Know somebody just starting out? Here are the truths that will put them on the track to success

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We interrupt our normal adult-directed blog to give some advice to young business people, just starting out. This article contains the truths that are not imparted by the educational system. Most people discover these truths, one at a time, in the school of hard knocks. Knowing these truths, and taking them to heart, will make it much easier to succeed in the world of business, either as an employee or as a business owner.

To my regular readers, I invite you to pass this along to deserving proteges.

Truth #1: Character counts.

Contrary to what you might see on TV and in movies, most business people are just regular people working to make a living. They are helpful, knowledgeable, responsible and dedicated.

Sure, there are some bad apples who make it to the top, and when they're caught, it makes for a big story. But I've worked with thousands of business people, and I've found that less than 10% of them are jerks.

If you need to act like a jerk and still get ahead, start a rock band. Success in business requires cooperation.

If you act like a jerk at work, you will win a few battles at the expense of others, but you will lose the war. Your victims will find a way to get even - when you're not expecting it.

Truth #2: Internal politics will be the biggest barrier to your success.

Those who don't cooperate with you will be competing with you. They will find ways to undercut and discredit everything you are trying to do.

You must learn to quickly distinguish between those who will cooperate with you and those who will compete. This isn't as easy as it sounds, because some competitors are experts at behaving like cooperators. Listen to what they say, but also watch what they do. Their actions will reveal their true character.

Your goal should be to work closely with the cooperators, helping them all you can. They will naturally help you in return, because cooperators love helping other cooperators.

You must also learn how to deal with the competitors. First, you'll have to forgive them, because if you don't, they will drive you crazy. Then, the most effective way to keep them from undermining you is to call them at their game. In other words, you just calmly describe whatever they did that was sneaky and underhanded. It's best to do this in a meeting, so you have witnesses who also observed (and probably suffered from) the jerk's negative behavior. "Gee, it's interesting that you bring that up now, Bob - long after we had discussed that and thought we had resolved it. I wonder why you didn't mention it when we discussed it?"

They won't like you saying this, but it won't increase their hate for you. Jerks will hate you from the moment they meet you, if you are a straight shooter. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain - including the respect of the other cooperators, who will be impressed that someone called a competitor at his game.

Truth #3: You won't be made a manager when you first get out of school.

I can't tell you how many times a recent college grad has said to me, "I want to be in management." Well, guess what. It ain't gonna happen until you have earned the right.

You have to know what you're doing before you can supervise it. That means you have to get as much experience as you can, "doing it."

Don't be afraid to take on the less-glamorous jobs. It won't stop you from moving up, if you always keep looking for new opportunities. And, learning how to actually do things - and how things really work - will give you the experience you need to make relevant and wise decisions when you finally do earn the right to be a manager.

True story: A very wealthy man owned a large company. Someone else actually ran the company. No employee had actually ever met the real owner. At least, that's what they thought. In fact, the owner of the company worked as the company's janitor. He learned more walking around the offices and cleaning up, after all the employees had gone home, than he ever would in a lofty management position.

It will take longer for you to get promoted than you think it should. You judge yourself by your plans; your managers judge your readiness by your past performance. They will only promote you when your performance warrants it - and when they have a spot that you can fill. If someone else is in that spot, and is doing an OK job, your manager won't want to replace that OK person with an untested person (you). There will be times in your career when the only way to get promoted is to leave your current company for a different company offering a better job.

Truth #4: Your only life-long "job security" will be your ability to continue learning and apply what you learn.

Things change. Fast. You're going to be working for the next 40 years or so. You will probably have to re-invent yourself at least four times during your career. Don't let yourself get comfortable. You need to keep challenging yourself. That is how to stay at the top of your game.

Truth #5: Little things matter. But make sure they're the right little things.

Here's a little thing that makes a big difference: the file name of your resume document should include your name, as in "KristinZhivagoResume.doc." Why is this important? Because every single business person, including the ones you are hoping will hire you, organize their work via their email messages and document files. Don't do what so many do and call your resume "Resume.doc." Make it easy for the big dog to find your resume before he interviews you.

