Yonette Thomas
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August 16, 2023
Have you ever wondered what ladders, treadmills, rat races, hamster wheels, dead ends, daily grinds and cutthroat competitions have in common? They’re all used to illustrate jaded career outlooks marked by malaise, boredom or ruthlessness. Most people have likely experienced such work scenarios, while others have found them inescapable.
These grim perspectives about work are rooted in the deeply held (and opposing) collective beliefs that we can have infinite growth on a finite planet and that scarce resources must be snatched before someone else gets them. Yet, there are other ways to approach earning our daily bread.
The search for a better lens for viewing our work lives starts with understanding that human societies exist primarily due to our ability to cooperate peacefully. Instead of imagining a vast machine filled with wheels, gears, levers and cogs as a lifeless depiction of this extensive cooperative spirit, let’s instead think of a flock of birds flying in a ‘V’ formation. Migratory birds work collectively to reach a shared destination, but there’s no race for the front position. Instead, scientists have found that due to the aerodynamic difficulties associated with each spot on the ‘V’, birds swap positions along the way — including the leadership role. The main benefit of this selfless cooperative style is that all birds arrive at the new feeding grounds with less fatigue and mortality for each individual.
We can apply a similar strategy and toss the rat race and hamster wheel frameworks in the human world of work. By focusing on formulating worthwhile goals, teamwork and skill development, we can abandon pursuits like climbing corporate ladders that have absolutely nothing to do with achieving excellence. Aiming for the prestige of a powerful job title or scoring a big corner office with a view will likely bring more heartburn than lasting career fulfillment. Trajectories that require stepping on one’s colleagues don’t lend themselves to furthering an organization’s mission, which is the point after all.
There’s no better time than now to change our collective work paradigm.
Remote work has muted the desire for corner offices, and the Great Resignation has actually become the Great Resignations indicating that people want fair meaningful work, not treadmills. And this “quitters” attitude wasn’t adopted on a whim. Although a shift to remote work has been a boon for some, pandemic working conditions have triggered stress and burnout for many, especially parents.
With work-life balance expectations soaring, it’s time to fine-tune our career aspirations. When adults ask children what they want to be when they grow up, kids don’t usually say a wealthy CEO. Rather, their responses are more reflective of inner curiosities and active imaginations. Answers like an astronaut, firefighter, ballerina and musician are rooted in a sense of excitement, not status anxiety. As individuals, let’s adopt some of that childlike wonder and reflect on what we actually want to accomplish professionally by not focusing on superficial goals. As a society, let’s incentivize cooperation, creativity and innovation by adopting equitable pay structures, investing in skill development and respectfully acknowledging that even the humblest positions are integral to keeping the system humming.
Yet, someone has to have the status of being in charge and work to become a leader. For example, Arquay Harris, former senior director of engineering at Slack, sought and won more responsibility as vice president of engineering at Webflow.
“The pandemic didn’t derail me, but it put things in focus,” Harris told the Wall Street Journal. “If you think about your highest aspiration, that can help you chart your journey. Mine was not, ‘I have to be VP or [chief technology officer].’ It was more like, ‘I have the ability to connect and to mentor.”
Leadership is mainly about service to others, but we’ve forgotten that in the workplace and politics. Think back to the migrating birds. Each bird takes a turn in the challenging flying positions to make the flock more successful at reaching its destination. All can be leaders; all can be followers when the time is right.
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Did you know?
About 42 percent of Americans have had a “career lightbulb” during the pandemic, according to a OnePoll survey commissioned by the Universal Technical Institute. In addition, a special report from the McKinsey Global Institute forecasts that over 100 million people worldwide, or 1 in 16, will need a different occupation by 2030. This represents a 12 percent uptick from pre-pandemic estimates.
The Universal Technical Institute says that the threats resulting from the pandemic have “reinvigorated people toward pursuing a career that is more fulfilling than their current one.” This time of uncertainty is a time of opportunity for professionals at all stages of their careers who are open to fresh career and professional experiences. People are asking themselves fundamental questions about leveraging their current professional status into what gives them the deepest sense of fulfillment and alignment with their core values.
About the Author
Dr. Yonette Thomas is a thought leader, committed mentor, and amplifier of professional paths. She created Strategic Transitions to share her leadership and professional insights with early career, mid-career, and senior-career individuals needing a hand-up, a strategy conversation, or a path amplifier.