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1. You side with management and see policy decision from
their point of view.
2. You devote your attention to becoming a total and com-
mitted Rules Player—you look out for Number One
(that’s you).
The right attitude means giving it your best shot, not just
today but every day. Not just when it’s easy but when it’s awful
as well.
The right attitude means going that extra mile, giving it that
extra effort even when you’re tired and pissed off and ready to
quit. Others can quit, but you can’t. You’re a Rules Player.
The right attitude is head up, never moaning, always positive
and upbeat, constantly looking for the advantage and the
edge.
The right attitude is developing standards—and sticking to
them. Being sure of your bottom line and knowing when to
make a stand. The right attitude is being aware that you have
enormous power and that you will exercise that power with
kindness, restraint, humanity, and consideration. You won’t
put anyone down or be ruthless or manipulative. Yes, you may
take advantage of others’ sleepiness or apathy or wrong atti-
tude—that’s their problem. But you will take the moral high
ground and be blameless. The right attitude is being good but
quick, kind but observant, considerate but successful.
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W A L K Y O U R TA L K
YO U W I L L TA K E T H E
M O R A L H I G H G R O U N D A N D
B E B L A M E L E SS .
Be Passionate but Don’t Kill
Yourself
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T H E R U L E S O F W O R K
I hope you’re very passionate about your job. Whether your
job satisfaction comes from the people you work with, the
sense of achievement, a deep belief in what you’re doing, the
recognition you get, the money you earn, or anything else—I
hope you get enough out of the job to feel very passionate
about doing it.
But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that if you’re passionate
you have to work long hours and jump through countless
hoops to prove it. Being passionate isn’t the same thing as
staying late at the office. If you have a positive sense of belief
in your work and an enthusiasm for it, that will shine
through. Your boss will recognize it and, I trust, appreciate it,
regardless of the hours you put in.
It isn’t necessary to work yourself into the ground to be pas-
sionate about your work. In fact, it’s hard to sustain your love
of a job that is slowly draining all your energy. It’s what you
achieve that counts, not how long it takes you to achieve it.
You might argue that if you’re really passionate you should be
able to achieve the same as other people in a fraction of the
time. OK, that may not mean you can go home by mid-after-
noon, but it does mean that your passion will keep your
output high even if you knock off at 5:30 like everyone else.
Being passionate about your work, which is generally regarded
as being a Good Thing, is about caring whether you do a good
job. It’s not about how you work; it’s about how you feel. So
not only do you not have to work long hours to prove your
passion, but it wouldn’t prove it anyway because it’s quite pos-
sible to work 16 hours a day and still not care about what you
do. It would be a pretty miserable life, granted, but I’ve known
people do it.
So cultivate a positive enthusiasm about your work. If you
don’t feel passionate about it, look for a new way to view it
that makes you care, or work out what would generate that
kind of passion in you, and then create it in your work. Now,
I’m not saying it’s easy. For some people it’s a lifelong search.
But I’ll promise you one thing—if you’re not even looking,
you’ll never find it.
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25
W A L K Y O U R TA L K
I T ’ S N OT A B O U T H OW
YO U WO R K ; I T ’ S A B O U T
H OW YO U F E E L .
Manage Your Energy
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T H E R U L E S O F W O R K
Have you heard of time management? Of course you have.
Everyone has. I hope you’re good at it and doing everything
you can to improve. There’s always room to manage our time
better, and the more effectively you work, the more you will
achieve and the more time you’ll have left over for yourself as
well.
What gets less well promoted is the need to manage your
energy. I don’t know why this is, since your energy is one of
your most essential resources and it doesn’t look after itself.
You need to bring plenty of energy to what you do at work,
and it’s your job to make sure that energy is there when it’s
needed.
In part this means looking after your physical energy. Make
sure you stay fit and healthy, and don’t wear yourself out when
you have work the next day. Just as we make the kids go to
bed on time when it’s school tomorrow, so you should make
sure you don’t stay up late, overeat, get drunk, wear yourself
out, skip breakfast, or otherwise reduce your potential at
work.
And don’t forget your mental energy. What time of day do you
work best? On a full stomach or just a comfortable one with
no hunger pains? What environment makes you most effective
at work—quiet, busy, pressured, noisy, companionable? We’re
all different, and you may not have total control over your
working day, but you can make sure those tasks that need con-
centration get allocated to times when you’re best able to
concentrate and so on.
And there’s emotional energy too. If things are going badly in
your home life, you need to find ways to bolster your emo-
tional mood before you get to work in the morning so your
job isn’t affected (there’s more on this in Rule 14: Keep Your
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