Fire Your Boss! It's the Only Responsible Thing to Do
You may have been raised to think that firing your boss andbecoming your own boss is an irresponsible, impulsive, andselfish thing to do. Think again.Firing your boss may be the only responsible action to take ifyou want to build financial security for your family and providethe emotional security to your children that having parentsinvolved in their daily lives provides. Most companies are not family-friendly. Here are someenlightening statistics provided by mothersandmore.o...
...rg. • 70% of working fathers and mothers report they don’t haveenough time with their children. • 59% of women and 38% of menreport they have no flexibility in determining the start and endtimes of their workday. • 63% of all employees would like toreduce their current total work week if they could. • 88% ofwomen working part time are NOT likely to receive healthinsurance or pension benefits from their employers. • Wagepenalty for motherhood: 5% per child.We are all brainwashed and trained at an early age by parents,teachers, and society that getting a job is what we are supposedto do. Maybe this was a good thing to do in the 1950s, 60s, andeven 70s. I’m not sure. But things started changing rapidly inthe 1980s with technological advances and the first big wave ofcorporate downsizing. Before I go any further, I don’t want to leave you with theimpression that I think all companies or organizations are bad.There are many organizations that have transcended theindustrial-age command-and-control type mentality and offer teammembers opportunities to learn, grow, play, evolve as people,and have a fulfilling family life. These entities are to beapplauded and celebrated. They have gone Cubeless. If you arelucky enough to work for one of these enlightened organizations,you may not need to read any further. (Please send me an emailso that I can recommend your organization on my website:coach@corporaterebels.com). If, however, you find yourself in a work environment that doesnot support your higher good, that prohibits emotions andpassion, that requires you to wear the Corporate Cubeface, thatpunishes you for having a life outside of work, that hasillogical rules for success like “work 70 hours a week and lookand act like the CEO”, then it may be time for you toconsidering firing your boss. (I call these work environmentsthe Corporate Cubeworld. Please visit www.culturebuilders.comfor a detailed description of the Corporate Cubeworld.)The Corporate Cubeworld no longer provides lifetime employment.The Corporate Cubeworld does not value family life. Andtechnology has enabled anyone to start a business from anywhere. The Conference Board released a report on February 28, 2005stating that “Americans are increasingly unhappy with theirjobs. The decline in job satisfaction is widespread amongworkers of all ages and across all income brackets.” The reportshowed that: • 25% of American workers are just “showing up tocollect a paycheck” • 40% of workers feel disconnected fromtheir employers • Two out of every three workers do not identifywith or feel motivated to drive their employers’ business goalsand objectives. They also found that money cannot buy satisfaction. Jobsatisfaction has declined across all income levels and only 14%of workers earning $50,000 or more are “very satisfied” withtheir jobs. The report says that “Rapid technological changes,rising productivity demands and changing employee expectationshave all contributed to the decline in job satisfaction.” My interpretation of this: the Corporate Cubeworld is inherentlyrigid and inflexible and demands more and more from workers whoare less and less willing to surrender their lives to theirjobs. This report shows is that there is a LOT of unhappy workers inAmerica today. Is there something wrong with all of these peopleor is it more plausible that there is something inherentlybroken in the Corporate world? I would like to point you to a vision of an alternative workworld. One in which you build a life while you build yourbusiness. One in which you build multiple revenue streams, someactive and some passive. One that is integrated with the lifeyou want to be living. A Vision of Life After You Fire Your Boss and Step Outside ofthe Cubeworld1)You feel passionate about the work you do. 2)Your work is anexpression of your true self. 3)You are free to express yourpassion and all of your other natural, human emotions.4)Cooperation is valued over competition. 5)Mindful parenting isviewed as important and challenging work that adds to your valueas a worker. 6)Personalized vision and purpose statementsreplace titles. 7)Office spaces are wherever you work mosteffectively and efficiently (i.e. park bench, coffee shop, homeoffice). 8)Work hours are flexible and determined by your bodyclock, lifestyle, and inspiration. 9)You are free to pursue manyvocations simultaneously. 10)The point is not to climb a linear,vertical career ladder, but to try on different works, failjoyously and repeatedly, while building wealth, having fun, andlearning.My vision for the future is one in which Corporate Cubeworldsare rare. They become extinct because people are no longerwilling to work in Cubeworlds. The Corporate Cubeworld comesdown like the Berlin Wall. In order to attract workers,companies find that they must go Cubeless. Do I seem idealistic to you? Do you think that my vision isimpossible? I know that it is possible because I have coached hundreds ofpeople out of the Cubeworld and into lives that are fun and thatwork for them. The real key is not to trade one boss for another boss. Stoptrading your time for dollars. Stop being a wage slave. All Corporate Cubejobs are earned income jobs. You trade yourtime for dollars. If you stop trading your time, the dollarsstop coming. This is a huge problem if you decide to have ababy, or you get sick, you want to take an extended vacation, orare ready to retire, etc. Often people go from a salaried earned income situation to aself-employed earned income situation and not a whole lotchanges. Maybe they work from home. Maybe they now answer toclients instead of a direct boss. Maybe they work less. Maybethey work more. But often the self-employed need to work ON the business and INthe business. Many people find themselves working MORE to makethe same money or working less and making a lot less money. Andthe self-employed often think about work 24/7 even if theyaren’t working 24/7. As a self-employed person, you becomeresponsible for marketing, sales, bookkeeping, operations, andfulfillment.So, how do you build a company and life that works? I believethat the best situation is one in which you pursue your passionas directed by your heart and that you build a business thatoffers multiple streams of passive income in addition to yourearned income.Passive (or residual income) is income that you collect fromyour indirect or past action. For example, I can coach a personon the phone and charge them $150 per hour and trade my time fordollars. This is earned income. I can also offer a tele-classand charge $49 for each participant (earned). But I can alsorecord the class and continue to offer the recording to others(passive). There are so many exciting ways to combine earned and passiveincome. It requires imagination, courage and planning. Are you ready to Fire Your Boss and start creating work that youlove, that gives you energy, and that feeds your soul? Are youready to secure your retirement by creating passive revenuestreams in addition to your earned income streams? Are you readyto evaluate work, relationships, and opportunities by the amountof joy they give you?
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