We’re out for dinner with that friend or ex-colleague we haven’t seen in ages and of course the subject gets around to what we’re doing. What is our job? How’s our career going? What’s the boss like? Do we like our company?
We learn that our friend is frustrated with his job or he thinks his career has stalled or he H-A-T-E-S his boss or the company is about to be sold. However, all is not lost:
“But I’m making really good money at it!”
Do we feel a little trace of envy because he arrived in a cool sports car and showed you pictures of his vacation home and tried to pick up the check? Perhaps.
But if our intention is to contribute every day and grow our careers and not just make the boss look good — but to be good — and we’re the CEO’s of our careers so that when our company is sold we’ve already done the work of building our network ecosystem and creating a ‘brand’ that people admire, then that trace of envy is long forgotten by the time we arrive home.