A boss can rob you of your most precious resource.
Let me explain.
Bosses don’t work for you. Leaders do though. But, unfortunately, many of us work for a boss, not a leader.
A boss cares mostly about the numbers and getting their next promotion. Oh … and a big, fat, juicy bonus.
The biggest mistake I saw in my corporate career was good employees waiting for their boss to elevate them in their careers. So what happened?
They wasted years of their life — their most precious resource.
One guy I worked with waited for his boss to move on for 5 years. They promised him he was the likely replacement.
It was supposedly a done deal.
Then in that 5th-year upper management changed. His boss got fired and the new leaders recruited one of their own. There was a changing of the guard.
My colleague didn’t get chosen.
He’d never get chosen at that company. What he did wrong was rely on his boss. Why don’t bosses care about our career growth?
They’re too busy with their own career to give a damn about yours.
That’s the first harsh truth you must accept to experience phenomenal career growth. Here are six more.
Get what you want or make a switcheroo immediately
Employers used to have all the power. Now they’re the suckers.
The tables have turned. The workforce has changed. Millennial and Gen Z badasses have rewritten the rules.
Offering beer and pizza on a Friday so you’ll stay back until 10pm to do events/learning you should have done during work hours doesn’t fool anyone anymore.
Pizza and beer = We’re underpaying you for this time
The good news is it’s easy to make a switcheroo. Either get what you want from a job or move on.
Don’t pissfart around and waste your precious time. There are so many companies that can give you better options. All you have to do is go out there and talk to them. Pro tip: look on LinkedIn.
Even better, check your LinkedIn inbox. Recruiters and hiring managers are flooding us with new opportunities.
Don’t be a dork. Have a talk.
New mantra: If your company doesn’t give you career growth, smell ya later.
This forgotten thing matters most in your career
I’m just going to go ahead and say it…
Your mental health matters more than your:
- Job title
- Salary
- Reputation
- Employability
- Chance of promotion
- Impressing your boss
- A bonus
- A pay rise
If your mind gets messed up, your career gets messed up.
Prioritize your mental health above all.
Good leaders are worth more than a high salary
Looking at the salary on the job ad is the worst way to choose a job.
Why?
Think of it like an iceberg. All salaries aren’t equal. There are hidden workloads you can’t see before you take the job. There are a**holes you haven’t met that you may have to deal with daily.
If making more money in your career is a goal, choose a better leader.
Notice how I said leader, not the boss. Bosses are dumbasses. They operate on the industrial revolution model of carrot and stick. Doesn’t work anymore.
You want to work for a leader even if they don’t pay you the most.
Because a good leader will help you:
- Pursue passions
- Access hidden opportunities
- Attend leadership meetings
- Create a thriving culture around you
- And have plenty of 1–1 chats over coffee
Once you experience these things, you may never want to leave. They’re far better than any amount of money. I experienced this with my former boss. He became a best friend and changed my entire life.
At the time, I got offered $20,000 more to quit him and go elsewhere.
No way amigo. Ain’t going to happen. I politely told the other offer to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. They got the message.
A good leader will change your life.
We hate our jobs because we’re bored
That’s what causes a lot of our career problems. We want more. We desire promotions or pay rises. Yet often, we don’t know why.
The reason is boredom. When you do the same work every day it becomes a brain drain.
Especially if you work for one of those companies that has a fluffy HR department that spread corporate p*rn, and has a team full of woke bosses that say all the right things … but do none of them.
There are a few solutions:
1. Secondments produce alternate career paths
At one job in a bank I worked for, the leader threw me into the innovation lab for a few months. I learned about agile software development and lean startup principles.
I had the freaking time of my life.
Then he threw me into the social media team to learn about all the platforms and how they work.
I got to sit in the room with some of the biggest brands in the world and learn about how they did social media.
I wouldn’t be writing online if these two secondments hadn’t existed.
Here’s the thing: neither got advertised. Both were favors to the leader I worked for. And why did I get those secondments?
Because I knocked it out of the park in my regular duties. Even more so, I turned customers into raving fans.
These wild customers would even argue with GMs on my behalf to make sure I got generous bonuses.
I didn’t even ask them to.
2. Start an after-hours side hustle
Side hustles spark your curiosity. They allow you to explore your creativity.
When I got bored working in a call center, I started writing on a WordPress blog and on LinkedIn.
I found I wasn’t bored at work anymore.
Every spare minute I had I’d use my phone to publish my writing. I’d think about it all day. Every call I answered was a step closer to going home and working on my side hustle.
Then I did something weird … I bought my side hustle to work.
They asked me to run LinkedIn workshops. So I did, for free. They flew me all over Australia to run them.
Pretty soon I wasn’t the monkey in the call center anymore. Nope. I was some weird kind of thought leader at work.
A career is a team sport
The traditional model of business teaches us to compete.
Workplaces can be incredibly selfish. Everyone trying to outdo each other. The blind follow the blind to reach empty revenue numbers.
The harsh truth is if you see everyone and everything as competitors, you’ll lose your way. Those who unite others become leaders.
Those who can connect the dots across entire companies, industries, and groups of people go on to have fabulous careers.
Become a connector instead of a competitor.
Teams build business empires, not individuals.
There’s an alternative to following the rules of the career ladder
You don’t need to act like a domestic dog and jump through hoops.
The career ladder is a fantasy in most companies.
When they pretend there’s a certain path to becoming a leader or getting a higher job title, they’re lying. What company has their career ladder documented exactly? Zero.
Instead, you can make up your own rules by earning money online. That’s what I decided to do in my career after many side hustle experiments.
Now I make the rules.
If I want more money…
If I want more clients…
If I want more growth opportunities…
I get to decide. I open up Zoom or email and make it happen.
Too many people are playing the wrong career game.
Don’t wait for permission. Write your own damn permission slip.