To be human is to have passions, to seek out experiences which give you expertise, prestige, and even a little bit of magic. That said, your means of earning money should not require you to lock your heart in a box and set it on the shelf. If you do, you’ll die inside. It’ll take your body a while to catch up.
But business is getting personal. It was inevitable with smartphones and devices connecting us 24 hours a day. The business we are in, our professional connections, and company culture will ever affect us in our homes and private lives with no end in sight.
That can be a very, very good thing.
“Let My People Go…”
In my days, I have seen a company fire a loyal employee because he picked up a piece of discarded ice from the ground for his lunchbox; I have seen bone-headed “organizational restructurings” done just to push out folks who mention elephants in the room; I have seen minorities passed over for higher roles because someone didn’t like their hair texture.
Let companies like that grind themselves into the ground and burn as their best employees leave.
As more professionals realize the importance of good fit, I hope we witness an exodus of great talent from bad companies. I wish all people would take a good hard look at themselves and determine if they are valued where they are. If not, prepare a daring escape.
When top talent across the US votes with their feet and companies with great culture absorb them, you will see fear and trembling in lesser firms. Bums will be thrown out of boardrooms, mini-tyrant managers will be told “Hit the bricks, pal!”, and talented employees will stop having to fear for their job regardless whether their hair may or may not be straight enough.
The Power to Change
In short: great employees who know what they bring and what they will stand for can change bad culture to good. And if the culture won’t change, the company must be forced to wither on the vine.
More employees are demanding more human-friendly workplaces. Top companies are minimizing dress codes, creating family-friendly policies, and even putting people through school to get them to where they need to be. In short, creating places where people can not only apply their talents but also bring their hard-wrought personalities. Day to day work becomes attached to personal vision.
Your Value
A good analogy for how our personal and professional lives should transect is bitcoin mining. To oversimplify, bitcoin is a cryptocurrency extrapolated when software “unlocks” data transactions creating a one of a kind block of data. When the software “figures out” how to unlock the block, bitcoin value is created or verified. Currently, a bitcoin is worth somewhere around $11,000.
Just so, when you can figure out where your personal life and professional passions truly transect, you get your value. Learn to combine your expertise with the thing that gives you prestige and your magic. Where those things come together is your value, your bitcoin.
In my own case, what I see as my value is this:
- An MS in Organizational Leadership and Human Resources Management, as well as an SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications (Expertise)
- A background with really great organizations (Prestige)
- The mystery and honor that comes with an honorable half decade in the world’s best fighting force and deployments to Afghanistan (Magic).
Where all these transects, people feel they can trust me, want to hear what I have to say, and look to me to guide them in their career goals. So I guide them.
In Closing
Find your bitcoin. Where do your different aspects intersect for greatest value? Gather those to your aid that can help you answer that. Odds are, you’re worth more to the world than your current status. Once you figure it out, go where you are appreciated, not tolerated. Even if that means blazing your own trail.
I am an aspiring writer and supporter of professional people trying to push their boundaries. But I love public speaking even more! I’ve been rebranding people through writing resumes and building LinkedIn profiles for years from my online vacation home at www.careerflex.net.
