I don't think this thought process is anything I truly haven't pondered before, but it presented itself to me in a real world example, which in turn prompted the concept. I don't believe I have any control over my career trajectory, and I don't think I am alone in this predicament. There's a nuance here: I am not asserting that I cannot control, say, what industry I work in, rather, I simply cannot control how high I advance. Why is this? Well, for several years I have really struggled with the fact that I really didn't love my profession. My last semester of college I realized how much I enjoyed studying health care economics. By that time I was already pretty well committed to working once I got my Bachelor's, and for reasons that have an explanation all to their own, I ended up in the insurance industry. The insurance industry is not bad by any stretch of the imagination; I can think of far worse fields I could be working in. It just doesn't give me any sort of deep satisfaction that makes me look forward to the next 40 years of my life (or 60, since retirement age will probably be 80-something with the way things are going).
Now, anyone who has talked to me might second guess my assertion right there. When I speak about insurance, I speak with conviction, and sometimes even enthusiasm. I speak with a knowledge and poise of someone with more experience than I actually have. How is it that I say I don't get stimulation from my job when these indicators suggest otherwise? And therein lies my original point: I don't have a choice. The thought that seems apparent to me is that if you are competent, intelligent, and care, you're going to end up a higher level manager or an executive. That sounds remarkably easy, but there are so few people that fit that bill. I don't think I am being unduly critical with that assessment, either. It's the old triangle rule that I seem to discuss more and more lately. People only ever seem to satisfy two of the three. I think initially there may be more of those who have all three, but the stress or demands of the job make the caring go away. That's the one that is often missing. And that is the one that, despite how much I really don't care about insurance in the big picture, the way I was reared instilled in me an insuppressible pride in my work, so no matter how little I care about what I am working on, I at least care about the outcome. I care that I gave a good effort and did what I could to make things work. I don't want people to ever second guess my dedication. And to that end, that caring, where so many others lose this in time, will never go away for me. As such, I feel destined to keep advancing in my line of work, not because I want to, but because it's just going to happen.
Think about the progression: people advance and receive promotions for exceeding expectations in their existing roles. If you are good at what you do and care to put in the effort to show you are good at what you do, you will succeed in the tasks handed to you (at least more often than not). Possessing all three of those qualities of the triangle ensures you will succeed, and if you succeed, you continue to get a promotion as you continue to meet and exceed the demands of your position. I have the attitude that no project handed to me is one that I cannot make a success (in the workplace, work me and outside of work me are night and day in many respects). Perhaps part of that comes from growing up a sports fan and being someone who is competitive. In sports, you don't like to lose. "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser," as Vince Lombardi once said. Much like you do what it takes to win a game, you do what it takes to get the job done at work. That's the mentality, and as long as I have that, I am going to continue down the path I am. I'll end up in circumstances that I see others in and think how horrible it seems and how I'd never want to fill that role. I value my spare time, I value vacation time, and I don't want to constantly be on call and checking e-mails. Despite that, I find myself working late, working weekends on occasion, and continually moving in that direction. Some might say it's great to be able to achieve that place in a company, but to me it's just an unavoidable outcome determined by the traits that I possess via genetics and upbringing. It's developmental fate.
The thought of developmental fate made me wonder if managers or executives at companies really want to do what they do, or if they have similar circumstances. I imagine it's a mixed bag. Of course, psychopathy is four times more prevalent in CEOs than the normal population, so they don't fall into quite the same category (although one could argue that it is fate, and to the extent that epigenetics play a role, that further strengthens the case). Others may do it for the money, and some may have nothing else in their lives, so having the career is a means of validation. Each situation is unique, and not all fall into the sort of destiny I've laid out. I think it is a very real thing, though, and it certainly is a somewhat different way of looking at fate.
Now, anyone who has talked to me might second guess my assertion right there. When I speak about insurance, I speak with conviction, and sometimes even enthusiasm. I speak with a knowledge and poise of someone with more experience than I actually have. How is it that I say I don't get stimulation from my job when these indicators suggest otherwise? And therein lies my original point: I don't have a choice. The thought that seems apparent to me is that if you are competent, intelligent, and care, you're going to end up a higher level manager or an executive. That sounds remarkably easy, but there are so few people that fit that bill. I don't think I am being unduly critical with that assessment, either. It's the old triangle rule that I seem to discuss more and more lately. People only ever seem to satisfy two of the three. I think initially there may be more of those who have all three, but the stress or demands of the job make the caring go away. That's the one that is often missing. And that is the one that, despite how much I really don't care about insurance in the big picture, the way I was reared instilled in me an insuppressible pride in my work, so no matter how little I care about what I am working on, I at least care about the outcome. I care that I gave a good effort and did what I could to make things work. I don't want people to ever second guess my dedication. And to that end, that caring, where so many others lose this in time, will never go away for me. As such, I feel destined to keep advancing in my line of work, not because I want to, but because it's just going to happen.
Think about the progression: people advance and receive promotions for exceeding expectations in their existing roles. If you are good at what you do and care to put in the effort to show you are good at what you do, you will succeed in the tasks handed to you (at least more often than not). Possessing all three of those qualities of the triangle ensures you will succeed, and if you succeed, you continue to get a promotion as you continue to meet and exceed the demands of your position. I have the attitude that no project handed to me is one that I cannot make a success (in the workplace, work me and outside of work me are night and day in many respects). Perhaps part of that comes from growing up a sports fan and being someone who is competitive. In sports, you don't like to lose. "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser," as Vince Lombardi once said. Much like you do what it takes to win a game, you do what it takes to get the job done at work. That's the mentality, and as long as I have that, I am going to continue down the path I am. I'll end up in circumstances that I see others in and think how horrible it seems and how I'd never want to fill that role. I value my spare time, I value vacation time, and I don't want to constantly be on call and checking e-mails. Despite that, I find myself working late, working weekends on occasion, and continually moving in that direction. Some might say it's great to be able to achieve that place in a company, but to me it's just an unavoidable outcome determined by the traits that I possess via genetics and upbringing. It's developmental fate.
The thought of developmental fate made me wonder if managers or executives at companies really want to do what they do, or if they have similar circumstances. I imagine it's a mixed bag. Of course, psychopathy is four times more prevalent in CEOs than the normal population, so they don't fall into quite the same category (although one could argue that it is fate, and to the extent that epigenetics play a role, that further strengthens the case). Others may do it for the money, and some may have nothing else in their lives, so having the career is a means of validation. Each situation is unique, and not all fall into the sort of destiny I've laid out. I think it is a very real thing, though, and it certainly is a somewhat different way of looking at fate.
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