Dennis Mark - Thriving at Work: What School Doesnt Teach You

Tapping their real-life experiences, Michael and Dennis have put together a great resource especially for young adults joining the workforce. Straightforward and easy to follow, the book maps out every important aspect of work life, giving the reader invaluable advice to navigate the office minefields and arrive at their career goals.

Kai Hoe Tan, Chairman, Singapore Red Cross

This book succinctly illustrates and depicts the realities of the working world not only for a new joiner but for an experienced working adult. The practical examples encapsulate the work challenges encountered by all no matter where you are in your working career. An absolute must-read for all in the working world!

Esther Lim, APAC HR Leader, US Multinational

If you want to get a great head-start in your career, this book is for you. The authors show you powerful solutions for handling work challenges and effective ways to fast-track your career. An insightful, practical and interesting read with lots of real work examples. I highly recommend it.

Mari Young, Category Management Senior Director, Fortune 100 Company

With Thriving at Work, you dont have to learn the hard way to succeed at work and fast-track your career. This book shows you how.

Raj Das, Senior Director, Seagate Technology

This book should have a prominent place on the book shelf of every person entering the workforce. One-of-a-kind book with lots of real work examples, and insightful and valuable suggestions to manage your career successfully.

Loretta Li-Sevilla, Senior Director, Fortune 100 Company

Wish Id had something like this when starting out. Concise, well organized and practical insight into work environments. Like having access to a personal career coach.

Chris Bennett, former Vice President, NetApp Company

This book is an absolute gem! It is a personal bootcamp for invaluable soft skills. Full of actionable insights and real-life scenarios, every future-ready professional should have one!

Kian Chong Lee, Board Director, BNF/Boston Business School

Honest, direct and tangible! Invaluable insights and tips to thrive on the most common challenges professionals face at work. This is a must-have career 101 handbook.

Shalyn Lee, former Vice President, HP

In the many years Michael and I worked together, I was very impressed with his ability to communicate, build consensus and lead in any situation. The insights I learned from Michael have been valuable to my career growth. Its great that Michael is sharing his lifelong career wisdom, learnings and insights through this book. If you can put half of whats in this book to practice, you will do very well in your career.

Paul Chou, former Vice President, Foxconn

2022 Dennis Mark and Michael Dam

Published in 2022 by Marshall Cavendish Business

An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196.

Tel: (65) 6213 9300 E-mail:

Website: www.marshallcavendish.com

The publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Other Marshall Cavendish Offices:

Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 800 Westchester Ave, Suite N-641, Rye Brook, NY 10573, USA Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd, 253 Asoke, 16th Floor, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Marshall Cavendish is a registered trademark of Times Publishing Limited

National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Name(s): Mark, Dennis. | Dam, Michael, author.

Title: Thriving at work : what school doesnt teach you / Dennis Mark, Michael Dam.

Description: International edition. | Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Business, 2022.

Identifier(s): e-ISBN 978 981 5044 19 5

Subject(s): LCSH: Vocational guidance. | Career development. | Success in business.

Classification: DDC 650.1--dc23

Printed in Singapore

This book is the brainchild of countless hours of discussion with our extended family members, friends, colleagues and students. As Asians working for US multinational companies, we both enjoyed the great learning and growth journey over the decades. We both were fortunate to receive inputs, coaching and exposures in the fast-paced technology business environment that covered most markets across the world. We are grateful for the journey and felt even more privileged to come together to share our experience and learning with our readers, just like those who taught us along the way.

With gratitude:

To Linda for the thorough and excellent initial editing work and the wonderful ideas to keep the content up to date, especially in this fast-changing world.

To Thomas for the great insight and suggestions from the millennials perspective.

To Orion and Christopher for the tremendous final editing work and for your dedication and labour of love.

To Alice, Esther, Eugene, Thomas for many of the Asian markets knowledge, youthful insights and encouragement.

To the many colleagues, friends and students for reviewing the books content and giving us valuable feedback and encouragement.

To the executives for taking the time from your busy schedule to review the book and sharing your valuable insight and wisdom.

To Joey for your creative ideas, loyalty and generosity. You are my inspiration.

To the learning institutions that appreciate the lifelong learning journeys and their supportive effort in expanding the reach of this book content into lessons and learning curriculums.

To our family for your support, unconditional love, sacrifices and heartfelt encouragement. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for this learning journey. We will get even better learning each and every day! Never stop learning!

Technical skills + Soft skills = Work and Career Success

We wrote this book for young people who are beginning to dip their toes in the professional world as well as current professionals. This book provides a proven roadmap for you to achieve immediate success and to fast-track your career. The soft skills discussed in this book will enable you to get a head-start and navigate the many changes and challenges in the workplace and throughout your career. These are the skills not usually taught in school and can otherwise take years to learn.