In the old working world, the one our
parents knew, having a steady job was the pinnacle. If you had a job
where you were well-liked and well-respected and your hard work was
rewarded, you had it made.
Those days are gone! Now a job is just a gig. Nobody knows how long their job will last. Any job could disappear tomorrow.
I
used to jokingly tell participants in our workshops that nobody could
offer you job security except the Vatican, but even those folks have
downsized their staff at various times. There is only one person who can
give you job security now, and that person is you.
You
will grow your own job security in yourself. Once you know very clearly
what kind of pain you solve for your employers and clients and you know
how much that pain costs them until you show up to solve it, you have
more job security — that is, income security — than most people do.
You will certainly have more income security than any employer could give you, even with an employment contract.
Because
you are running your own career now, you need more from a job than just
a paycheck. You deserve more, because the people you choose to spend
your precious time with can either grow your income security or diminish
it.
If you’re learning something
new almost every day at work, your income security is increasing. If
you’re accumulating fantastic new Dragon-Slaying Stories that you can
bring (and sell) to the next employer or client, your job is a job worth
having.
If you aren’t learning
anything new and you aren’t collecting Dragon-Slaying Stories, then what
is your job giving you? Just a paycheck is not enough!
If
your job is crushing your flame by treating you badly and paying you
less than you know you’re worth, it’s a disservice to yourself and
anyone who relies on you for you to stick around any longer than you
have to.
You can get a quiet job search going next week and be out of a mojo-crushing job by springtime.
It’s
your choice — but then again, every decision in your career is your
choice. Our employers don’t manage our careers for us anymore — we
manage them ourselves!
Here are five things you deserve to get from any job you take, apart from your paycheck:
Meaty Projects to Work On
You
won’t grow your flame doing the same kind of work you’ve already done
for years. You need new challenges to keep growing your muscles and your
resume. The right job gives you a new hill to climb the minute you
summit the last hill. If your job isn’t letting you grow, the job
doesn’t deserve you anymore!
Smart People to Learn from and Collaborate With
There
is nothing worse than being the smartest or most intellectually-curious
person on your team. If you don’t have people around you to brainstorm
with, your muscles begin to atrophy. The right job is a place where
good ideas are always bouncing around. If that doesn’t describe your
workplace, Mother Nature would like a word with you.
Headroom
If
the work you’re doing at your job now is all the company wants you to
do and you don’t see any way to grow, how could the job possibly deserve
the time and energy investments you’re making in it?
The
right job gives you room to grow — maybe up the organizational chart
into a management job, or maybe sideways or in some other creative
direction. If you don’t see a future in your job beyond your current
assignment and that assignment isn’t growing your flame, then you’re
treading water. You deserve better!
Creative Latitude
Every
well-designed job including toll-collecting and telemarketing allows
some room for a sharp person to put his or her stamp on the job. If your
job doesn’t give you that creative latitude, you’re wasting your
talent.
Some of our clients are
senior-level managers who nonetheless are constrained by their
companies’ strict policies to do their jobs in a very uncreative and
mechanical way. That’s beneath you. If you can’t get the creative
latitude at work that your nimble brain and your role require, then
there’s a better place for you — and your job is to find it
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