The views expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their very own.
The dotcom mentality of the late 90s and early 2000s was all about exertions, determination, and the will to prove yourself. It was such an exciting time that it didn’t matter what company you worked for; you simply desired to be a part of the movement. And that was movement—a period characterised by extreme growth and a spirit of possibility. We wore many hats and didn’t care about job titles. We learned a tremendous amount of data by learning and growing on the job.
But over the past few years, I’ve noticed a shift in mindsets among latest entrants to the workforce—many anticipate finding their perfect position right out of faculty. This generation is much further along than we were, because the technology pioneered back then has long since turn out to be embedded in our business practices. While essential, this advantage alone won’t make them successful.
For those building their profession, brand or business, combining the dotcom era mentality with today’s intelligence tools will take you additional and faster than any previous era. Now is the time to get organized, invest in yourself and build for the long haul.
Find “instant” satisfaction through exertions
The desire for fast gratification is comprehensible. Today, you’ll be able to order something from Amazon and have it delivered the same day. Short videos have replaced long texts. Everything is fast, fast, fast. But there is a productive solution to achieve a sense of fast gratification in a business environment. How? By getting into the dotcom mentality and setting milestones.
That’s exactly what I’ve done throughout my profession. Even when I’ve struggled and taken on additional projects, I’ve at all times set a goal for myself. It may very well be getting a project to the point where I could present it. Or coming up with data that will show how you can best execute an idea. Setting milestones can provide you with a sense of immediate gratification—every day, weekly, or monthly.
At some point, as you mark these milestones, you may also must present your plans to your audience. Often, people take the initiative in the background, so provide context and a story around what you’re doing to bring it to the forefront. This is essential, whether you’re in a one-on-one with a manager or attempting to scale to steer a team. If everyone buys into your ideas, you’ll gain more satisfaction — and while the feeling could also be immediate, it is going to be built on careful planning and exertions.
Shape your profession through self-investment
Many of the people from the dot-com era are today’s tech leaders. It’s the old metaphor about the pressure to build diamonds—working different jobs, experimenting, and innovating shaped our characters and careers. But recently I’ve seen people allow their employers to shape their destiny. As individuals, we want to take more control over our careers and understand that results won’t come immediately.
Expecting a role before you’ve proven yourself is backward. It took me eight to 10 years of doing CMO work before I actually got the title last 12 months. Instead, give yourself the grace to mold and shape yourself first. Take on additional projects and get involved, even if you’re a small fish in a big project. The key is to get your foot in the door. Once you’ve mastered one skill or responsibility, you’ll be able to take on one other.
It means being willing to fail, get back up, and then acknowledge the lessons learned. Been there, done that. It’s very rare for my emotions to go up and down nowadays — because I dealt with the hardest situations as I grew into the CMO role. I can assure you that going through the trials and tribulations will make you’re feeling super confident when you finally land the role.
Take feedback as a gift
While today’s worker may feel empowered by rewards, in the dot-com era, simply being a part of a movement was seen as reward enough. Combining these two mentalities comes all the way down to setting your mindset to receive feedback as a gift, regardless of the way it’s delivered.
Being open to feedback shows that you simply are humble and need to grow. Ultimately, the gift of feedback will come full circle, so you progress from receiving it with gratitude to giving it with gratitude. Making it clear that you ought to learn by actively asking for feedback will encourage them to present it and enable you improve.
There is an art to giving feedback when changing roles. If you read the mood of the environment well, people will begin to see your value and hear your voice. How do you give and receive feedback is the single most significant factor in bringing back the better of the web age: it shows that we’re all in this together and that you simply care about the success of our shared ideas and goals.
The way forward for work today
The newest entrants to the job market aren’t all that far removed from the individuals who excelled in the dot-com era. Culture is a key connector, because no one desires to work in a silo. In fact, eight out of ten people I recently interviewed expressed a desire to return to the office to resume in-person collaboration.
The traits I would like to see in candidates are the same ones that outline the dot-com mentality. I would like self-employed, hungry for success, and driven and hard-working—the variety of individuals who will manage their manager. When you mix that mentality with how advanced talent is today, the workforce will only get higher and stronger. And identical to in the dot-com era, there’s no telling what we’d create together.