الحمد لله الذي بنعمته تتم الصالحات
Alhamdulillah, as of today, it will be exactly 13 years since I was gifted with the privilege to be part of this beautiful organization since my first day of reporting duty on 18th February 2008. It has been an awesome journey and I am extremely grateful and humbled for being a part of the PETRONAS family.
And boy, what a journey has it been since those days! I decided to list down 13 pieces of career advice that I had wish I had received and I would give to my younger self, as a memoir and time capsule to remind my future self, and also in hopes that it may be of benefit to others. Feel free to share them if you find them beneficial, and please do share your thoughts!
1. Be optimistic: The best is yet to come
2. Be Authentic: “Be yourself, but better”
3. You do you: Framing the right paradigm about “Professional Rivalry”
4. Plant a Growth mindset from Day 1: your weaknesses today may be your strengths tomorrow (Spoiler alert: it really happened!)
5. Improve one thing at a time, consistently. Then add one more.
6. Practice generosity: Teach what you know
7. Always upgrade your Emotional Intelligence (EQ), beginning with self-awareness and self-management
8. Identify and build your signature strengths, then double down on them
9. Nurture Trust: deal with people in such a way that builds confidence that you EARN their trust.
10. Keep the fire burning and stay sharp: Do not drift and get carried away with the environment
11. Deal with everyone in the best of manners; do not burn bridges or make enemies
12. Excel at Followership and being an awesome team player
13. Always remember your big WHY
Note: Long Article. ~13 minutes read
1. Be optimistic: The Best is yet to come
When I first started, I was filled with anxiety, feeling totally insecure, clueless of what the heck I was doing, battling this massive internal feelings of the impostor syndrome and that “I don’t belong here”, especially when I look at everyone around me who is so much more intelligent and talented than I am when I’m struggling to do my basic job. My advice: stay calm, be optimistic. Put in the work, keep hustling, stay sincere, be patient, and put your trust in Allah. You will reap what you sow: The results will come slowly, even if you don’t physically see it yet.
2. Be Authentic
The term “authentic” my have different connotations and meanings to different people, so here is the angle I am coming from: “Be yourself. But better.” The corporate environment has a tendency to influence people to superficially become people they are not, or to put on a fake mask in an attempt to “blend in”, cover their vulnerabilities, or protect their self-interests. Don’t fall into that trap. To be “authentic”, to me means the following: ask for help if you need it; speak up when you know something to be correct; apologize and admit if you made mistakes (because you will make a ton of them!); respect everyone and do not discriminate your kindness or be selective about who you are “nice” or “friendly” to; don’t get arrogant when you rise in ranks; just ask the “stupid questions” to help yourself AND help others; stay true to your principles when you see some hanky-panky going on; take the effort to recognize and thank others when they have done a good job. And finally here’s an interesting one: if you don’t know, JUST SAY “I DON’T KNOW”. Experts do it all the time (and you’re no expert). You don’t have to pretend like you know just to live up to your imaginary superhero persona (i.e. ego).
3. You do you: Framing the right paradigm about “Professional Rivalry”
Don't get caught up by peer pressure to the point of jealousy or inferiority. In the early days, peer pressure really hit me hard. I was stuck at the “graduate” job grade G-01 for 6 years. Many of my juniors – those who joined after me – eventually get promoted faster than me, some become managers way before I hit that “senior engineer” barrier. Get rid of all these negative self-depreciating thoughts. It’s not relevant and is in fact very destructive on many levels, including envy. Instead, use peer pressure as a positive means towards improving yourself, not to feed your envy or justify your stagnation in mediocrity. Besides, it’s not all a bed of roses on the side of the highflyers either: I have seen so many people rise so fast, they become overwhelmed by their responsibilities that they struggle to keep up doing their jobs effectively. As Simon Sinek writes in his book “The Infinite Game”: We choose them to be our Worthy Rivals because there is something about them that reveals to us our weaknesses and pushes us to constantly improve.
فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ (2:148)
4. Plant a Growth mindset from Day 1: your weaknesses today may be your strengths tomorrow (Spoiler alert: it really happened!)
I struggled a lot in the early days in this whole engineering thing, to the point of getting yelled at by my senior engineer for wasting her time when I asked for her help, because “YOU SHOULD KNOW these basic things”. But over time, some of the skills I “just don’t get”, those subjects eventually became something I started teaching others!
