DESERVE BEFORE YOU DESIRE"

An article from Gopalakrishnan - Chairman Tata sons
Ltd

The  grass  isn't  always greener on the other side!!
Move from one job to
another, but only for the right reasons. It's yet
another day at office. As
I logged on to the marketing and advertising sites for
the latest updates,
as  usual,  I  found  the  headlines  dominated  by
'who's' moving from one
company  to  another after a short stint', and I
wondered, why are so many
people  leaving  one job for another? Is it passé now
to work with just one
company for a sufficiently long period?


Whenever I ask this question to people who leave a
company, the answers I
get are: "Oh, I am getting a 200% hike in salary";
"Well I am jumping three
levels  in  my designation"; "Well they are going to
send me abroad in six
months".


Then, I look around at all the people who are
considered successful today
and  who have reached the top - be it a media agency,
an advertising agency
or  a  company. I find that most of these people are
the ones who stuck to
the  company, ground their heels and worked their way
to the top. And, as I
look  around for people who change their jobs
constantly, I find they have
stagnated at some level, in obscurity.


In this absolute ruthless, dynamic and competitive
environment, there are
still  no  - short cuts to success or to making money.
The only thing that
continues   to   pay,  as  earlier  is  loyalty  and
hard  work.  Yes,  it
pays!  Sometimes, immediately, sometimes after a lot
of time. But, it does
pay.  Does  this mean that one should stick to an
organization and wait for
the  golden moment? Of course not. After, a long
stint, there always comes
a  time  for moving in most organisations, but it is
important to move for
the   right   reasons,  rather  than  the  superficial
ones,  like  money,
designation or oversees trip.


Remember, no company recruits for charity. More often
than not, when you
are   offered   an   unseemly   hike  in  salary  or
designation  that  is
disproportionate  to what the company offers it
current employees, there is
always  an  unseemly  bait attached. The result? You
will, in the long term
have reached the same level or may be lower levels
than what you would have
in your current company.


A  lot  of  people  leave their organisations because
they are 'unhappy'.
What  is  this so called unhappiness? I have been
working for donkey years
and  there has never been a day when I am not unhappy
about something in my
work environment - boss, rude colleagues, fussy
clients etc.


Unhappiness in a work place, to a large extent, is
transient. If you look
hard  enough,  there  is  always  something  to be
unhappy about. But, more
importantly,  do  I  come  to work to be "happy" in
the truest sense? If I
think  hard,  the  answer  is  "No".  Happiness  is
something you find with
family,  friends,  may  be  a  close  circle of
colleagues who have become
friends.  What  you come to work for is to earn, build
a reputation,satisfy
your  ambitions,  be  appreciated for your work
ethics, face challenges and
get the job done.


So,  the  next  time  you  are  tempered  to move on,
as yourself why are
you moving and what are you moving into?


Some questions are:


* Am I ready and capable of handling the new
responsibility? If yes, what
could  be  the  possible  reasons my current company
has not offered me the
same responsibility?


*  Who  are  the  people  who  currently  handle  this
responsibility  in
the current and new company? Am I good as the best
among them?


*  As the new job offer has a different profile, why
have I not given the
current company the option to offer me this profile?


*  Why  is  the  new  company offering the new job? Do
they want me for my
skills, or is that ulterior motive?


An  honest  answer  to  these  will eventually decide
where you go in your
career  -  to  the top of the pile in the long term
(at the cost of short -
term  blips)  or to become another average employee
who gets lost with the
time in wilderness?


"DESERVE BEFORE YOU DESIRE"


- Dr. Gopalakrishnan, Chairman TATA Sons.