# [NOT A PUBLIC VIDEO] On Authentic Career Progress **Creator:** Shreyas Doshi **Platform:** youtube **Duration:** 4m **Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI ## Summary In this discussion, the speaker explores the dynamics of workplace satisfaction and career advancement, emphasizing that expressing dissatisfaction can lead to greater attention from management. They advocate for a balance between authenticity and ambition, warning against pursuing career goals solely for the sake of advancement, as this can lead to unhappiness. - The "squeaky wheel gets the grease" culture in the workplace often rewards vocal dissatisfaction. - Employees who express contentment may be overlooked for growth opportunities. - High agency individuals often underreport their issues, which can lead to stagnation. - It's effective to be honest about challenges while also expressing ambition for growth. - Pursuing career advancement without authenticity can lead to unhappiness. - Many admired professionals may not be fulfilled despite their apparent success. - Work-life balance is often misidentified as the sole source of workplace happiness. - Authenticity in career aspirations is crucial for long-term satisfaction. ## Transcript [[0:00]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI&t=0s) [Music] the reality is certainly in the US which I have the greatest exposure to there is this culture of the squeaky wheel gets the grease I would say in general if one expresses a lot of just contentment satisfaction with their current state with their boss it is more likely that the boss will not think about your growth that's the way things are so there is a set of tax I which one can [[0:31]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI&t=31s) employ while still being true to oneself by the way I had this experience on both sides as a kind of employee and as a manager where there were some people on my team who were chronically unhappy and they would just very vocally Express that and I just found myself thinking more about them than about others on my team who were just doing their job they're like yeah sure things are fine especially the very high agency people [[0:55]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI&t=55s) who are team players who think like owners Etc they they especially fall prey to this where they just say yeah sure there are problems but I'm fine then there are other people who are perhaps lower agency and who complain a lot like oh yeah this team sucks and I hate this and you know it's so terrible and maybe I should go somewhere else or do something else now you made your boss nervous I mean if you're good if you're [[1:21]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI&t=81s) bad the boss will be happy but if you're good then you made your boss nervous and then your boss will probably try to do some things to pacif y you make you happy and whether that means more responsibility more scope like a promotion a better rating whatever odds are yeah you will get that so this does happen the important question is like how does one do this while still staying true to oneself and staying authentic the best tactic I have found is do both [[1:48]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI&t=108s) which is be truthful about your situation which is like yeah I have problems but it's good it's fine I can deal with them but also be very clear on the scale of your ambition and where you want to go and sound dissatisfied about that that's the tactic right do sound more dissatisfied about that than you perhaps are so that you can really drive home the point but it's still rooted in truth it's still rooted in your desire [[2:14]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI&t=134s) to go from A to B whatever B might be now the important question here is should I manufacture B just so I can do this or just to sort of get ahead and I find lots of people do that and that as a career choice makes people unhappy there are lots of people who go through careers as though it is a school or as though it is a video game of course I need to get to the next level and the [[2:41]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI&t=161s) next level after that and the next level after that but the reality is that if you try to do it rationally and not authentically the next levels you get to they'll actually make you unhappy again it goes back to the effort to try to get happier actually puts you in that other binary states which is it makes you unhappy so just be mindful of that as you do this so authentically if you do want to get to the next level whatever [[3:08]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI&t=188s) that is for Joy reasons for passion reasons for fulfillment reasons Etc by all means but also be mindful of this next level for the sake of Next Level and with the hope and expectation that that's going to make you happier is often a recipe for a lot of sadness and there are lots of people whose careers you probably admire and you look at their LinkedIn and you say like oh I wish I had their LinkedIn I'll tell you [[3:34]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI&t=214s) many of them do not have a good life and I'm not just talking about it from a work life balance perspective cuz that's usually the focus work life balance and like that like no no no they're just unhappy because of where they are they're doing work that they don't enjoy uh they have major impostor syndrome for various reasons etc etc they have major insecurities and they have other stresses and stressors they're self-inflicted and yeah they're making [[4:02]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4LZMJPEFI&t=242s) more compensation their LinkedIn looks better or whatever but that's not materially changed their level of Happiness so useful to keep that in mind [Music]