Jul 232024
 

Harvey Mackay had a business best-seller by this title in 1999 but the phrase first gained popularity with Chinese philosopher Zhu Xi over 800 years ago. When it comes to careers, lifetime earnings, and financial survival, it matters more now than it ever has.

Top-tier corporations today rarely show loyalty. Employees are often seen as interchangeable parts and upper management often does not ask first-level managers who is worth retaining. Your odds of remaining with a firm for more than ten years are a long-shot. Executives reorganize every few years to prove to the board and the shareholders that they are doing something to improve growth and profit. The writing is on the wall. Companies that have built a strong brand have unlimited prospects for fresh, energetic employees.

It is a good bet that you will be ejected from your comfortable seat sooner or later, and you might land in an arid employment wilderness. Are you ready? Digging a well takes a lot of time and effort, and if you don’t have water, you could easily perish with the shovel in hand. Even if you don’t perish, what if you land a gig that pays half as much, while your expense run-rate remain constant?

Do you have a Plan B and a Plan C? Have you done the work, building relationships outside of your immediate work circle? Do you have solid connections likely to help and refer you at other companies? Do you have a compelling portfolio of your work, showing the quality and initiative that you bring business challenges?

Attitude matters immensely. Do you believe, in your heart, that you will land on your feet and your next chapter will be more exciting and fulfilling than your current one? Are you mentally prepared to hustle with enthusiasm at a moments notice? Confidence and action matter, and confidence grows from preparation.

Have your eyes wide open, especially if you pretty sure that you make more money than others in similar positions. Previous personal financial success is not usually a positive in this environment. Companies know that they are not “discriminating” — in the eyes of the law — if they eject people based on their salary cost, even though common sense says long-term employees are usually older, more successful, and make more money. Dig a well, now, before you thirst. Develop plans, with contingencies, while you are not under a lot of pressure and still thinking logically. Lay the ground work. Make the connections.

Be one of the optimistic few who believes in himself or herself, believes in a bright future, while seeing the logic and reality of the constant turnover corporate that we are witnessing today.

I.M. Optimisman