The career advice I would give ‘if I wasn’t afraid to hurt your feelings’

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski has some career guidance to share, provided you have “thick skin.”

In a video he posted on Instagram on Dec. 10, titled “Tough Love with the McDonald’s CEO,” Kempczinski revealed the professional advice he would tell people “if I wasn’t afraid to hurt your feelings.”

That advice is, “Nobody cares about your career as much as you do,” he said.

Even if you have a great boss or mentor, it’s rare to have someone “who’s looking out for you, who’s going to make sure that you get that opportunity,” Kempczinski says.

Don’t wait for someone to shepherd you through your career, he says: “You’ve got to own it, you’ve got to make things happen for yourself.”

Bonnie Hammer, the former vice chairman of NBCUniversal, shared similar advice for young professionals in a May appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

In her view, Gen Z workers are “far less prepared” to hustle than previous generations, she said on “Squawk Box.”

“Their assumption is, ‘I went to college. I got a degree. I was always told once I graduated, I would then get a job. If I got really good grades, I’d get a great job.’ And that’s not what’s happening,” Hammer said.

Instead, young professionals have to “create the opportunities for themselves,” she said.

To get ahead, new grads should be “putting up their hand” and volunteering for “every opportunity that’s out there,” Hammer said.

The advice he still relies on

In another video he posted on Instagram earlier this month, Kempczinski shared a tip he received earlier in his career that he said he still follows today: “Be organized.”

Kempczinski prioritizes keeping his workspace neat, he said: “If you go into my inbox, I have a very clean inbox. My desk is pretty clean. I don’t have a lot of clutter on my computer,” he said.

Having a clean environment helps him stay focused “on the things that are most important,” he said.

Organizing consultant Marie Kondo also champions the benefits of a tidy workspace.

“When your office space is organized, it will result in increased efficiency because your use of time becomes much more productive,” she told CNBC Make It in 2017.

Being organized can create “real transformation in your career,” she said: “You’ll be much more comfortable in your office space and that contributes to your overall performance and your creativity.”

According to Barbara Corcoran, keeping an organized calendar is the secret to her success. Corcoran shared in 2024 that her method is to make a list of her top priorities and then “hammer them all out” in her calendar in advance.

She assigns each task on her list to a specific day: “I put all my household things that I want to accomplish on Tuesday morning, [and] I do all my organizational projects on Friday, because I’m looking forward to the next week and I can organize better,” she said.

This approach helps her keep track of her busy schedule and stay productive, she said.

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