5. Improve one thing at a time, consistently. Then add one more.
Oh, the dreaded "ACD gaps". I used to feel completely overwhelmed and demotivated by the many different engineering competencies I needed to be good at just to advance one step in my job grade because of how lousy I was at, well, everything. What I should have understood is that, instead of feeling intimidated and incapacitated from the daunting idea of nailing “everything” and “so much”, the key to steady progress is just to focus on being good at one thing at a time. Be so good at it that you can teach others the subject. Then add one more skill. It's slow, but it steadily builds on your foundations and leads to a more sustainable and satisfying personal development. This isn’t just applicable to technical ability. Working out, memorization of Qur’an, seeking knowledge, manners, all the same principle: Little things, consistently. Trust me, you will be amazed at what you are capable of. "The most beloved deeds to Allah are those done consistently, even if they are small" (Al-Bukhari, Muslim)
6. Practice generosity: Teach what you know
“Who am I to teach others?!”, you say? Yes, many of us tend to suffer this massive inferiority complex and lack of self-confidence to think that we don’t have anything of value to teach others. This isn’t true. All of us do know something. And what you DO know, teach others. I have a personal principle: “You don’t have to be a Master Chef to teach someone to fry an egg”. Find – or even create – opportunities to teach and coach others: juniors, interns, even other colleagues. This benefit serves two-fold: firstly, you enhance and develop the organization as a whole. Secondly, it benefits YOU more than the ones you teach! There’s a saying that “the teacher gets to learn twice”. In my experience, in preparation, the teacher gets to learn at least ten times over, solidifying what we already know so we can build on it and move on. Sharing knowledge opens up room for feedback to correct your past mistakes, builds trusting, meaningful relationships – which goes a LONG way!
7. Always upgrade your Emotional Intelligence (EQ), beginning with self-awareness and self-management
Back when we were growing up, intelligence (IQ) was all the craze. Plot twist: Turns out that, the most important life skill, in the spheres of professional and personal life, is emotional intelligence. It is this single trait that can advance your career, build meaningful networks, supercharge your leadership capabilities, and improve your all-around productivity, even as a father and a husband! And conversely, poor EQ might be the biggest factor that can Jeopardize our career or our relationships, even if our technical skills are great. Yet ironically, EQ is the skill tends to be neglected the most.
Of all things under the wide banner of EQ, prioritize self-awareness and self-management, i.e. controlling your own emotions first: especially fear and anger. The Prophet ﷺ said, “the truly strong person is the one who can control himself in a state of anger” (Al-Bukhari). Anger makes us do stupid things we regret and burn bridges with others (boy, do I have a regret list of those). Fear, on the other hand, is the single most paralyzing barrier against progress: Fear of judgment, fear of looking stupid, fear of criticism, fear of incompetence… silly things we imagine in our head that hold us back that make us procrastinate and freeze from moving forward. Here’s the good news though: Fear is natural. The key is OVERCOMING them. Nelson Mandela once said, “I learned that COURAGE isn’t the absence of fear, but the TRIUMPH over it. The brave man is not the one who does not feel afraid, but he who CONQUERS that FEAR.”
Everyone can develop EQ. Like all other skills, we just have to put in the effort. Ponder upon the words of Prophet Muhammad: “whoever TRIES to develop patience, Allah will MAKE HIM Patient” (Al-Bukhari, Muslim)
8. Identify your signature strengths and double down on them
Years into my career, my ex-boss complemented me saying that I had a skill to “simplify complex things to explain to others, especially to management”. I didn’t realize I even had it at the time, and was not even aware it was a skill to begin with. So, in order to over-compensate for my oh-so-many weaknesses in other areas, I decided to double-down on this strength in a way that grants me a different edge over my peers: Presentation and Negotiation skills. This initially seemed pointless because as a process engineer, I rarely give presentations, let alone negotiate. But to my surprise, over time, this niche skill eventually boosted my career in unexpected ways, AND strengthened my other weak spots. Every one of us has their own unique talents, traits and little quirks that make us different. Identify yours and turn this into your Unfair Advantage. This may take some time. This may take some soul-searching, some tweaking, some trial and error, soliciting feedback from others. But never stop doing it.
