paranoid transpotter

choose a career.

choose building your personal brand. be the ceo of me.com. leverage your contacts. grow your network. be a team player. just do it. onwards and upwards. if you can dream it you can become it. short/long/medium term goals.

shall we do coffee? stick something in my calendar. 

choose working smarter not harder. have you got much going on? don't reinvent the wheel. low-hanging fruit. the squeaky wheel gets the grease. don't be a hero. be pro-active. take the credit. who's quarter-backing this one? LET'S PUT THAT ONE ON THE BACKBURNER.

squeaking greaseballs.

choose connectivity. slowly scrolling through inbox on blackberry in elevator. powerpoint presentation. netbook on the train. put it in an email. did you copy me on that? what's your ETA? can you re-send that report pls --- thx. your mailbox has reached its 100MB limit. looping in. circling back. going forward.

going nowhere fast.

choose managing expectations. Q3 key deliverables. WE PROBABLY DON'T WANT TO GO DOWN THAT PATH.

choose looking busy. appearances matter. late night email; cc the MD. slowly scrolling through inbox on blackberry in elevator. i think he's a partner. face time. extra spreadsheet masking open web browser. never leave before the boss. working longer not smarter for now: eyes on the prize. 

we should definitely catch up for that coffee. does 2mw am work for you? 

choose networking. clear throat with authority. a good, firm handshake. eye contact. body language. small talk; polite but assertive. a people person.

choose relationship business: client-facing. build the franchise; synergize. KYC: know your client. light-touch regulator. wall-crossed. in-house. managing conflicts when they arise. putting out fires. damage control. LET'S PUT THAT ONE TO BED.

choose performance-related. value-added. annual review. comp day. what are your numbers? dancing in the cubicle; going places. high five. weeping in the stalls. head-hunters; jumping ship. survival of the fittest: darwinian; sun tzu.

choose work-life balance. pret-a-manger. lunch at your desk. leaving now -- home by 10pm. too tired to make it/too tired to fight about it -- ha ha. fitness first backpack. burger king/mackey d's. vending machine. holborn station, northern line. armpits soaking, trousers chafing. extraordinary market conditions: annual leave cancelled. 

choose frequent flyer. business class upgrade. express shuttle; 15 pounds/15 minutes. time is money: you're worth it. plasma, blu ray, 3DTV. sky tv, pay-per-view. premier league, corporate box. user pays. HD content.

choose exceeding expectations. well-positioned for broad-based growth. outperformance; incentivized. 2/20. best-in-class. 

monkeys on a typewriter. darts at a newspaper. lemmings over a cliff.

choose taking a view. thanks for the market colour. risk-adjusted outperformance. stress tested. ten sigma event. too big to fail. global downturn. leading indicators. green shoots; v-shaped or double dip? the recovery story. lagging indicators. 

mine's a decaf skinny soy latte. grande, please.

the global growth story. burgeoning middle class. first-world living standards. sweat shop. multinational. organic growth. commodity-driven rally. consumer culture. growth by acquisition. there's an app for that. climate-gate. tea party. small government. atlas shrugged. where do you want to go today? hell in a hand-cart. 

that being said. it is what is. go with the flow.

choose a career.