Find Allies: They Open Doors to Success

This article is based on the book: Unwritten Rules: Cracking Corporate Canada’s Hidden Codes: How a Senegalese Immigrant Learned to Work Twice as Hard, Think Three Steps Ahead, and Redefine Success In any tough environment—whether a new workplace, a foreign country, or a competitive industry—success rarely comes alone. Systems can feel like mazes, with hidden codes and barriers that favor insiders. The key to navigating them? Allies. Finding and building relationships with those who see your worth can unlock doors that effort alone can’t budge. Allies don’t carry you; they amplify your strengths, offering guidance, trust, and opportunities. Here’s how to find and leverage them to break through, drawn from lessons of connection and resilience. Recognizing the Right Allies Allies aren’t always the loudest voices or the highest ranks—they’re the ones who value your results over your differences. In a national equipment rental company, a leader clapped a professional’s shoulder, calling them “a machine” for delivering 20 projects per quarter, far outpacing peers (Unwritten Rules, Chapter 5). That trust turned Canada’s sprawling branches into a stage for growth, leading to a Senior Internal Auditor role. Look for those who notice your work, not your background. They might be a manager who praises your precision, like the director in a small Ontario town who saw gold in a resume and offered a direct contract (Unwritten Rules, Chapter 4), or a colleague who asks genuine questions ab