Old-School Career Advice That Still Works
I first read this in 2023 and reviewed it as another second-hand book sale find. I loved it, especially the counterintuitive (and somewhat gendered) advice. I re-read it in 2025 and found it even more relevant though it’s probably not advice Gen Z would naturally resonate with ( and yes, that’s anecdotal and yes, I know I am generalising). I’m Gen X (Xennial ), and I still believe in organisational loyalty (even though I know the reverse isn’t necessarily true), working hard and smart, and a work–life balance that’s a bit more blurred. The book is structured as a collection of short, direct rules or lessons, each just a page long, based on Fox’s observations of what successful executives actually do differently. It’s not about office politics or luck, but about consistent, visible performance and smart career management. This little booklet is a real gem. I’m not going to follow all of the advice exactly as my career stands right now, but a lot of it is still highly relevant and genuinely useful. I read a physical copy, so most of the notes below were taken manually. And while I was writing them out, I was reminded how nice it is to slow down and work through a book this way, rather than relying on Kindle highlights and Readwise, which is what I usually do. (I did check whether anyone had already copied and posted all of the advice before doing this, and I couldn’t find anything). I’m posting it here because it might be useful for others too. I’ve added some of my own notes and clearly marked them as mine. Everything else is either quoted or paraphrased directly from the book. Core themes: Results over effort: Focus on outcomes, not hours/busy work. Deliver measurable value and make your performance visible. Professional presence: Look, act, and communicate like an executive before you become one. Credibility and perception matter. Decision-making: Don’t avoid responsibility. CEOs are decisive and accountable. Networking and relationships: Build strong relationships up, down, and across the organisation. Learn how to make your boss look good. Learning and discipline: Constantly learn about the business, finances, and competitors. Read widely, manage your time rigorously, and keep improving. Integrity and reputation: Be known for reliability, trustworthiness, and discretion. Fox’s style is blunt, simple, and motivating. Each rule reads like advice from a seasoned, no- nonsense mentor. So number one, always take the job that offers the most money. After you’ve decided what you want to do, go to work for the company that offers you the most money. If you have not decided what kind of career or industry is for you, then take the job that offers the most money. If you’re in a corporation, always take the transfer, promotion or assignment that pays the most money. There are several important reasons why you go for the money. First of all, your benefits, prerequisite bonuses and subsequent raises will be based on your salary. Second, the higher paid you are, the more visible to the top management you will be. Third, the more money you’re paid, the more contribution will be expected of you. This means you will be given more responsibility, tasks and problems to solve, and a chance to perform is an invitation to success. Fourth, if two people are candidates for a promotion to a job that pays 50,000, one person makes 30k and the other 40k, the higher paid person always gets the job. The higher paid person gets the job regardless of talent, contribution or anything else. Corporations usually take the easy way out, and it is easier to promote the higher paid than the lower. Finally, in business, money is the scoreboard: the more you make, the better you’re doing. Simple. 🟢 My take: This is probably counterintuitive to Gen Z. People sometimes turn down higher-paid jobs because they don’t want the extra responsibility, change of lifestyle and I deeply admire that. Work-life balance seems matters now more than it did in 1998. Still, when I started my first job in 30 years ago at 18, this logic made sense. If you want to climb higher, following the money still stands. Line jobs make more money for your corporation. Line jobs bring in money or have a direct relationship with profits and loss. Line and staff distinction is sometimes blurred in corporations, but line jobs are where the action is, salespeople, sales managers, product managers, plant managers, marketing directors, foremen, supervisors, and general managers. Staff jobs are lawyers, planners, data processing people, research and development scientists, administrators of all types. I had to look up “Staff" vs “Line” jobs for a clear distinction. Here’s the breakdown: Definition : Roles directly responsible for achieving the core objectives of the business (production, sales, service delivery, etc.). Authority : Line managers have direct authority over subordinates in the chain of command. Example : In a factory → production supervisors and workers. In a university → lecturers or student-facing staff. Definition : Roles that provide support, advice, or specialist services to help line jobs succeed. They don’t usually have direct authority over operations. Authority : More advisory than directive — they influence through expertise, not direct command. Example : HR, legal, finance, IT support. They provide the tools, policies, and support needed for line staff to deliver. Key Differences Line = “do the work that achieves the mission.” Staff = “support the line so they can do the work.” Authority : Line = direct command in the hierarchy. Staff = advisory, specialist, enabling role. ⠀👉 A quick way to think of it: Line = the frontline of delivering the core business. Staff = the backstage crew that keeps things running smoothly. 