“The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career!”
So said the late, great Earl Nightingale, personal development pioneer and philosopher, and one of the few people I’d save a seat for at my fantasy dinner party.
In my work talking to employers and their teams, I get to have some interesting conversations on both sides of the employment fence.
I feel this quote is absolute gold for both employer and employee for this reason:
It’s a reminder that nobody can afford to be complacent within the workplace.
If you’re employed, your job is only on loan to you at best. You don’t own it because if your employer takes it back, they aren’t stealing it. It was always theirs.
Similarly, employers can’t be arrogant enough to assume their employees belong to them. They have choices. They don’t owe you anything more than doing their job with a reasonable amount of accuracy (because nobody’s perfect) for a fair wage, and a job is a set of tasks, no more no less.
The spirit a person brings to that job is where the true value lies, and qualities like passion, positivity and dedication cannot be bought, they can only be given.
A career can span many jobs, and it belongs to the individual, whether achieved in one company or many.
It becomes a valuable blend of experience, skills and relationships, and as an employer you might be dumped for the “hot” employer down the road, or simply because the employee wants to go it alone.
It’s no different than short term and long term romantic relationships (minus the sex, usually!)
We can date the odd frog and move on quickly - sometimes it’s us and sometimes it’s them - or we can choose to stay for the long haul, and to make that work there needs to be mutual understanding and respect, and an appreciation for the fact that even when there’s a legally or spiritually binding contract, it can be terminated if we don’t continually put effort into keeping the relationship alive.
Nobody can afford to rest on their laurels or assume they’re a great catch.
Remembering we all have choices is a very empowering thing, especially when our morale is on the floor because we don’t feel appreciated.
If you choose to join our next intake of the 90 Day Breakthrough programme in April, you’ll get a chance to assess where you are in the wonderful world of work, and make some meaningful changes if you see room for improvement.
I’m currently not taking on any new private clients, so joining the programme will be the only opportunity you’ll get to work with me in the foreseeable future, making this offer of a free session ridiculously valuable.
Grab it while you still can!