Published by Pearson Business (June 24, 2022) © 2022
Richard Templar
Get ready to experience the Rules effect. Begin to get more out of life, shrug off adversity more easily and generally be a happier, calmer, more fulfilled person. You'll feel the benefits, and so will everyone around you.
Walk your talk
1 Get your work noticed
2 Never stand still
3 Volunteer carefully
4 Carve out a niche for yourself
5 Under promise and over deliver
6 Learn to ask why
7 Be 100 per cent committed
8 Learn from others’ mistakes
9 Enjoy what you are doing
10 Develop the right attitude
11 Be passionate but don’t kill yourself
12 Manage your energy
13 Never let anyone know how hard you work
14 Keep your home life at home
Know that you’re being judged at all times
15 Cultivate a smile
16 No limp fish – develop the perfect handshake
17 Exude confidence and energy
18 Develop a style that gets you noticed
19 Pay attention to personal grooming
20 Be attractive
21 Be cool
22 Speak well
23 Write well
Have a plan
24 Know what you want long term
25 Know what you want short term
26 Study the promotion system
27 Develop a game plan
28 Set objectives
29 Know your role
30 Know yourself – strengths and weaknesses
31 Identify key times and events
32 Anticipate threats
33 Look for opportunities
34 Make learning a lifelong mission
If you can’t say anything nice – shut up
35 Don’t gossip
36 Don’t bitch
37 Stand up for others
38 Compliment people sincerely
39 Be cheerful and positive
40 Ask questions
41 Use ‘please’ and ‘thank you’
42 Don’t swear
43 Be a good listener
44 Only speak sense
Look after yourself
45 Know the ethics of your industry
46 Know the legalities of your industry
47 Set personal standards
48 Never lie
49 Never cover up for anyone else
50 Keep records
51 Know the difference between the truth and the whole truth
52 Cultivate your support/contacts/friends
53 Date with caution
54 Understand others’ motives
55 Assume everyone else is playing by different rules
56 Keep the faith
57 Put things in perspective
Blend in
58 Know the corporate culture
59 Speak the language
60 Dress up or down accordingly
61 Be adaptable in your dealings with different people
62 Make your boss look good
63 Know where to hang out, and when
64 Understand the social protocols
65 Know the rules about authority
66 Know the rules about the office hierarchy
67 Never disapprove of others
68 Understand the herd mentality
Act one step ahead
69 Dress one step ahead
70 Talk one step ahead
71 Act one step ahead
72 Think one step ahead
73 Address corporate issues and problems
74 Make your company better for having you there
75 Talk of ‘we’ rather than ‘I’
76 Walk the walk
77 Spend more time with senior staff
78 Get people to assume you have already made the step
79 Prepare for the step after next
Cultivate diplomacy
80 Ask questions in times of conflict
81 Don’t take sides
82 Know when to keep your opinions to yourself
83 Be conciliatory
84 Never lose your temper
85 Never get personal
86 Know how to handle other people’s anger
87 Stand your ground
88 Be objective about the situation
Know the system – and milk it
89 Know all the unspoken rules of office life
90 Know what to call everyone
91 Know when to stay late and when to go early
92 Know the theft or perks rule
93 Identify the people who count
94 Be on the right side of the people who count
95 Be well up on new management techniques
96 Know the undercurrents and hidden agendas
97 Know the favourites and cultivate them
98 Know the mission statement – and understand it
Handle the opposition
99 Identify the opposition
100 Study them closely
101 Don’t back-stab
102 Know the psychology of promotion
103 Don’t give too much away
104 Keep your ear to the ground
105 Make the opposition seem irreplaceable
106 Don’t damn the opposition with faint praise
107 Capitalise on the career-enhancing moments
108 Cultivate the friendship and approval of your colleagues
109 Know when to break the Rules