9. Nurture Trust
Of all the PETRONAS Cultural Beliefs, this is my favorite that resonates with me the most, as it is the most authentically human one. It is also the one people misunderstand the most: people tend to think that it means “entrusting others”. That’s not it. “Nurture trust” means you deal with people in such a way that builds confidence that you EARN their trust. To be someone reliable and trustworthy – “Al-Amin”; and this is essentially what the Qur’an teaches us: “Verily, the best man you can employ is one who is strong (competent) and al-amin (trustworthy)” (Surah Al-Qasas 28:26). In practice, to be “trustworthy” grounds the essence of professionalism, with the following elements: Transparent communication; producing quality work; having a growth mindset and genuine willingness to improve; being a strong team player; meeting deadlines; someone people genuinely look forward to working with. Simply put, just ask yourself, “who do I enjoy working with?” Be that guy.
10. Keep the fire burning, and stay sharp: Do not drift and get carried away with the environment
In an old movie I watched in my student years, it starts off with Jack Nicholson’s antagonist character with a very powerful opening monologue: “I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” So many people I’ve met, they start off their careers with a kindred spirit of fiery passion and big dreams; but over time, this fire fades away when they face the reality of their respective work environments: difficult superiors, toxic co-workers, rigid systems, “unfair” appraisals, whatever challenges we may go through – and over the years their flames get all but extinguished. Don’t allow the environment to deter your spirits or compromise your principles; be stronger than that! As Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in people”. Hold on to your big WHYs of on why you work, and instead strive to be a force to be reckoned with: to create the working environment that YOU’VE always wanted. “Allah will not change the state of a people until they first change what is in themselves” (Surah ar-Ra’d 13:11).
11. Deal with everyone in the best of manners; do not burn bridges or make enemies – “People will forget what you said, people forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel” (Maya Angelou). Throughout these short 13 years, I have seen how Allah turns the tables in ways you never expect. Bosses becoming subordinates, clients becoming contractors; rank-and-files becoming Managing Directors; interns becoming supervisors. And things get really ugly when your nastiness comes and bite you in the back, later on. On the other hand, beautiful things happen when your good relationships blossom into something amazing down the line. But seriously, you know what? These are minor. This is NOT why you should be kind to others. The REAL reason you should be kind to others is because this ties back to your big WHY: The Prophet ﷺ said, “verily, I have only been sent (to mankind) to perfect good manners” (Muwatta Malik). You will be accountable to how you treat others; those consequences – for better or worse – will come back at you, in this life or the next. Live by this principle: “You do not have perfect faith until you love for others what you love for yourself” (Al-Bukhari, Muslim) Live with the conscience that you can sleep well at night, with the peace of mind that you didn’t make enemies.
12. Excel at Followership and being an awesome team player – I would like to ask the question: “If I were a leader some day, what kind of followers would I love to have on my team?” BE THAT FOLLOWER. We tend to get so caught up with the leadership craze that we tend to forget that the key to advancing any organization, or realizing the vision of a leader, is to be a great team player and excel in followership: To collaborate with others, lift each other up, realize more value than the sum of our parts, and to support our leaders when they are down or ineffective. We cannot rely on the leader alone to get this synergy running: we all have to play our part. And in many cases, a positive peer can be more impactful than a leader, because of how “relatable” peers are. At the end of the day, the reality is, EVERYONE – even the leaders – play the role of a follower, to some capacity. I remember a narration once that when Amirul Mu’mnin Umar ibn Al-Khattab was khalifah, when he was national leader #1, and wasn’t answerable to any other person except Allah, he made a statement: “I am following a path of two people (Abu Bakar and Prophet Muhammad ﷺ), that no matter how hard I try, I will never be as good as them”
13. Always remember your big WHY – “And do not be like those who forgot Allah, and therefore He caused them to forget their own selves” (Surah Al-Hasyr 59:19). And last but not least, here is the most important career advice to rule them all. Remember your intentions, your principles, and never forget your big picture PURPOSE of why you work. This is so important, that it demands a whole writeup - perhaps a whole book - by itself. But suffice to say, this one thing alone - your WHY – will add meaning to your work, will give you the inner-motivation to improve, do better, do more; will keep you in check when you misbehave; to remind you on what is truly important; to keep moving when your bosses or colleagues fail to acknowledge your contributions; will also put things into perspective when things don't work out or turn up as planned; and a reminder that you will be accountable and answerable to your good deeds. It’s THAT powerful. To sum it up,
"And fear the Day when you shall return to Allah. Then, every person shall be repaid in what he earned, and shall not be dealt with unjustly." (Al-Baqarah 2:281)
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