullovers, and sharp bends while being at the helm. How to negotiate them all?

All of these refer to certain setbacks/challenges/opportunities that can come in one’s life. The best way to negotiate them is to be aware about them, understand how some people have managed them well, and learn and implement them in your life. In the end, the crux boils down to “If you do something and feel you have compromised, you will be unhappy. But if you do the same thing and feel you have been flexible, that’s the key to your happiness”.

Workplace bullying is increasingly becoming a sad reality in corporate life. Your take.

Bullying is present in all organisations. It is very much in human nature. People in power tend to exhibit this behaviour more. Organisations have started taking note of bullying, and how damaging it can be to their employees; and have taken various steps.

Despite this, bullying is very much present. The most prominent manifestation is a shouting and abusing boss. However, the most dangerous one is when you have someone in power or influence and who silently tarnishes your image. This kind of bullying most of the times goes undetected, and is the most damaging one. While the organisation does its bit, we as employees need to be aware of bullying, and must take steps to curb its evils.

As a first step, we must be able to identify bullying. A lot of people who experience bullying do not even know it is happening. Once you identify, the second step is to become aware about the different steps that the company has taken towards curbing this menace. The third step is to build awareness around the outcomes which may or may not be favourable. And last, we must be willing to accept and move on from all outcomes, even from the ones that may not be favourable. If nothing works, of course leaving the company is an option to be considered.