What Star Wars Teaches Us About Career Management

CIO - It's been really difficult using the Force to convince your HR manager or boss to see things your way: Your threats of turning fellow workers to the Dark Side sound hollow and that Jedi mind trick you've been working on for the past six months doesn't seem to be getting you anywhere. Your big promotion? You might as well be working in the Spice Mines of Kessel.

So what's left? Use the implicit wisdom and shared experiences of those inhabitants of a galaxy far, far away to raise your profile and keep your reputation free from coworkers' derogatory "bantha fodder" references.

"I suggest a new strategy, R2: Let the Wookiee win." -C-3PO
File Under: CRM; Relationship Building; Networking
Star Wars Moment: C-3PO advises R2-D2 to allow Chewbacca to win at a space-age chess game aboard the Millennium Falcon. Wookiees can "pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose," advises Han Solo. "Wookiees are known to do that."
Real-World Lesson: Always allow your boss or most important customer to beat you at golf, get the best seat at a restaurant and tell the same story you've heard 30 times before.

"Execute Order 66." -Darth Sidious (a.k.a. Dark Lord of the Sith, a.k.a. Chancellor Palpatine, a.k.a. The Emperor)
File Under: Recruiting; Employer Culture
Star Wars Moment: The Army of the Republic troops, which eventually become part of the evil Galactic Empire, are all clones, and we see the failings of "clone behavior" and the disastrous outcomes. Order 66 results in a mass Jedi murder.
Real-World Lesson: Individuality and entrepreneurial thinking are typically underappreciated in most organizations today, but companies with too many clones (a.k.a. "yes men") rarely enjoy sustained business success.

"Soon you will learn to appreciate me." -Jabba the Hutt (and his gross tongue)
File Under: Workplace Culture; Networking
Star Wars Moment: Princess Leia must sport virtually non-existent "slave" attire in Episode VI as she is forced to sit at the side of Jabba the Hutt in his main audience chamber and sail barge.
Real-World Lesson: Even if you look like Princess Leia (circa 1980s!), don't wear a bikini (or any revealing garb, for that matter) to poolside corporate events—real-life Jabbas will be watching.

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Story Copyright CXO Media Inc., 2009. All rights reserved.