Things You Deserve From Your Job

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