🟢 My take: This is where I sometimes felt stuck. I spent years in support roles, and while valuable, they don’t have the same visibility or impact. 🟢 My take: This one is pretty straightforward, and I agree. Dealing with customers is tough. Customers reject. Sellers negotiate. They make harsh demands. They expect their needs to be filled, and they can be fickle. Also, dealing with administrative function is an easier, impersonal and safe task. True executives reorganize companies, eliminate jobs, and excuse the chaos by saying they are two or three levels closer to the customers. There are no barriers between anyone in the corporation and the customers. You must deal with today’s customers and tomorrow’s customers. They provide the ideas for new products and new applications. So be there with your customers. 90% of all people climbing the corporate ladder are out of shape. You will be able to start earlier, pause less often, and end your day with the wind sprint. 🟢 My take: I don’t think (anecdotally) this statistic holds today, but the principle is right. The healthier you are, the more stamina you have to do the work. Again though, being able to do more work is probably not why we would want to keep fit though. Practice something Spartan and individualistic. Do something very few others are willing to do. This gives you toughness and mental strength. Examples: studying late at night for a graduate degree, running long distances in the cold, splitting wood, reading King Lear alone. 🟢 My take: I absolutely agree. I did three degrees in four years - long, lonely hours of work. Same with blogging and writing. Those solitary efforts gave me strength and courage to take on roles I once thought were out of my reach. Never write a memo that criticizes, belittles, or is hurtful. Never write in anger or frustration. Business is small—people move, merge, and reappear. Don’t leave a smoking gun. Spend your energy on positive things. 🟢 My take: I agree 100%. This is crucial. And yet so many of us fall for the heat of the moment. Spend one uninterrupted hour a day planning, dreaming, scheming, and reviewing goals. Write down ideas. Do it at a desk, not while jogging or shaving. Keep notes in your idea notebook. 🟢 My take: This is essential, and I don’t do it enough. I crave it. RELATED: Committing to the Thinking Life Buy a notebook you like and write down all ideas, goals, and dreams. Use it as the source for your lists. 🟢 My take: I had one in Notion, but it became too cluttered. I now have one in Bear. RELATED: One Year With Bear After-work drinks are a waste of time. Don’t drink at lunch or before dinners. Never get tipsy - it shows weakness. 🟢 My take: Counterintuitive, because I’ve built relationships at conferences and work events. But I never drank alcohol, and I always kept control. I see his point: your work should speak for itself. Not much to add. 🟢 My take: I used to smoke, and nothing good came from it except a “smokers’ gang.” (which admittedly I loved). Office parties aren’t social—they’re business. If you must go, stay 45 minutes, drink soda, thank the boss, and leave. 🟢 My take: In past jobs where colleagues became real friends (I moved with my job and work-life balance didn’t exist). But under normal circumstances, and now, this is more or less right. Also, for me, FOMO (fear of missing out) used to get the better if me - now I feel more confident but sometimes I still do for the social side. Every Friday, take someone you rely on (but not in your department) to lunch. Build allies across the company. Peers are rivals, but their support matters. If they speak well of you, others will too. 🟢 My take: True in every workplace. Learn people’s names and roles. Acknowledge them. It makes them feel valued. 🟢 My take: I do this already, though I could improve by remembering more details. Maybe I should start writing things down. Every once in a while, get the highest-ranking person you can to tour and visit your department. Before the tour, write out a single three-by-five index card for every person. On the card, write a one- or two-line report of some achievement or contribution, business or personal, that the person made. Use the cards as cue cards for the top guys so that he can personally, specifically thank and compliment each person. 🟢 My take: This is a really great way to do it. I should actually write these things down for myself with people I work with. This is about being the salesperson who makes one more call, the copywriter who does one more draft, the carpenter who nails one more board. Just go one step further than everybody else. 🟢 My take: I really tend to agree with this. Again, going back to work-life balance in the current generation, I do find that going the extra mile is sometimes lacking. I do try to go the extra mile myself. This is a regular one: show up early, leave late. In those 15 minutes, organize your next day and clean your desk. You will be leaving after 95% of the employees anyway, so a reputation as a hard worker stays intact. 