We Begin Right Where You Are
The words "work" and "enjoy" are rarely used in the same sentence these days. You're more likely to hear "work sucks." Or "work's a bitch."
It's no wonder. If you've been at it a while, you've worked your butt off to help create the most productive economy in the world. You've been asked to do more with less, yet may receive less in return-including shouldering more of the cost of health care. All the while you see companies' stock values soar-some showing record earnings-and CEOs' salaries skyrocket. (I hate to add salt to the wound, but did you know that many CEOs earn more in one day than the average worker earns in a year?)
Add to all that the fact that your company may ask you-nicely, you'd hope, but not necessarily--to plug into company business 24/7 by way of beeper, BlackBerry, or e-mail. What kind of life is that? With your work life being such a drag, your overall life may not be so hot, either. They tend to bleed over into each other.
And while we're at it, let's not forget that you may be one of those people whose job doesn't exist anymore or is filled in some faraway land. And what about all the talk about quality, quality, quality, while it seems nearly every corporate decision is based on profits, profits, and more profits? How can you feel good about your work?
I haven't even touched on one of the top reasons people grimace in pain at the thought of work (or claim to in some surveys): bosses. Inept managers and leaders who lack integrity seem to overpopulate the workplace. Then add in the fact that you feel helpless to do anything about it. And if you're looking for a job, you have undoubtedly run into one annoying scenario after another-the most notorious being silence on the other end-no phone call, no letter saying "thanks, but no thanks," no nothing.
If any of this sounds familiar, you've got what I call a bad case of Career Rage. You're pissed off, and it's understandable. With all that I've listed here, and more that I haven't even touched on, you may feel that you can never get ahead. What's the point of trying to find work you'd enjoy, developing the skills to get along with others, and working toward a career dream, when so much of the workplace is broken?
In the short run, no one can turn around the crumbling of trust in the workplace and, in some cases, in corporate leaders. Nor will anyone quickly alleviate the daily stress of life compounded by a workplace that seems to treat people like inventory. But you can take steps to get out of the self-defeating cycle that has eliminated the phrase "enjoy work" from your vocabulary. Yes, work can be a bitch. But there is hope-and there's even more. You don't have to suffer, feel helpless and betrayed, and wake up feeling crappy about your career and your future. There's a way to go from being pissed off to powerful. And you owe it to yourself to discover it.
Just so you know, I am not going to try to fill your head with a bunch of rah-rah happy talk and here's-how-you-deal-with-stress-and-stay-positive-and-turn-these-difficult-times-into-an-opportunity-for-growth jazz. That stuff is well meaning. But we're way past that.
I'm not giving up, though. And neither should you. This is your career-where you spend half or more of your life. How you feel about your work and career affects your relationships at home. Your future. Your potential income. Children you might have and the attitudes they develop as they observe and mimic you. The way you operate in the world and treat everyone who crosses your path. And someday, how you'll look back at your life. Please don't waste it being pissed off.
If it's any consolation, I'm ticked, too. I'm ticked that workers and job hunters feel so helpless, and I'm ticked that injustices and some situations in the work world have deflated the spirit of workers. I'm upset that the odds seem so stacked against you that you wonder, "Why bother?" I'm disturbed when I get e-mails like this one from a worker somewhere in America saying, "In this country it's not possible anymore to do what you want or what you're good at." I'm shocked by the number of discouraged twenty-somethings who have already lost faith in their ability to make a difference through their work.
I don't blame you for feeling frustrated. But to feel powerful about your career, you have to feel powerful about yourself. So let's begin with where you are right now.
The first section of this book starts there. It's your chance to vent. Then we'll move on to the meat of the book-the steps you can take at work and in life to help you go from being pissed off to powerful. From time to time we'll touch upon laws, education, policies, and business practices that affect you. But this isn't a book about social and economic-policy analysis and who's right or wrong. It's a book about what you can do despite what's wrong and broken. It's also a workbook that makes you think, so get ready to do some work.
You might be a wee bit skeptical at this point. The work world and all those forces you don't control loom large. But the workplace is not like the weather, which everyone complains about but figures there's nothing they can do about. In the case of your career, there's plenty you can do. Let's begin.