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Thursday, January 26, 2006

I swear... I'm this close...

…this close to just walking out of here.

I am sick and tired of the unreasonable demands made by my job, and the disinterested attitude I have to put up with from my manager.

In the past 2 months or so:
- I’ve had to work many late nights and weekends (including New Years’ weekend), which was never part of my original job description.
- I’ve had my leave request denied.
- I’ve been forced to go from one site to another every day, on opposite sides of Joburg… at great expense.
- I had to fight to get a standard-issue security access card to get onto those sites.
- I’ve been short-paid on my Christmas bonus and expense claims.
- I’ve been shoehorned into doing work that is nothing even remotely related to my job description… to the point where I had to buy myself a hard-hat (IT support people don’t usually wear those).
- I’ve made a request for training that would make my job 1000 times easier, allow me to generate revenue for my department and would also provide me scope for career advancement… and had that request denied because it’s not “in line with division strategy”. Whatever the hell that means.
- I’ve been rapped over the knuckles several times for other people’s mistakes… which points to the fact that my manager actually has no idea what it is that I do for a living.
- I’ve had to put up with my manager’s “leadership style” which started out as being manipulative, but has now degenerated into being just plain patronizing.

These retards don’t pay me enough to treat me like a teenager. If I wanted to be underpaid and treated with contempt and disrespect, I would work for my sister.

As much as I enjoy the security of working in a large corporation, it’s clear that as long as people like my manager are put in positions where they are able to dictate how I live my life, I will never be able to succeed. It’s time for hard-ball.

10 comments:

  1. Yes, the demands as of late have been quite unreasonable.

    Maybe this will pass and maybe it won't. I don't know.

    But I do think it is advisable for you to start looking around.

    And I will support you as much as I can.

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  2. Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.

    Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

    Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

    Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

    Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

    The slogan “PRESS ON” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. Calvin Coolidge

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  3. We always hear about the haves and the have-nots.

    Why don’t we hear about the doers and the do-nots?

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  4. Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will all be judged by only one thing - THE RESULTS (Vince Lombardi)

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  5. Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

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  6. Can't you get the hint that your company wants you to leave??? If you were working for me with that attitude of "YOU OWE ME" I would have told you to go and F*ck yourself long time ago. GET IT!!

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  7. Thanks for your comments, anonymous. Those are good quotes.

    However, I don't think you understand what I was getting at with this post. It's not a matter of me expecting anyone to pander to my childish wants.

    A contract of employment is an agreement between two parties: an employer and an employee.

    I, as the employee, have agreed to do a certain job for the benefit of my employer. The employer has agreed to give me certain things in exchange for my time and energy... these two things should be balanced: the remuneration I receive should be roughly equal to the value I provide.

    That balance isn't static. If the value of my contribution increases (as it has recently) then my employer should increase the value of my renumeration to reflect that.

    It is also in the interest of my employer to assist me in furthering my career... the more I grow, the more they will be able to benefit from my growth. It's a two way street.

    My employer is falling short in that regard... hence my frustration.

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  8. I worked for a boss until 1983 when I went on my own. To create my own destiny!! Mostly it is fear that holds us back from reaching our full potential in this lifetime.

    Fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of what our friends and or family will say? Etc. etc.

    At school we are taught to only succeed. In life and magazines we are told to avoid pain….. Only too seek pleasure.

    But we all come onto this planet to make mistakes. Too fail. Because that is the only way we learn as humans. Making mistakes. It is only the slow learners that make the same mistake twice. And that is also OK? But some people need to make a mistake a few times before they learn. Sometimes the universe only gives a person one chance to learn a mistake and then remove them off the planet completely via death.

    If you fly aircraft for instance you will know what I mean.

    Also, we can only have real happiness when we experience and learn to manage pain. They go hand in hand as well.
    Once one can handle failure and one can feel and work through pain and come out on the other side standing on a daily basis on the path of growth, one has a recipe for success.