🟢 My take: With work-from-home and flexible hours nowadays, I’m not sure this is as relevant. I do agree with using time at the end of the day to get organized. In the past, some people showed off by sending weekend or late-night emails; now it’s not a good thing to show you are working overtime (we schdule emails and even instant messages). Still, the reality is we often put in those extra hours when we need to. If you always have to take work home, you are not managing your time properly, you are boring, wasting your precious non-work hours—or all of the above. A very busy advertising executive was always bringing home tons of papers. (Fox says executives may take home reading of unimportant memos and monthly reports, but no real work should be done at home.) Your senior management may note you don’t take work home, even if you carry a briefcase, and decide to give you more projects and responsibility - and that’s good. 🟢 My take: I do try not to take work home most of the time, but sometimes it’s inevitable, especially when a lot of work hours are lost in meetings. In every corporation there is at the top a “Cosa Nostra,” an inner special family. This is the group that ultimately decides who becomes CEO and for how long. You must be invited into this inner group. You cannot simply work your way in with talent alone; you must have the same credentials as those in the circle. In some corporations, the top people were all salespeople, or all engineers, or all from a favored division, or a founding family, or some other shared credential. If you can’t get those credentials, maybe you can be the “token outsider.” If not, you may need to move to another corporation where you can. You can become CEO without the credentials, but you won’t last. 🟢 My take: I’ve never been high enough “at the top” to know how this works, but it rings true. Most people leap at the chance to travel with top executives, thinking they can impress them. Don’t do it. Good managers judge results, not clever conversations. 🟢 My take: In the past I thought traveling with leaders was a way up, but it’s not. Counterintuitive, but wise advice. Because you should be traveling alone, and because you spend your days with customers or business, your evenings should be free to work. If you do have a dinner, have a clear objective. Otherwise, use the time to write, read, finish reports, do expenses, etc. 🟢 My take: I learned this when my son was four months old and I had to attend a week-long conference. I skipped networking most nights because I was too exhausted and went to my room to sleep instead. Nothing bad happened. Now I see the wisdom of it: use that time for yourself. Airplane travel is crowded and tiring, but it’s one of the few places with no interruptions. Plan work you can do aloft. 🟢 My take: I agree. Long flights are perfect for catching up on work or personal tasks. Get a big address book or notebook (or use a computer). Keep a file of all the people you meet and what they do. Update it regularly. Send a note every six months to those you don’t see often. Ask for business cards, now you’re in their file too. Keep a backup. Use this file your entire career. 🟢 My take: I used to literally keep this kind of file. I don’t anymore, but I probably should. Connections are important. Mainly about sending personal notes—thank you, praise, congratulations, condolences. 🟢 My take: Maybe not always handwritten anymore, but even an email can go a long way. You and your superiors are business associates, not friends. The same goes for subordinates. Don’t blur the line. 🟢 My take: If both sides have emotional intelligence, it’s possible to be friendly. But in general, boundaries are safer. I’ve seen it go wrong many times. Big problems always surface. If you know of a mistake, tell your boss right away. The longer you wait, the worse it gets. 🟢 My take: I’ve always done this. We all make mistakes, but it’s better to face them and fix them (and get help fixing them) early. Practice WACADAD: Words Are Cheap And Deeds Are Dear. Promote yourself by working on visible projects. Don’t just talk—prove yourself through actions. 🟢 My take: Visibility is vital ( unfortunatelly also, visibility seems to equate to success ). Don’t assume your work will be noticed without you putting it out there. Always use your vacation time, and don’t use it to work. 🟢 My take: This is very 21st-century advice, and I agree - work-life balance matters. If a senior executive asks for something, say yes. Refusing can hurt your career. 🟢 My take: I can’t imagine outright refusing. If I ever did, I’d know it would affect me. 🟢 My take: Well, duh. Getting real promotions usually requires a vacancy up the ladder. Your best chance is to succeed your boss. But she can’t get promoted unless there is someone to replace her. Making her look good improves her promotability, and because you make her look good, she will want you to stay around. You are now promotable. 