This series of essays were written because there seems to be a large hole in the big universe of articles, commentaries, talks, studies, documentaries and books written about corporate life.
The following are among the most commonly covered categories:
Bad corporate behavior
With every year there is no shortage of articles, documentaries and books about how corporations behave badly and how they have too much influence in peoples lives and politics. There is also a lot written on the silliness of corporate life with many TV comedy shows and movies placed in corporate settings. Although much of this content is fair and warranted, the problem is that a vast majority of the people creating this content have either no or very little (usually less than 5 years) work experience in corporations. Their content may be of value, but it’s not likely to provide the authentic and credible perspective of an insider. Many are also just superficial hit pieces or obvious satire.
Academic studies and books
Academic studies and books, typically written by professors, professional authors, consultants or graduate students, can provide valuable insight into corporations. They are typically done with an attempt to be objective, analogous to anthropological studies, and they are also built to withstand the rigors of the academic peer review process. While an outsider’s view can provide insights that may not be known to insiders, the academics are still ultimately outsiders. The authors often spend only brief periods studying individual companies; usually less than a year and often for only for a few weeks. Many of these people also often have little to no actually real work life experience. In particular, they have rarely experienced the daily grind of a long commute followed by a long day in a corporate setting where people are judged not by their peers, but by their customers. This is a key distinction between academics and people who work in for-profit companies.
CEO memoirs
Unlike the first two categories, CEOs are insiders. They have typically worked for decades in corporate life and know through first-hand experience what it’s like to live the corporate lifestyle. A lot of wisdom can be gleaned from their content because CEOs are a special and unique breed. For instance, being number two or less is simply unacceptable for most CEO types. This means that they are the only person in a incorporation that is not a follower. Everyone else, including top C-level executives are ultimately followers of someone. Unfortunately, given the unique nature of their role and personality type, their content is probably not the best content for understanding corporate life for the average person because most people are far from even being number two, let alone being number one in the company. While their books may be inspiring, they usually do not include detailed practical advice for average people.
The hole
What is missing in most of the content written about corporate life is the perspective of a middle manager who has spent decades in corporate life with reasonably good success. This person distinguishes themselves from most other authors because they are insiders and they have lived the corporate life. On the other hand, they are not CEOs, so they are likely to relate better to the vast majority of people entering life in a corporation. They are not corporate cheerleaders, but also not bitter refugees of corporate life. The content on this website, “The Corporate Path”, attempts to fill the hole with a compilation of advice from someone who has spent over 30 years working in the institutions that we call corporations as a seasoned middle manager with well-earned scars. The advice is practical and applicable for most people working in corporations or considering corporate life. Per the Introduction section of the website, the objective of this book is to describe corporate life and help people decide on whether it makes sense for them.