Read Online Fire Your Boss by Stephen M. Pollan, Mark Levine - Free Book Online
Authors: Stephen M. Pollan, Mark Levine
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businessman. “Then you could use the even greater profits to buy a second boat and hire an assistant. Eventually you could make enough money so you didn’t have to fish yourself.”
“What would I do then?” the fisherman asks.
“Anything you wanted,” the businessman says. “You could relax, spend time with your family and with your friends.”
The fisherman looks confused, and then says, “But that’s exactly what I do now.”
There are lots of morals you can gain from the story. For me, the message has always been that you can’t have it all if you don’t have time to do it all. Sometimes doing less actually yields you more.
Assuming I’ve got you convinced, do not — I repeat, do not — go into your boss’s office and say you’re not staying late tonight because you’ve got to take junior to his little league game. Killing your career is an attitude adjustment, not a suicide attempt. It begins by trying to become more like that proverbial fisherman and keeping focused on the ends, rather than the means.
Why Do You Work?
In order to focus on the ends, you first need to figure out what they are. You need to ask yourself, “Why do I work?”
It’s rare that we actually ask ourselves that question. As we discussed in the previous chapter, we’ve given control over our work lives to others. By not being in charge of our own work life, by not thinking about why we’re working, we’re acting reflexively rather than reflectively. It’s time to change that.
Over the years of asking my clients to tell me why they work, I’ve been given many different answers. But after looking over my notes and thinking about all my consultations, I’ve determined that there are really only eight answers. My clients and, I assume, you work for one of these eight reasons:
1.
For power
2.
For respect
3.
For security
4.
To travel
5.
To serve
6.
To meet people
7.
To express yourself
8.
For money
Of course, it’s not enough to come up with a simple answer to this question. In order to kill your career and get a job you’ll need to dig a little bit deeper. Give yourself a few minutes of reflection. Sit in a quiet spot and let your mind run through all eight of these general reasons. Have a cup of tea or a glass of wine. When you think you’ve decided which of the reasons fits, say it over and over to yourself to see if it feels right. Then take out your notebook or pad and on top of a blank page write the phrase “I work [fill in the blank].” Now let’s see what that really means.
“I Work for Power”
I get this answer a lot from my male clients. Maybe that’s because a high percentage of my clients are corporate executives who want to be top dog. Certainly there’s a macho element to this answer. (In all my years of practice I’ve had only one woman tell me she worked for power.) In fact, this is usually what I call a presenting answer: it’s an initial pose or posture often covering the actual response. Lots of men think they’re supposed to say they work for power. That’s why I usually push them further…and why I’ll push you further if this were your answer.
Okay. You say you work for power. Well, what do you want to do with that power? Don’t think about it too much. Just pull out your pad and write down the first thing that comes to your mind.
Most people, when prodded, will say they want to use their power to get or do something else. And that underlying answer is always one of the other seven reasons. For instance, when I pushed Julius Jackson, a fifty - two - year - old client of mine who worked as an official with a labor union, to tell me for what he’d use the power he was pursuing, he admitted it was to gain respect.
After you’ve come up with an answer to what you want to do with your power, go over the list of the other seven original answers and see which best fits your response. Now edit the phrase on top of the page in your pad or notebook to reflect your underlying
“What would I do then?” the fisherman asks.
“Anything you wanted,” the businessman says. “You could relax, spend time with your family and with your friends.”
The fisherman looks confused, and then says, “But that’s exactly what I do now.”
There are lots of morals you can gain from the story. For me, the message has always been that you can’t have it all if you don’t have time to do it all. Sometimes doing less actually yields you more.
Assuming I’ve got you convinced, do not — I repeat, do not — go into your boss’s office and say you’re not staying late tonight because you’ve got to take junior to his little league game. Killing your career is an attitude adjustment, not a suicide attempt. It begins by trying to become more like that proverbial fisherman and keeping focused on the ends, rather than the means.
Why Do You Work?
In order to focus on the ends, you first need to figure out what they are. You need to ask yourself, “Why do I work?”
It’s rare that we actually ask ourselves that question. As we discussed in the previous chapter, we’ve given control over our work lives to others. By not being in charge of our own work life, by not thinking about why we’re working, we’re acting reflexively rather than reflectively. It’s time to change that.
Over the years of asking my clients to tell me why they work, I’ve been given many different answers. But after looking over my notes and thinking about all my consultations, I’ve determined that there are really only eight answers. My clients and, I assume, you work for one of these eight reasons:
1.
For power
2.
For respect
3.
For security
4.
To travel
5.
To serve
6.
To meet people
7.
To express yourself
8.
For money
Of course, it’s not enough to come up with a simple answer to this question. In order to kill your career and get a job you’ll need to dig a little bit deeper. Give yourself a few minutes of reflection. Sit in a quiet spot and let your mind run through all eight of these general reasons. Have a cup of tea or a glass of wine. When you think you’ve decided which of the reasons fits, say it over and over to yourself to see if it feels right. Then take out your notebook or pad and on top of a blank page write the phrase “I work [fill in the blank].” Now let’s see what that really means.
“I Work for Power”
I get this answer a lot from my male clients. Maybe that’s because a high percentage of my clients are corporate executives who want to be top dog. Certainly there’s a macho element to this answer. (In all my years of practice I’ve had only one woman tell me she worked for power.) In fact, this is usually what I call a presenting answer: it’s an initial pose or posture often covering the actual response. Lots of men think they’re supposed to say they work for power. That’s why I usually push them further…and why I’ll push you further if this were your answer.
Okay. You say you work for power. Well, what do you want to do with that power? Don’t think about it too much. Just pull out your pad and write down the first thing that comes to your mind.
Most people, when prodded, will say they want to use their power to get or do something else. And that underlying answer is always one of the other seven reasons. For instance, when I pushed Julius Jackson, a fifty - two - year - old client of mine who worked as an official with a labor union, to tell me for what he’d use the power he was pursuing, he admitted it was to gain respect.
After you’ve come up with an answer to what you want to do with your power, go over the list of the other seven original answers and see which best fits your response. Now edit the phrase on top of the page in your pad or notebook to reflect your underlying
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