Whenever you send something to someone, think about the other person. What are they going to do with your document after you send it? Probably forward it and/or file it. If you want to be hired, the first thing you need to do is make your resume easy to find.

Truth #6: What you say in your emails, documents, and website will determine if you get the job - or not.

When you're looking for a job, the main tools you'll be using to get an interview are email messages, attached documents, and your website. What you write will either help you or hurt you. The first thing the recipient will pay attention to is the tone. Is this person positive, pleasant, polite, and confident? Or negative, presumptuous, or tentative?

Then the recipient will focus on the writing itself. How well is this written? Is it filled with typos and spelling errors? Trash it. Is it difficult to follow? Trash it. Does it honestly convey the facts, or is something "not quite right"? Trash it!

Remember, it takes less time and energy for someone to reject something than it does to accept and pursue it. As the recipient tries to focus on your message in the midst of a busy day, he will be happy to find any excuse to trash your message and move on to his next task. Your messages must be concise, courteous, and grammatically correct if you expect to be accepted and pursued.

Truth #7: The sure-fire way to have enough retirement money is to put at least 10% of every single check into the bank.

Putting 10 to 20% of every check into the bank is the most reliable key to financial security. At first, it will only lower your standard of living slightly, but after a few years you will have accumulated a significant amount of money. The best use of money is to keep the wolf away from the door. Living from paycheck to paycheck is not a formula for a happy life.

Learn about compound interest, which is what happens when you continue to re-invest your investment earnings, adding them to your original investment (the "principal"), over and over. You can get a feeling of the growth power of compounded interest by typing some numbers into this compound interest calculator.

Truth #8: Starting your own business will take four times the amount of time and money you think it will. Having enough cash on hand will be your biggest problem.

You can create lovely spreadsheets that paint a rosy picture of your prospects. But in the real world, people buy things that are familiar or appear to be trustworthy. You won't be either of those things when you first start out. You will have to build familiarity and trust. This takes time and money and an incredible amount of energy and self-discipline.

If you think you're working hard now, just wait until you start your own business. It's one of the true tests of character - which is one of the reasons it's so much fun. There's a lot of satisfaction to be had, if you can provide something that people really want or need.

Truth #9: He who dies with the fewest regrets is rich indeed.

Regrets don't matter much when you're young. Assuming you've grown up in normal circumstances, you haven't had the time to create many regrets. But, once and a while you will make a very stupid decision, one that you will seriously regret later.

Regrets are not problems you can solve. They are situations that you cannot fix, that you cannot go back and undo, that you will have to live with for the rest of your life.

That's why wise adults are always telling you to be careful. They want to save you from regrets. As you earn a living, you'll want to do it with as few regrets as possible.

Where do regrets come from? Bad decisions. Let's say you get so excited about an idea or a person that you chose to ignore some nagging doubts. You decide "what the hell," (interesting term) and you go ahead with something that you know, in your heart of hearts, is not likely to turn out well. When it turns out badly, you can add insult to injury by deciding to denying it, rationalizing it, and/or blaming others - which guarantees that you will make the same kinds of stupid decisions down the road.

Try to make wise decisions. If you make a bad decision, face it and fix it. Apologize to others, and do better next time. Before you jump in next time, ask yourself: "Could I regret this? If so, why?"

The "future you" is the same person you are now, not someone you don't have to worry about. Today, you are living with the consequences of past decisions and actions. Your future will be no different.

Truth #10: Success in life and work comes from balancing the Three R's: Risks, Rewards, and Regrets.

These are the real tradeoffs you must master if you want to get ahead. You will definitely have to take some risks. But there are smart risks and stupid risks. Smart risks are the kind where you decide to do something honorable or difficult. Stupid risks are the kind where the evidence points to a disastrous outcome, but you convince yourself that this time is going to be the exception.

The trick with rewards is to ignore them. This is what the most successful people do. Focus on intelligent processes, and on excellence, and you'll have plenty of rewards. Fixate on the reward, and you will end up making foolish decisions that you will come to regret.

When you do your best in every situation, your life and your career will be filled with many rewards and very few regrets.