The last few weeks had been a huge tailspin for me. I attribute it to the multitude of challenges compounded upon each other - first, the physical distancing barrier, then the business-cultural aspect of it and then the technicalities of the underlying business.

To add on, while investment and banking is not unfamiliar to me, the work of public relations and investor relations remains uncharted territory.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that the mindset that one takes into any job, any role, any engagement.

1. Never take on a job purely because of money. This might be one of the most important starting points in terms of getting the right mindset. Money is of course important but the experience of taking on the engagement should enable you to grow as a person, forge new relationships, learn new things that you never knew before, and naturally add to your professional credentials. To add on: Never switch jobs solely because the pay on the other side is higher. The "intangible assets" that you give up from making that move might cost you a lot more in the future.
   

2. Never wear your designation / rank like a "political shield" or a "badge of honor", and let it get in the way of what you should be saying and doing. Most of the people that I know like to flaunt their status of being a VP, Director or being in C-suite roles. That kind of ego wears off fast when things go bad. The ability to be hands-on and execute will eventually outlive ego.
   

3. Never stop moving or learning.

Towards the ending scenes in the movie, The Martian, Matt Damon (as Mark Watney the astronaut) talks to a class at NASA saying:

"At some point, everything's gonna go south on you and you're going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That's all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem and you solve the next one, and then the next. And If you solve enough problems, you get to come home."

He didn't survive the journey back home by squatting in space, flaunting his celebrity status as an astronaut and griping about how people back on earth could have done better in trying to rescue him.

Whether it is a Fortune 500 company, a small medium enterprise or a start up, the foundational principle of any organization is just to "get things done."

A true entrepreneur - whether running his/her own business or working in someone else's organization - doesn't care about pride or rank. He/she just cares about getting the job done and getting paid for it.

Unfortunately, most people out there aren't entrepreneurs, so excuses such as not being paid enough or avoiding assignments outside their work scope becomes the common excuse.

And for all the people out there who think that they are "too senior" to be hands-on or doing grunt work: I still take a lot of pride in being able to build a three-statement financial model from scratch. I consistently do this during the classes that I teach at SMU and remind everyone that it is really not that difficult.

If you refrain from revisiting the basics every now and then just because you think you are "too senior" to be working on models, you are going to regret it much later on in life with that kind of mentality.

Keep telling yourself that you are too good or qualified for any job or you should be getting more credit for your work and you'll also find yourself in a lot of trouble when you get older.