🟢 My take: Makes perfect sense, helping your boss succeed makes you look better/promotable too. One of the best things that can happen to help your ascendancy in a corporation is to work for a good boss. A good boss trains you to take her place, and when she ultimately gets promoted, you have a chance to progress. Don’t let your good boss make a mistake that could hurt her promotability, because that directly hurts your promotion chances. Don’t let your good boss make a mistake that could hurt your company, because that makes it harder for the company to flourish, and the better your company performs, the more resources are available for rewards. If your boss needs more facts to make a decision, do her homework. If your boss is ill-prepared for a meeting, give her a heads-up briefing. If your boss has a weak presentation, beef it up. Don’t link the potential mistake with your boss personally. Don’t say “you’re making a mistake.” Handle it like this: “Mary, there may be a problem in this budget. It looks like the cost numbers are understated…” Tell everyone who works for you, inside and outside the organization, that they must never let you make a mistake. Be sure your boss knows you have that rule. 🟢 My take: I like this principle. I also like the idea of telling your own team: don’t ever let me make a mistake. Leave the office and take one workday a month, or every three weeks, and go to a local public or university library. Take a big work table and organize all your to-do projects. Knock off the detailed stuff. Get the administrative trivia finished. Organize your big projects into small, digestible pieces. Get your people file up to date, organize your idea book, write all your follow-up memos, customer letters, and thank-you notes. 🟢 My take: Nowadays it’s less about a physical table, but the idea of stepping away to organize and clear admin tasks still makes a lot of sense. To be qualified to be a chief executive officer of a corporation, you must be broad-gauged, widely read, and have diverse interests. You need to see solutions to problems in other cultures, nature, music—anything. You also need focus and discipline. Adding one new, big, permanent fact to your life each year will prepare you for leadership. Learn a language, write a book, take up cooking or photography, breed canaries—anything. 🟢 My take: This is absolutely true. I used to run away from having lots of interests, but now I embrace it. Blogging, study, hobbies - I try to add new things without guilt. Obvious Adams by Robert Updegraff, Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell, the Bible, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, On War by Carl von Clausewitz, The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations , Webster’s Third Unabridged Dictionary , The Forbes Book of Business Quotations edited by Ted Goodman, the complete works of Shakespeare, Ogilvy on Advertising , The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, anything by Thomas Jefferson. 🟢 My take: Very Americanized, but many are worth checking out. If you play football, dress for football. If you go to a dance, dress for a dance. Buy a book on how to dress in business. 🟢 My take: Easier to figure out today than it was back then, but still true. Hire the best people. Attract, motivate, train, and reward the best. Companies that only hire “what they can afford” are headed for mediocrity. Better to hire one exceptional person at 60K than two average people at 25K each. Over-invest with emotional currency as well: trust, independence, praise, freedom, encouragement. 🟢 My take: Absolutely - it’s all about people, whether some like it or not. If a person should be paid five an hour, she knows it. If you pay her 4.75, it will cost you 100 times the savings in sabotage. She will feel cheated. She won’t work the extra hour, she will find a way to punish you for paying her unfairly. If everyone knows the going rate is five, pay her 5.75. You will get much more production because she’ll strive to justify your confidence. 🟢 My take: Completely agree. Fairness and generosity pay back many times over. Presidents reflect. They don’t shoot from the lip. They think, consider, ponder, observe, probe, and listen. Listening is very difficult, especially for aggressive, energetic, bright people. You must train yourself to always be on high receive. Hear the unsaid. Listen to what the eyes, hands, and frowns are saying. Listen to customers, suppliers, colleagues, competitors … everybody. Listening can be learned and practiced. 🟢 My take: Something I need to work on - slow down, stop, and really listen. RELATED: Powerful Questions for Better Listening Skills You must commit yourself totally to your company and to its products and services. When someone says “I think” or “we believe” or “it’s my opinion,” that means they don’t know. Identify what you don’t know and what your organization doesn’t know. Don’t be misled by clever talkers who never leave the office. Get the facts - talk to customers and people who know. 🟢 My take: Yes. Opinions aren’t enough - data and facts matter. Most people look busy but don’t do real work. They manufacture busyness - reports, meetings, memos, forms. That’s the rocking-chair syndrome: lots of motion, no progress. Hard workers spend the same time but use it intensely. They find facts, work out details, consider all options. Success comes from homework. 🟢 My take: Very true. Busy work is easier, but it’s not the same as doing the hard prep that actually matters. RELATED: Delete Your To-Dos Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as remaining cool under all circumstances (Thomas Jefferson). Tantrums, snap decisions, finger pointing, cowardice—these are signs of panic. Good presidents stay calm. 