Love Your Job...or Not

With the self-actualization trend in business (do what you love!) which I agree with in principle, sometimes people get in emotionally precarious positions. Talking to a distressed executive today, who was told that the VP position was not coming as promised due to age--she was younger than her boss was when she got VP and that's just not fair, even if she had been promised and had more than earned it. At the end of the conversation, the psycho boss actually patted her head. Patted her head! And her boss was a woman!

What the...?

Yes, these inane things happen in the cut-throat business world. Another executive I know was recruited to a company to understudy for the role of CEO in a year. Well, guess what? The CEO wasn't so sure he wanted to move on quite yet and, he decided to consider five, FIVE, other people, too. Can you say leadership chaos? This type of thing does not increase cooperation and creativity, it breed discontent and sabotage, but some leaders know this which is why they do this.

My response today was this: Who says you have to love your job? Love your kids, your house, your spouse, God, but who says you have to love your job?

Sometimes the satisfaction of a job only comes from the ability to feed and support your other loves. It is difficult to imagine how some jobs inspire devoted adoration, note the pictures above. Oh well, sometimes the love of a job is having one.

In the meantime, punch the clock and spend your QT with a recruiter. A new job is no guarantee that you won't have a pathological, lying snake as a boss, though. Better to love what matters and you can control. Create the life you want, all of sudden, the job is just a job. It doesn't have to be your vehicle for enlightenment.