Everyone is trying to get ahead in their careers, especially in such an unstable economy.
One career coach shared her best advice for being successful, and it all involved the answer to one question.
A career coach said that how you answer a specific question can tell you just how far you’ll go in your professional life.
Grace McCarrick is a career coach who offers up “hacks for corporate success” on TikTok, according to her bio. McCarrick recently discussed an important question that can determine the trajectory of your career.
“I have one question that will determine whether you have the ability to have [astronomical] career success in the mid-2020s,” she told viewers.
McCarrick was quick to clarify that she couldn’t make any promises, but she felt confident about this.
“This isn’t a guarantee, but if you can answer this question in this specific way, then you are way more likely to have really outsized career success in the next couple of years,” she explained.
“This is based on my experience in businesses talking to executives, CEOs, [and] leaders about what is most important to them in their teams,” she continued. “What they will pay more for. What they will give more flexibility, more leverage for. What they value most.”
McCarrick then posed the question: “Can you hear someone have an opinion that is different than yours on something you really, really care about, and can you not let it influence how you think about that person?”
She added, “If you can genuinely do that, then you are set up to have outsized, astronomical career success in the next couple of years because there are so many people in this workforce right now who cannot do that, and it is going to hold them back.”
fizkes | Shutterstock
Differing opinions can be a strength, not a weakness.
Staffing agency Robert Half said, “When we think of the ideal team, many of us might imagine a group of people with a shared vision, all agreeing with one another, and all on the exact same page. However, this may not be as advantageous as it sounds.”
Although everyone agreeing seems like it would be preferable and make work easier, this is not necessarily the case. Workers who disagree can lead to wonderful discussions and ideas no one would have thought of otherwise.
Forbes addressed the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workforce. This includes people with different opinions.
“Having a working environment filled with employees of different backgrounds, skills, experiences, and knowledge means that there will be an increase in innovative and creative ideas,” they stated.
Furthermore, the Johns Hopkins News-Letter addressed our reactions when learning that someone has differing views from us.
“We are mostly interested in our opponent’s conclusion or beliefs, without trying to understand where these beliefs come from,” Phillip Yoon wrote for the student paper. “The reasons for opposing beliefs are not even considered.
Yoon continued, “This is problematic because we stop listening to each other as soon as we realize that we don’t have the same beliefs.”
Other TikTokers seemed to think this was a tall order.
In the world we live in, it has become incredibly difficult to accept opinions from those who disagree with you. The comments section of McCarrick’s video proved this.
“That is an extremely hard question,” one person said.
“I am toast,” added another.
A third person asked McCarrick to further clarify exactly what differences of opinion she was referring to. “Are you talking about someone that has a different opinion than me on a work-related issue/project, or someone who has a different opinion on, say, equal rights?” they asked.
“Everything,” McCarrick responded.
While it is certainly not easy to hear others’ opinions and not be affected by them in such a divisive and polarizing world, the ability to do so shows that you also have the capability to work well with others, something that is vital for career success.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.
