The Brutal Truth About Careers: What Nobody Tells You in the Corporate Circus
Welcome to Season 4 of Truth Shots with Kapil – where we don’t decorate conversations with buzzwords, and we don’t serve watered-down truths. We serve them raw.
Episode 6 was a masterclass in career reality-checks. My guest, Kaushik Mitra, is the CFO of PepsiCo India and South Asia. A man who has spent decades in boardrooms across continents, managing billions, building teams, and leading through crises. But here’s the twist: this episode wasn’t about balance sheets and profit margins. It was about the real ledger of careers – where entitlement, shortcuts, and leadership illusions get exposed.
This was the brutal truth about careers – the side nobody talks about in glossy motivational books or seminars.
If you’re expecting motivational fluff about “follow your dreams” or “the universe will conspire” … wrong episode. This one’s about why most employees fail, why promotions aren’t instant noodles, and why culture will eat you alive if you don’t get it right.
Employeeship: More Than Punching a Clock
Here’s the thing nobody tells you: showing up isn’t the same as doing the job.
90% of employees, according to Kaushik, just do the bare minimum. Punch in, punch out. They think survival in the corporate world is about attendance. Newsflash – it’s not.
Kaushik broke it down beautifully: “Employeeship” is about bringing your head, heart, and soul to work. If you don’t bring your full self to the table, you’re replaceable. And the corporate system won’t even blink when it replaces you.
I’ve run startups. I’ve seen employees with shiny CVs who couldn’t give half their soul to a project. They were talented, yes. But they didn’t last. Because talent without ownership is dead weight.
So here’s your wake-up call: stop thinking your degree or your years of experience entitle you to a career. What entitles you is employeeship – and that’s not negotiable. This is part of the brutal truth about careers that too many professionals learn the hard way.
Ownership Without Shares
We live in a world where people think, “I’ll act like an owner when I get equity.” Absolute nonsense.
Kaushik nailed it: you don’t need shares to think like an owner. Ownership is about accountability. It’s about acting like the shareholder is sitting right next to you, watching every move.
Here’s my translation: if you treat your work like it belongs to someone else, don’t expect respect, promotion, or longevity.
You want to stand out? Start by working like the outcome actually matters to you. Because if the company sinks, your paycheck sinks with it. Simple math. Another piece of the brutal truth about careers that no one sugarcoats.
No Shortcuts. No Excuses.
Let me say this as plainly as possible: there are no shortcuts in work.
Kaushik used a cricket analogy that I loved: Sachin can score a century, but if India loses, nobody remembers the century. They remember the loss.
The same applies to corporate life. You can be brilliant, you can deliver a personal milestone, but if the team or project fails, your brilliance is irrelevant. And if you try to “shortcut” your way to success, you’ll fail faster than you think.
Good employees know this truth: there’s no hack for hard work. And that, too, is part of the brutal truth about careers.
My Brutal Appraisal Formula
When I ran my first startup, appraisals were simple. Ruthless, yes, but fair. Here was the formula:
- Company first.
- Clients second.
- Team third.
- You last.
If the company didn’t perform, if clients weren’t happy, if the team didn’t win, don’t come to me saying, “But I did well.” Because if the project failed, you failed. Period.
That’s the problem with the way most companies handle appraisals. They make it about individual brownie points instead of business outcomes. My formula cut the crap. And it worked. Another lesson in the brutal truth about careers.
Promotions Aren’t Instant Noodles
Now let’s tackle the millennial and Gen Z obsession: promotions in 12 months.
Everyone wants to be a manager before they’ve even learned how the company works. Kaushik and I agreed – Year 1 is for learning. Year 2 is for contributing. And if you survive that, then you earn the right to grow.
But today, staying in a job for three years is called “job hugging.” Cute phrase, but idiotic logic. You can’t build credibility, depth, or mastery in under two years. Patience isn’t outdated; it’s survival.
So, to all the 23-year-olds demanding corner offices in a year: sit down, learn, and contribute. Success isn’t a food delivery app. The brutal truth about careers is that growth takes time.
Culture Eats Leaders Alive
You’ve heard the cliché: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Let me rewrite it: Culture eats bad leaders alive.
Kaushik explained it simply – culture is how employees feel about the company when rewards don’t match effort. In good times, anyone can lead. In bad times, real leaders show up.
And if you think leadership is about giving motivational speeches or handing out pizza parties, let me save you some trouble: your employees can see through that. Culture is about trust. It’s about fairness. It’s about making people feel valued even when the numbers don’t add up. This is a critical part of the brutal truth about careers and leadership.
Mental Health Isn’t a Framework
This was one of my favorite parts of the conversation.
Kaushik admitted there were days he was stressed, and instead of popping a pill, he picked up his guitar. And it worked.
That’s the point. Mental health isn’t a “problem” to fix with a one-size-fits-all corporate framework. It’s personal. It’s individual. For one person it’s music, for another it’s running, for someone else it’s therapy.
The mistake organizations make is trying to apply the same formula to everyone. It doesn’t work. People aren’t machines; they’re individuals. Recognizing this is also part of the brutal truth about careers that leaders ignore at their own risk.
Final Truth Shot
This episode wasn’t a corporate workshop. It was a dismantling of illusions.
Here’s what I want you to take away:
- Employeeship is survival.
- Ownership is about mindset, not shares.
- Shortcuts don’t work.
- Promotions require patience.
- Culture is everything.
- And mental health is individual, not institutional.
If you’re an employee, this should scare you. If you’re a leader, this should wake you up. And if you’re someone stuck in the middle, this should give you clarity.
Because careers aren’t built on job titles. They’re built on truth. And in this episode, we told it straight. If you’re ready for the brutal truth about careers, this is the episode you can’t afford to miss.
️ Watch the full episode of Truth Shots with Kapil Gupta – Season 4, featuring Kaushik Mitra, live now on my YouTube channel @kgismofficial.