🟢 My take: I used to lose my temper (I started working full time at 18 and I was just so young and passionate about everything), but not anymore. Staying calm is powerful. The winery story in this chapter really proves the point. Poor communication wastes more time and money than anything else. Communication must be precise, complete, and comprehensible. Especially job directions: if people don’t understand, they can’t do it. Excellent managers make people feel that they are asked, not ordered; overpaid, not underpaid; measured, not monitored; needed, not ignored; contributors, not costs. Give everybody 100% credit for the work they do. If you have five people reporting to you and each gets 100%, you get 500%. That’s how it works. 🟢 My take: I’ve always done this naturally - give credit freely. It will always be a good thing. Use good manners with everyone. Be gracious. Never pull rank. 🟢 My take: Politeness costs nothing and pays a lot. Practice and remember to say the following: You remember Larry Kessler in our Accounts Payable department That was a first-class job you did I appreciate your effort I hear nothing but good words about you I’m glad you’re on the team I need your help You’ve certainly earned and deserve this Congratulations It’s the grunt work that counts and begets the glory. It’s the homework, the early mornings, the weekend travel away from home, the checking and rechecking, the trial and error, and the endless hours of inch-by-inch progress that the glamour masks. If you begrudge the groundwork, you will not get the glory. In business, failure costs so much money that almost every company with more than 1,000 employees avoids the risk of innovation. Perhaps 97% of all people in all organizations are afraid of change and innovation. But new ideas and new products are what create new customers and are the wellspring for a company’s vitality and survival. Nurture the good idea. Spend a little, not a lot. Don’t risk big money in the embryonic stage. Get feedback. Tinker with the concept. Tailor it to fill the needs of the target audience. Most importantly, try something. Try this, try that. Don’t talk, don’t have meetings, don’t write memos - do something. Make an ad concept, build a prototype, put out samples. Then tinker some more, tailor it, and try again. If it’s a bad idea, you’ll know. Drop it. If it’s good, you’ll be able to sell it to the corporation. Manage the risk and manage the investment escalation. One business myth is that it’s admirable to be the aggressive, rapid-fire manager who makes one quick decision after another. This style might be okay if decisions can be reversed or if there’s a crisis like a factory fire. But decisions made just for speed’s sake are risky, especially irrevocable ones. You must always think fast and study fast to be able to decide fast. If you find a good thing, no matter how old or prosaic, pour the coals to it. Not every success comes from a breakthrough. The financial objective is to provide a return to shareholders by profitably filling customer needs. If customers like it, don’t change it. Don’t change the label, the ingredients, the name, the price, the advertising, or anything else. Don’t change the formula for success. Enhance it. Always be on the lookout for ideas. Be indiscriminate about the source: customers, children, competitors, cab drivers. It doesn’t matter who thought of the idea, what matters is who implements it. Don’t waste your time. Spend it creating and accomplishing. Let your actions be your politics. In good companies, contributions count. Be the last to know. Don’t get sucked in. Don’t gossip. If someone says “it’s confidential,” don’t ask, don’t answer. Just work. A little vanity is good. Look after yourself and maintain an attractive appearance. Stay trim. Get a proper haircut. Dress with quality. Stay healthy - exercise, eat properly, and take care of yourself. Seek these people out early in your career. Work for them as much as possible. Watch how they handle criticism and problems, note how they manage people, and learn their way. Get your job done on time and within budget. Senior managers promote people who deliver what’s expected. Opponents can be competitors, rival managers, or buying committees. They come in every form -young, old, nerdy, charismatic. Never underestimate their intelligence, time, skill, or capacity for duplicity. If you underestimate them, you may get knocked down. If you overestimate them, you may be pleasantly surprised. The character assassin attacks everyone. That’s his vulnerability. When conversation turns to him, simply say: “Of course, with Mr. X, no one is spared.” Colleagues who’ve been targets too will get the point. The “should have” club is full of non-doers: I should have done that, I could have done that. They never take risks, never win. The “shouldn’t have” club is the winner’s circle. Each time you say “I shouldn’t have done that,” there will be ten other times where you’ll be glad you did. No guts, no glory. If you wait for the perfect time or perfect product, you’ll never start. If the concept is better than what’s on the market, do it. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of better. Execute meticulously—leave nothing undone. Mistakes are milestones. They show action and teach lessons. Keep track of them. Record what went wrong, why, and what you’d do differently. Acknowledging mistakes shows security and confidence. Mistakes are the “exhaust” of active people and often the memorabilia of successful ones. 