Agency
Cate Hall
You can just read the linked post in its entirety and ignore my thoughts below.
Things that stuck out for me
Sometimes, often times, its the unremarkable stuff that gets you to where you want to be. Not some silver bullet that you're hoping for. But the obvious work you have to do.
- Want to get fit? Move more, eat clean. Looking for anything beyond this is effectively procrastination or looking for excuses.
- Want to build relationships? Interact with people. Listen to them and open up.
- Want a promotion? Ask for it, work for it
"I don't agree with his 3rd example. Sometimes I work hard and perform well, and still don't get the promotion"
Doesn't matter - showing agency and working towards the thing that you want will always give you data. If this scenario is true (work hard + perform well ≠ promotion), then it appears that the criteria that you think will get you the promotion (e.g. work hard & perform well) is not the actual criteria that will get you the promotion (e.g. visibility to those who decide on your promotion, having a supervisor that wants to help you get that promotion). Once you've found this discrepancy, the choice is still yours - modify your behaviours to meet the actual criteria, or change to an environment with a more favourable criteria, or accept the situation.