    Two books you must read:
    Failing forward – by John C. Maxwell
    Make a life (Not just a living) - by Dr. Ron Jenson

    Remember… no matter where you work, you are and will, always be working for and on yourself. When I was working for a boss, I did everything in my power to learn, learn computers, learn invoicing, learn to sell products, I would even clean out the entire office with my own vacuum cleaner, because I happened to like working in a clean environment. Clean and wipe down my own desk once a week. Go out on deliveries, etc. I tried and was willing to try everything and anything.
    My colleagues thought I was crazy, had lost my marbles. But every day I was learning something new whilst they were stagnating. Funny thing is management kept noticing me and promoting me to new challenges.
    In other words……… “I was climbing the corporate ladder of success”

    And so my colleagues did what came natural to them. Became jealous, some thought I was just “lucky” Others thought I was born with a golden spoon in my mouth, others envied me. Others disliked me immensely. Some tied to sink me with lies and slander.
    My boss at that moment (if he did not believe in himself, was not secure in himself or was seeing the bigger picture for the company would feel very threatened)

    I often have a quiet moment when I reflect on my life so far and wonder where all the people are that I have crossed paths with in life already. And how much they have grown as human - beings and not human - doings.

    The funny thing is that I learned everything for free. I got a MBA for free (That my employers taught me) I somehow, somewhere use this knowledge in my own business and in life today, to enrich myself. I thank my past teachers on a daily basis.!!

    Throughout my entire life and even now with my current clients (Who are actually every one individually…. “MY BOSS” – because they pay my salary and thus I, by working for myself have been waking up every morning “unemployed” since 1983) I have a philosophy that I always give an extra 10%.
    I have had lots of clients that do not even appreciate it, yet alone pay me on time, or in rare instances not at all. And I bless them with my entire heart, but in the end it is somehow as if the universe makes sure that one is rewarded for the effort. My business has been growing at 62% p.a. for the last 4 years.
    (Am I doing something wrong here?)

    The only way a business can work is if one has the right people and the right processes in place. Those are the only two criteria to build an empire. I have a philosophy of “Hire and fire – hire and fire” until I find the right person, then I hold on to them by offering them the right kind of money for the job. More than the market place offers for the same kind of job.
    ALWAYS EMPLOY ATTITUDE FIRST…….. SKILLS YOU CAN TEACH LATER!!

    Finding niche markets, and only dealing with people that share similar energy as oneself. In the beginning I raped, killed and sold myself short to “Get business” any business, but now I hand pick my clients, only the ones that appreciate me and that share the same value systems that I cherish. And the funny thing is…… they don’t mind paying, because:

    1. I solve their problems.
    2. I arrive on time.
    3. I under promise and over deliver.
    4. Go the extra mile.
    5. Never bullshit them.
    6. I am always predictable.

    Also one must never burn one’s bridges on the way to the top as one is going to need them on the way down. So even with your current boss. When you “finally” walk away, do so with good energy and no bad feelings in your heart. Even if they are wrong. Thank them for the lessons learned. What does it matter?!.

    TRUE POWER IS KNOWING THAT YOU CAN….. BUT YOU DON’T!

    You never know……. Maybe one day you might have to knock on their door again. Maybe it is not the company as such but only your boss that has the wrong attitude. Try to move to another department. Offer to drop in salary. If you know who you are you can soon make it up again under another boss who will appreciate your extra 10% you always give……. That different energy that makes you stand out in the crowd of people who only want. The takers the “nobody’s” the mediocrity!

    If you decide to work for yourself…..
    Find a niche in the market…. Be it a product that nobody has or a service or problem you can solve that nobody else can. Then you can charge what you want and people will buy!!
    Don’t give away your life by waiting for somebody else to create your destiny. The “they” will then only give you what they consider you to be worth to them.

    We can learn from nature. The lions and or predators will always hunt the weakest for a meal.

    We have enough “Nobody’s” in this country and the world; we need lots more “Somebody’s”
    People that can make a difference, people that are not just here to steal oxygen. People that can stop the plundering of the planet for their own idea of survival. When is enough – enough?? (Another topic all together)

    I wish you well.

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  9. Yeah, I see what you're saying.

    Someone once told me that if you don't enjoy what you're doing, it eventually becomes torture.

    I know it's typically Gen-X of me to say this, but the delayed gratification way of doing things that was popular in years gone by is no longer sifficient for the likes of me.

    Why should I stay here and put up with bad attitudes, bad pay, bad treatment for the implied (but never explicitly stated) promise of growth potential in the future? I'm no donkey that will follow a perpetually illusive carrot-on-a-stick. There are many companies out there that would be overjoyed to have someone with my skills in their employ, and would be willing to pay the kind of salary I want for that privelage.

    Like you, I intend to strike out on my own at some point, but I'm not ready for that yet. Until then I will have to make do with finding those companies who are able to see the value I bring to the table, and selling my services to them.

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