🟢Note to self: Do this immediately. And thouroughly. Have fun. Laugh. If you make other people’s jobs more fun, they’ll work harder, be more creative, and feel more satisfied. A constant atmosphere of pressure and seriousness is stressful and inefficient. You need their support to succeed. Your spouse and family must be allies in your plans. Put them on your calendar. You must set goals for yourself. Goals shape plans, direct energy, and focus resources. Write them down in your idea notebook. Have business goals and life goals. Plan 25-, 10-, 5-, and 1-year goals. Break them down into monthly, weekly, and daily steps. Every day, take at least one action toward your long-range goals. 🟢My take: Yes, absolutely, even if they are not career goals, we need to know where we’re going. 🟢My take: Probably still very true of high up very corporate. One of the oldest truisms of business: nothing happens until somebody sells something. Most products have to be sold. Selling is key to the enterprise. Learn to sell hard—whether it’s convincing your team to work on Saturday, winning your boss’s approval, or getting a customer’s order. Become a persistent, tenacious salesperson. Find the customer’s needs, show how you’ll meet them, and keep asking for the order until you get it. Many managers think having the biggest staff or budget makes them important. Wrong. The corporation values the manager who gets the job done with less. Don’t always hire more people. Don’t use lack of resources as an excuse. Promotions go to producers, not administrators. Modern corporations are caught in a terrible dilemma. They need to streamline processes, procedures, and cut the bureaucratic creep. Bureaucratic creep describes the incremental growth of red tape in organizations: rules, useless forms, external task forces, old policies, and so on. Corporations need innovation, prudent risk-taking, and entrepreneurship. They need to spend all their resources—money, time, people, and plant—against the marketplace. But corporations drift to administration and paper. Do not get paper-trapped. Do not accept your corporation’s paper handcuffs. Monthly reports are stupid. They are long, boring, late, and examples of creative writing in ancient history. Don’t write any. If they insist, rotate the authorship among your staff. Each person should write what they want. Don’t encourage copying or wide distribution. Saves copying and reading time. Don’t bother reading them yourself. Also, don’t write memos that rehash meetings everyone just attended, trip reports, expense justifications, or anything that does not directly improve your company. 🟢 My take: This is so, so important and yet it’s such an easy trap to fall into! Although some of this is much easier/faster/automated today with AI. Always accept the chance to make a training presentation in your company. No matter what your job is, you can improve your company by teaching others what you do, why you do it, and how you do it, and anything connected with your responsibility. If you have to teach, you will prepare your presentation. Your preparation requires homework, organization, synthesis, and practice. The necessary study and discipline will help you master and add to your knowledge. Companies are filled with idea killers. The idea killers come in all personalities, job titles, shapes, and sizes. They say things like: “We’ve tried it before. Management won’t buy it. We can’t afford it.” Don’t give in. Don’t let up. Idea people build businesses. Builders get to the top. Don’t let the idea killers whittle you into mediocrity. Consider the idea killer as a positive—as an incentive. Treat their negativism as a reason to do more homework. Work harder on the things necessary to make your idea work. Results over effort: Focus on outcomes, not hours/busy work. Deliver measurable value and make your performance visible. Professional presence: Look, act, and communicate like an executive before you become one. Credibility and perception matter. Decision-making: Don’t avoid responsibility. CEOs are decisive and accountable. Networking and relationships: Build strong relationships up, down, and across the organisation. Learn how to make your boss look good. Learning and discipline: Constantly learn about the business, finances, and competitors. Read widely, manage your time rigorously, and keep improving. Integrity and reputation: Be known for reliability, trustworthiness, and discretion. Definition : Roles directly responsible for achieving the core objectives of the business (production, sales, service delivery, etc.). Authority : Line managers have direct authority over subordinates in the chain of command. Example : In a factory → production supervisors and workers. In a university → lecturers or student-facing staff. Definition : Roles that provide support, advice, or specialist services to help line jobs succeed. They don’t usually have direct authority over operations. Authority : More advisory than directive — they influence through expertise, not direct command. Example : HR, legal, finance, IT support. They provide the tools, policies, and support needed for line staff to deliver. Purpose : Line = “do the work that achieves the mission.” Staff = “support the line so they can do the work.” Authority : Line = direct command in the hierarchy. Staff = advisory, specialist, enabling role. You remember Larry Kessler in our Accounts Payable department That was a first-class job you did I appreciate your effort I hear nothing but good words about you I’m glad you’re on the team I need your help You’ve certainly earned and deserve this Congratulations
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