“What a bogus excuse.
If you take a job, you’ve bought into what the company does. You’re responsible.
If you work for a company headed off a cliff, hey, you’re going too. The fact that you’re just doing your job doesn’t make unemployment any better. And if the company is hurting people or the world you operate in, it doesn’t matter who told you to do it, you still did it.
It’s not just your job. It’s a big part of your life. And you’re way smarter than you’re giving yourself credit for. Speak up, change things or get out. Whining later is a low-return strategy.
Sorry for the rant. Been getting a lot of email this week from people explaining why they work for companies doing dumb things.”
-by Seth Godin
This piece is short and sweet, but it’s so true. My entire adult life (which granted, isn’t that long) I’ve thought of work this way. Why? Because it’s true! Whether you’re in college and spend 15 to 30 hours a week at a job or you’re all grown up and spend 40 or 50+ hours a week there, just like the people you associate with, the work you do, the company you affiliate yourself with helps define who you are. This is one of the single biggest reasons why I’m so incredibly picky about where I want to work. Even if I had a position with Company A and Company B offered me the same job, paying more money and better benefits, etc., but Company B really wasn’t accomplishing things that are worthwhile to me in the grand scheme of things, I’d stay at Company A.
The point is pretty straightforward. Everything you do defines who you are. And if the reason that you keep the job that you have is only money, I would say, there’s a lot of inferences that could be made there. Think about it.
On a final note, Seth Godin is an incredible writer and prominent influence on my business and life outlooks. I’d definitely recommend checking out his blog. His writings can be applied to business, life, and anything else you can imagine. I hope at least a couple of you take the chance to read some of his work.
Thanks for being part of this,
Edison
