Is it a sign of the times, or is it peer pressure or is it just down right laziness? I’m not sure what the answer is, but I do know far too many people who are unhappy or dissatisfied in their respective workplaces. The reasons for their unhappiness are as varied as the number of the complainants.
I recently heard an employer comment on how sad this is, and he followed this up by saying that he encourages his employees to be free to leave should they ever get to that place. In fact, he went as far as to say, ‘do yourself a favour; quit’ because it’s in the person’s own best interest. This is a very interesting sentiment that had me asking the question: Why would anyone deprive themselves from doing what they really and truly want to do?
The fact is if you have bills, you have to pay them and to pay them, you need to work; whatever that work may be. But what if you could do what you’re truly passionate about (what you would really love to do)? Would you do it? So what’s stopping you? Have you ever considered becoming an entrepreneur? Well, maybe you should. You’ll spare yourself a whole lot of frustration and be a lot more fulfilled.
Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur though, and maybe you have to stay where you are because you can’t find anything else. Does that mean you should be miserable for the rest of your working life with that employer? Well, if you choose to, you probably will but you don’t have to. Consider this question as posed by the employer I mentioned: If you could run the company you work for, how would you do it?
Now I’m asking you, how would you do it? Let me suggest that everything you just said or thought about, is the key to your success and happiness in your current place of work. This concept I learnt, that of “intrapeneurship”, where you manage your area of responsibility as if it was your very own business, and the rest of the company’s success firmly depends on your success.
This requires quite a paradigm shift for someone who’s been unhappy in their workplace. If however you can manage to adopt such a perspective, it’ll allow you to become more creative, pro-active and entrepreneurial (except it is internal hence I should really say intrapreneurial) in your area of responsibility. Will you get paid more? Probably not. Will the things that frustrated you change? Not likely. Will you view your job and the workplace the same as before? Absolutely not. It’s impossible for you to remain the same.
Who’s to blame for my and your happiness in the workplace becomes highly irrelevant when we consider that the Bible encourages do our work as unto God and seek His approval. In the end, your boss may never change his ‘whatever’ attitude, or you may never be responsible or possibly give an account for how your workplace should be run, but you are accountable for your own actions and will be held accountable for them.
Now leave your boss alone and go check yourself before you wreck yourself.
