Lucky employment

Being happy at work is getting lucky.

To happen it’s as if the planets need to align. Let me explore a few variables:

Work - relevant and enjoyable Work is the collection of activities you do on a daily basis. It’s not the idea of it, the job title on Linkedin or the job description you applied to. Boring activities are part of the process. Any process. Any work. Enjoyable and relevant is what the job means to you. How it makes you feel. It has enough of some characteristics that make it that way.

People - competent and trustworthy You don’t choose who you work with. They’re imposed to you by your employer. You may be able to avoid some toxic environment. Even if you chose your team carefully, ultimately your colleagues go on to work elsewhere or the company puts you in a different department. You can find a group of people that are competent and trustworthy. If that’s your team, it’s special.

Boss - human and reliable Probably the biggest impact in anyone’s work life is their manager. Great managers are able to relate, inspire, nurture, tackle barriers and create an environment for people to excel. This quote makes the rounds every so often on social media _“People don’t leave jobs. They leave managers”__

Company - purpose and nurturing A company needs to take care of its employees and should have a mission that resonates with you. Besides the mission it’s how it treats customers, partners, employees and other stakeholders.

Salary - adequate It’s simple. You need to feel the pay is adequate. Your needs, your circumstances, your context.

It’s an absolute delight when all this comes together.

There are, however, too many things outside of your control. It’s a big reason why a lot of people want to become a creator, builder, entrepreneur. Tougher, more boring things to do but to an extent total freedom to choose where to focus on.