When I started working, no one told me I needed to learn a new language. No one told me there was vocabulary specific to my chosen career. We weren’t taught the basics of Office Politics and Culture in college.
Unprepared, we were thrown to the boss-wolves and left to navigate on our own. Some of us learned quickly and adapted with grace and humor. Others did not find their way, got fired and had to try again.
At each step of my career, I have had to “walk the walk” and “talk the talk.” I have had to command the lingo to be in the know. As a shortcut to this proficiency, I’m sharing 100 terms YOU need to know. Whether you’ve been working for one week or 40 years, this list gets to the heart of the matter. Enjoy its humor and analogies … and use it for real life success.
- Accountable: Responsible. Owning up to your work and mistakes. You are paid to be accountable.
- “Aflac”: Find something to say when you don’t know what to say, like the clever Aflac Insurance duck.
- Agenda: Something you should have. It should be your own.
- “At the end of the day”: It’s always about the bottom line.
- At-will Employee You can be fired for no reason.
- Audience Anyone who will listen to you.
- Bandwagon A collection of followers, basically anyone with a pulse.
- Boss Someone who has power over you, but not ownership of your soul …. although she/he might think she/he does.
- Bottom Line: It’s always about money.
- Boundaries: Never cross into someone’s personal space.
- Brand: Think Coca-Cola.
- Brand Equity: The commercial value of a brand based on consumers’ perceptions of it. When you get it right, you can’t even imagine the money it makes.
- Brand Identity: An immediately recognizable association, like Coca-Cola’s red and white label.
- Brand Loyalty: When you’re so sucked-in, you believe you can’t live without it.
- Bridge Burning: Control yourself. Don’t do it! Poof – and there goes your chat and hum list (networking).
- Burn Rate: How fast you blow through money.
- Buy-In: Sell this idea, and you get what you need.
- Buzz Word: A hot word or phrase that everyone is using … like “buzz word.”
- C.O.B.: Close of Business. Really, FedEx’s last pick-up.
- Campaign: The big push.
- Career: Your chosen professional path or pursuit.
- Chain of Command: Structured levels of authority – like the monkey bars.
- Collaboration: Playing nice.
- Competition: Everyone.
- Competitive Set: People who do what you do.
- Compromise: I give; you give.
- Conflict of Interest: An excuse to get excused.
- Contact: Everyone you know … and everyone they know.
- Control: What everyone wants, but few have.
- Corporate Culture: Big, vague buzz phrase that gets thrown around to describe a company’s feeling or mood.
- Deadline: The ultimate excuse, as in “I’ll get to that later. I’m on deadline.”
- Deal: Coping mechanism when you can’t mutually agree.
- Decision Maker: The person with the power.
- Deliverables: The project you were supposed to get done yesterday.
- Demographic: A defined group of people, usually set to be lured in.
- Diplomacy: Whatever happens, just keep your mouth shut.
- Documentation: The happy paper trail.
- Due Diligence: Doing your homework.
- Empower: Be confident and mindful. You can do it!
- Face Time: Sitting next to your boss in a meeting – in real life, in real time.
- Feedback: Opinions, anyone? Look out below!
- Fiscal Year: A financial period covering 12 months of the year. Doesn’t necessarily begin Jan. 1 and end Dec. 31.
- Flexibility: Can you bend over backwards if you need to?
- Focus: Keep your eye on the ball … but don’t ignore the periphery.
- Goals: If you don’t know your goals, you are probably going the wrong way.
- Grace Period: An excuse to not give you benefits.
- Gross vs. Net: Holy Taxes, Batman!
- Ground Rules: Read “Samson and Goliath.”
- Gut: Something you SHOULD trust. In other words, trust yourself.
- Harassment: A surefire path to a lawsuit.
- Human Resources: What the camp counselor does at the office.
- Influencer: Not the decision-maker, but someone whose opinion REALLY counts. (e.g. “I heard she’s lazy; don’t hire her.”)
- Input: The thing no one will ask you for.
- Integrity: The most important quality. Care about it.
- Insubordination: A big word with a pink slip attached.
- Joke: Learn to tell one. Don’t become the butt of one.
- Leadership: Where you want to be. Either you’re a leader, or you’re not. There’s no gray area.
- Liaison: Does anyone say this in real life? So, never use this word on your resume.
- Loyalty: An archaic word that is almost meaningless in the 21st century.
- Market Research: What you say you’re doing when surfing the Internet at your desk.
- Marketing: The science of getting noticed.
- Mentors: Your personal board of advisors.
- Micro-manager: An uber-control freak.
- Mission Statement: A master plan outlining a company’s identity and focus.
- Move on: N-E-X-T!
- Multitasking: The best way to stay busy all day and accomplish nothing.
- NDA: Non-Disclosure Agreement. You promise to keep your mouth shut.
- Negotiate: Use the ability to bluff to get what you want.
- Networking: Your strategy to exist – but it can also help your exit strategy.
- No: Translation: “Come back, and ask me later.”
- Office Politics Mastering the game of knowing the right people and not pissing off the wrong people.
- Open Door Policy: A myth. Remember the mantra: “Keep your mouth shut.”
- Options: Options are oxygen. They enable freedom and progress.
- Org Chart: A hierarchical flowchart of who reports to whom.
- Paranoid: Suffering from a contagious condition that starts at the top.
- Pitch: Making a convincing argument so people say “yes.” See Buy-In.
- Playing field: Where the games are played.
- Priorities: Turn off the TV. First things first … And a manicure every Wednesday at 1 p.m.
- Professional: Staying cool and objective. Knowing your place on the monkey bars. Excelling at your job. Having extraordinary manners. Respecting other people. And doing it every day.
- Professional Development: Go ahead. Take that wine course already.
- Public Relations: A bunch of people who make or break careers.
- Quarters: How the year is broken up: January-March, April-June, July-September, October-December.
- Relationships: Develop the right set of these, and your career will be golden..
- Reputation: The thing that will take you UP or OUT. Not necessarily based on reality.
- Resource: If you’re smart, you should become one.
- Retention Strategy: Bribery and/or seduction.
- Revenue: Top line or gross income brought in by a company yearly. Creative accounting anyone?
- Risk: Being bigger than your fears. It’s the only way you’ll win.
- Save Face: Cover your ass.
- Severance Package: A consolation prize upon getting let go – such as money, free vacation or time to figure out your next move.
- Skill Set: Taught or innate abilities that get things done. However, unless you have grit, skills will mean nothing.
- Strategic: Mapping out a successful plan to get to Bergdorf’s Super Sale and back to your desk by the end of lunch hour.
- Stress: The ability to eat an entire bag of Dorito’s in one sitting.
- Success: You decide what this means to you.
- Team Player: Just pretend.
- The Big Picture: What you don’t see. (Disclaimer: This phrase will be used to shut you up.)
- Up to Speed: Knowing exactly what the hell is going on.
- Vision: A grand but elusive idea that may change as soon as someone else has a different vision.
- Yes: A rare utterance. Respond with, “Thank you.” Then go away before they change their minds.
- Zero Tolerance: Whatever it is, don’t even think about doing it. You’ll get fired if you do.
