Getting opportunities to learn and chances to grow both
laterally (to expand your horizon) and vertically up (to reach senior
positions) is an important ingredient of professional success. You career
growth and the jobs you hold on the way to professional success are important
elements to ensure you are able to provide and sustain a certain standard of
living for yourself and your near and dear ones. Hence, you owe it to yourself
to take care of and navigate your career.
You would typically enter the workforce at around 20-25
years of age and can continue to work till 60-65 years of age which means you
can have a career span of 35-45 years. However, surviving this long is not easy
with so many challenges on the way – companies closing down, organizations downsizing
due to business decline, reduced demand for one’s skills in the market, lay-offs
due to industry-wide recession, getting fired for various reasons and difficulties
on the personal front (terminal illness, debilitating diseases, incapacitating
accidents).
Many professionals carry the impression that the manager you
report into or the company you work with owe you a favor since you are working
to make them successful. The reality is far removed away from this impression
and quite harsh. No one actually works for the company, instead they work for
protecting their interests - the manager works for protecting her interests
till she is around, the executive management team works for protecting their
individual and collective interests till they are around, the shareholders
(especially those who are founders, promoters, owners) work for protecting
their interests till they stay invested.
Hence professionals should also work with the same
orientation - work for protecting their interests till they are around. Never
expect the manager you report into or the company you work with to help you
learn and grow. This is something which must be owned and operated by you
solely as you are the one who gets directly and severely impacted at the end of
the day.
If you are a founder-type professional you should hold your
control on the company (never dilute equity beyond a certain percentage). In
such a case you can work on and on as you wish, literally until the day you
die, and hand over the reins to the next generation and this can go on for many
generations. As long as the company’s business model adapts and stays relevant
your future generations will remain founder-type professionals. In the
unfortunate event of the company going turtle you won’t need to bother as you
won’t be there to know about it. It is also interesting to note that
founder-type professionals would have vested interest in creating an army of
loyalist-type professionals who man key positions with the founder as the
father figure at the top.
If you are a loyalist-type professional, chances are high you
would be manning a key position in a company (such companies rely on creating
an army of loyalists who man key positions with a father figure at the top). In
such a case you might want to continue as long as you can. However, be careful
in case the direction of wind starts changing and the ship starts sinking.
Remaining with the organization at that juncture might jeopardize your career.
One example when this can happen is the company getting acquired by another
company. The father figure and his protégés will be the ones who will be sent
home with hardly much time for packing their bags when the new management team
takes over.
If you are a normal professional you should act like free
agents. You should work with an organization as long as you are adding value to
yourself and to the company you work with at that point. The moment you sense
learning and growth is blocked, it makes complete logical sense to move on. In
case you are in a company with many loyalist-type professionals, many of whom
are lifers, you will generally find that it is difficult to join the group of
loyalists as the father figure at the top will never trust you, no matter how
competent you are and how well you perform. Moving on would be the only choice
left with you after you stay with such a company for a certain duration. If by
chance, you are included as part of the group of loyalists you might want to
stay put while being constantly watchful of the direction of wind. In troubled
times, the new loyalists will be sacrificed for the old and original loyalists.
