TikToker and tech CEO Theresa Sue (@resasue) who describes herself as the “Founding Father of #techtok” on the popular social media platform, often uploads content pertaining to her work in the corporate tech space, along with suggestions for other users on how to best navigate their professional lives.
She recently posted that the most valuable asset anyone in corporate America can have is emotional maturity, which sparked a discussion in the comments section of her now-viral clip.
In the video, Theresa explains that as a long-time tech worker now-turned-CEO, she will share the “number tip to survive in the corporate world.”
“I do not feel this way personally about my employees but I’m gonna tell you guys the truth,” she says. “Emotional maturity is the best thing you could do for your career. Why? Because HR doesn’t care, your boss doesn’t care, and more than likely your peers don’t care and they’re setting you up. OK?”
“Don’t go crying to the people who don’t care about you, go cry to your grandma, your mom, your best friend, your dad, whoever,” she continues. “What you need to do is document what you have to, and use it when you need to. Thank me later.”
@resasue How to survive in the corporate world? #corporatetiktok #andGO #techtok ♬ original sound – Theresa Sue
Theresa’s comments sparked a litany of different reactions in the comments section. There were some people who remarked that this was exactly what their time in corporate America was like, with others asking questions on how to best document and go about handling workplace conflicts in an emotionally mature way.
There were also some viewers who watched her video and expressed that their experiences with some human resources professionals altered from hers; they felt that the employees were sincere and genuinely did care about them.
Others remarked that whether co-workers or HR employees intrinsically “cared” about their struggles at work was an irrelevant fact as they would need to perform their documentation duties regardless, so they should be more invested in getting these tasks done before worrying about whether someone at work liked them or not.
“Facts!!!!!!!!been in tech for almost 2 years now and I learned really fast!” one user wrote.
“I don’t disagree but also…there are plenty of HR professionals, leaders, and co workers who absolutely support you and care. Go be in those spaces,” another shared.
“Documentation is key,” a third agreed.
“Yup. Keep quiet as well . Friendly but not too much,” another said.
Others summed up Theresa’s arguments a bit more simply.
“It’s the workplace not high school. HR won’t do much and it’s probably better to get a therapist instead,” a user wrote.
Forbes penned a piece in 2019 that listed “8 reasons to be afraid” of Gen Z employees in the workplace, citing analyses by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt that says there are some guiding perceptions of Gen Z that oppose some modes of thought previous generations before them possessed, namely: “what doesn’t kill you makes you weaker…always trust your feelings…[and that] life is a battle between good and evil people.”
These fundamental differences in belief on larger philosophical principles, Haidt says, affect the way Gen Z works. This is especially true in regard to one’s “feelings” taking precedence over actionable tasks at hand that need to be completed. This phenomenon is what Theresa is referring to: actively voicing out one’s grievances with a task without recording the physical work done.
Haidt says that these three traits can prove difficult in team scenarios with some Gen Z employees because, “Working in a company requires very high levels of cooperation, and an ability to submerge your own concerns for the good of the team. Such norms are incompatible with the callout culture and safetyism that some recent college graduates are taking with them into the workplace.”
The same Forbes article argues, however, that like any cultural shift of mentalities, attempting to alter/adjust said personalities to align with those of previous generations is more than likely a fool’s errand: “Yet instead of being deluded that we will ever succeed in changing or managing them, perhaps older generations simply need to get to understand Gen Z as well as we possibly can. In the process, it’s possible Gen Z may get to understand us, too.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Theresa via email for further comment.
