We devote so much time to work that to see it as a source of income would be to devalue a large part of life. But what if our values conflict with the environment in the office?
Work allows us to realize our potential, show our skills and abilities, leave a mark in this world. But not everyone immediately understands what occupation suits him.
When choosing a job, we often focus on generally accepted criteria — the prestige of the company, the size of the salary, the promise of rapid career growth … But what is significant for one may be meaningless for another.
And the difficulties that we face sooner or later in the workplace — conflicts, failures, feelings of boredom or inner discomfort — make us reevaluate the choice and ask ourselves: do I really care about what I do?
“I realized that it is important for me to look at myself in the mirror and not experience negative emotions”
“Reducing the meaning of life only to work is not very correct,” notes business coach Mark Kukushkin. “But you can experience real satisfaction only if the work at least retains and preserves the values that are in our private life, and at the maximum it opens up new meanings. It will give our activities a greater scale and significance.”
But, unfortunately, this is not always the case. The small consulting company that Maria worked for, 25, had a mission to “do good” to clients: understand their problems and come up with the best solutions.
But soon the company was taken over by a large company with a more detached and even cynical attitude to doing business. Maria was given a new task: to sell services without delving into the intricacies of client requests.
“I had to decide: what do I really want,” says Maria. — To receive a salary or to remain honest in working with clients? I realized that it is important for me to look at myself in the mirror and not feel negative emotions about what I do. And I left the company.»
Leave can’t stay
Is the discovery of a dissonance between personal and corporate values always a sign that “it’s time to quit” and look for another job, as Maria did?
“Not at all,” says Mark Kukushkin. “Often we have the opportunity to influence the situation, so it’s worth trying to talk with the manager, with colleagues.”
This is what 32-year-old Anton did when he was invited from a small, democratically organized private business to a large industrial company. It turned out that the new boss leads the team in an authoritarian style, which does not involve feedback and exchange of opinions.
Colleagues reconciled, but open communication was important to Anton, and he began to break through this wall. He directly asked: “Can I count on your feedback, I would like to understand what you are not satisfied with in my report?”
Gradually, the manager began to allocate time to discuss the work with each employee. And the atmosphere in the unit has changed.
There are circumstances that cause internal discomfort of such strength that no incentives can drown it out.
In a situation where it is impossible to agree, weigh the pros and cons to understand: is a compromise achievable between the meaning that the work creates and what is personally valuable to you?
Your position allows you to pay the mortgage, spend the whole family on vacation at sea, but will this bowl outweigh the other, on which there is irritation, a feeling of emptiness and unfulfillment?
“As a result of the“ control weighing ”, you can decide: I will continue to work here, because the values and meaning that I create in my project are more important to me than the inconvenience associated with a demotivating management style,” reflects Mark Kukushkin. — But there are circumstances that cause internal discomfort of such strength that no incentives can drown it out.
Usually it is easy to recognize: physical tension and clamps arise in the body, the same thoughts constantly scroll through the head. Are you forced to psychologically abuse others — pressure, blackmail, are you required to inform on them? It is worth leaving immediately, such actions destroy the personality.
The body protests
“It happens that an employee prefers to stay in the same place, but goes into internal opposition,” says coach Nadezhda Dyakonova. He is emotionally removed from the life of the team. Does what is required of him, but does not take the initiative.
If his main values u18bu00bare not related to work, but to family, hobbies, he may not feel internal conflict for years. After XNUMX:XNUMX, the life that he likes begins, it helps to recover.
But the more energy is spent on unconscious confrontation and building a barrier, the longer he does what he does not consider right, the worse he feels.
Headaches, pain in the shoulders, in the back may appear, somatic diseases are exacerbated. It can even vomit — the body protests so clearly. ”
Of course, many of us are aware of what kind of work suits them. Sometimes you can hear: “I am not ready to work in a tobacco company. I don’t want to do something that can harm people.”
For those who do not realize this, I would like to suggest using the rule of Steve Jobs, who every morning for 33 years asked himself the question: “If today was the last, would I want to do what I am going to do today?”
And if he answered “no” for several days in a row, he understood: something needs to be changed. Only by staying true to our principles and beliefs can we be truly successful.