How People Really Get On at Work

Careers rarely advance for the reasons we expect.

Technical skill matters. Intelligence matters. Hard work matters. Yet across organisations and industries, these qualities alone do not explain who is trusted, who is influential or who progresses over time.

In How People Really Get On at Work, Fiona Kalaf examines the quieter forces that shape working lives: behaviour, judgement and conduct. Drawing on long observation of professional environments, she explores how small, repeated actions — often overlooked or dismissed — accumulate into reputation, influence and opportunity.

This is not a book of tips or techniques. It does not offer formulas, frameworks or shortcuts. Instead, it names the unspoken curriculum of work: how people are read, how trust is built or eroded, and how standards are set through everyday behaviour.

From discretion and candour to emotional control, presence and generosity, the chapters consider what experienced professionals notice — and quietly reward — long before anything is formalised.

Written for thoughtful readers navigating complex organisations, this book offers clarity without cynicism and guidance without instruction.

It is for those who want to understand not just how to perform at work, but how to conduct themselves within it.