Aldo Sterone argues that working harder and longer does not guarantee promotion; instead, lack of visibility and communication causes high-performing, execution-focused employees to be overlooked. Using consulting anecdotes and an extended example contrasting frontline workers (Veolia garbage collectors) with CEOs, he claims workplace value is inverted: proximity to leadership and socialization predict advancement more than raw output. He advises viewers to build a personal narrative, self-promote, socialize and communicate with managers and colleagues; closes by recommending a partner service (France Travail) for tailored career support.
I'm going to be blunt, my friends. Good morning. I'm going to be really blunt. The more you work, the less you'll be promoted, the less you'll advance in your company. And why am I telling you this? In recent days in consulting, I've had a series of people by chance who all presented more or less the same pattern in their careers. People who work incredibly hard and are people I respect with an absolutely extraordinary work ethic. You drop people in front of a computer with files and all that, but honestly, they'll literally eat them up and do excellent work. But hey, there's even one person, hold on tight. Who was criticized for not working hard enough, when in fact, you look at the numbers, she far exceeded what was expected of her. Okay, what's the problem there? Let me tell you something. And if you recognize yourself in this video, please, it's really urgent today. It's really urgent to become aware of what we're going to talk about and then to make a plan for change. Start to change, even if it's just to start thinking about your condition. And what I'm going to tell you today, look at the problem when you work a lot, when you're always with your head in the computer. Well, I can tell you something right away. You're not socializing, you're not communicating with your managers, you're not communicating with your colleagues. You see, you want to know what people say about you when you're turned away? What people say about you when people go to the parking lot to smoke a cigarette, huh? For the fifth time that day, they smoke a cigarette. And these people will be infinitely better paid than you. These people will advance more than you. You know what these people will say? They will say, yeah, you know, we never hear about so and so. Yeah, he's always. He's always on his screen. We don't really know what he's doing and all that. Well, that's unfair. I've heard that kind of thing from colleagues before. It's unfair. What does he do in front of his screen all day? He works. He does something starts with tea.
He.
He works.
Okay.
He's moving the public sector forward while you're there smoking like idiots all day.
Okay?
Yes, but the reality is that people will perceive you as someone who's not friendly. Maybe he's on time with us. Maybe he doesn't like us, he doesn't appreciate us. Right? So the problem when you adopt this approach is that you won't be known by your manager, by your colleagues, and you Won't be recognized. To be recognized, you have to be known already. And if we don't know anything about you, if you don't talk to us, if you don't discuss with us. Well, listen, okay? Everything will go wrong. I'll just tell you something. I'll just give you an example. Maybe I must have given it in the past, or not. I don't know. Look, let's take a large group, Volya. I'm not sure if I even think they're in case. 40 Veolia, a very large group, okay? When you have the garbage truck, the truck with the Veolia logo that comes by in the morning to collect the trash, you have DDR stripes or other things attached to the back, and it runs. To collect the bags or collect the bins, press a button, tip them over and continue. They're very good. They spend their day hanging onto the truck, right? They're capable of collecting tons of garbage. They're ahead of everyone else. Okay, now let's think about the other end. Now you have a green tower somewhere. I don't know where they are, Viola. Maybe in La Defense, in Paris or somewhere like that. You have a green tower and inside you have the CEOs hushed office. He doesn't collect trash, he doesn't hang on to the truck. He doesn't count by the ton how many black bags he's able to put in a machine per hour, right? Who gets paid the most? Honestly, who gets paid more, huh? There's a golden parachute worth millions. And who gets paid maybe minimum wage or minimum wage and 10% with restaurant vouchers and all that, honestly. Okay, so here's the equation.
How.
How it works in companies. The closer you are to Raymond, who is hanging on the truck, the less you are respected, the less you are considered. The less you are paid, the closer you are to the CEO, the more you are paid, the less you work. In fact, the less you work, the less you are in execution, and the more you are considered. So, of course, I'm not telling you to become Raymond. I'm not telling you to become the CEO. But somewhere in between, the closer you get to Raymond, you know, it means that you're racking your brains behind your screen, spending the day working like a madman. So listen, as I am, I'm going to give you my moral opinion. I'm going to give you my opinion. My moral opinion is that society can survive without the CEO, but it can't survive without Raymond and people like him.
Okay?
We need to look at what Happens when we have a garbage collection strike. Look at what happens when we have a garbage collection strike, huh? The rats, the stench, the disaster, the journalists, all that.
Okay?
And a CEO transplant. Have you ever heard of a CEO strike? I've never heard of a CEO strike in my life. But in any case, if he suddenly disappeared, I mean, we wouldn't even notice their absence. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but we understand each other. So on a moral level, DD and Raymond and Gigi and the others behind their trucks are more important to us than the CEO. Yes. They're the ones who do the hardest, most noble work. They're the ones who are in contact with the customer. They're the ones who carry out the company's mission. Yes, that's true. But there you have it. Welcome. Welcome to a world where the cross is upside down. In companies today, everything is upside down. The scale of values is upside down. So if you think about the moral scale of values, whether it's the Christian or Muslim or Jewish scale of values or whatever, or a scale of scales, if you like morals from the great religions, for example, or from those traditions where you consider that the most noble work is the work that is normally the most recognized and the most remunerative. If you calculate the quality of your work by the quantity, you calculate that you must have suffered, you must deserve your salary, right? You must sweat for your salary, right? Typically, if you come from a family, you had families, a working class father or people like that, indeed, they may have communicated this to you without meaning to. I mean, it's not their fault to have communicated this kind of vision to you. And unfortunately, this vision will ruin you later in your career.
Okay?
So clearly, clearly, if you're the one who works the hardest, you'll be stuck in your. You'll be stuck in it, and you'll see. And it won't be abnormal. You'll see people come long after you, sometimes years after you, and end up being applauded. And you'll go to the party when they're promoted, and so on. And you won't even say thank you.
Okay?
The day you leave through the back door. And then there will be a secretary to say goodbye to you.
Okay?
So very important, my friends, balance, balance. Do your self promotion. Create your personal narrative.
Talk.
Talk to those around you about your work. Communicate with others. Even if, once again, it doesn't come naturally to you, you might say, yeah, but it doesn't come naturally to me. It's not really my thing. Yeah, it's not really your thing. I know, but it's Raymond. Picking up trash isn't his thing either. If Raymond wins the lottery, he won't come and pick up trash. Okay, so picking up trash isn't his thing. But he does it because it's his job. So consider that communicating with others, socializing with others, learning, listening to others. Even if it's not your thing, it's still your job. It's still your job. I'd even say more important than the work you're doing on your screen. Okay, it's much more important. And I'll tell you one last thing. If I give it a score, I don't know, at work, let's put in the work in quantity, in execution and everything. I give it six tenths for career development. I would say nine, ten for communication with others. Okay, for communication, for socialization. In 10 out of 10 is too scabbard. I wouldn't say it in a YouTube video. In any case, my friends, you get the message before leaving. In the pinned link you have our partner who can help you. Their partnership with Franz Travail. So often their support is covered by France Travail. But what do they do? Well, they can help people who want to change jobs, right? Or people who have lost their job and want to find another one. They have support that is extremely specific and tailor made for this type of situation. Including sometimes one to one coaching. So not a mega group coaching session, but just with one advisor, one person, and they do a really good job. It's a very dynamic team. I know them personally, I'm in touch with them all the time. So go ahead and say that. Aldosteron sent me. The link is in the description and we'll see you in a future video.
