You may have been raised to think that firing your boss and becoming your own boss is an irresponsible, impulsive, and selfish thing to do. Think again.Firing your boss may be
only responsible action to take if you want to build financial security for your family and provide emotional security to your children that having parents involved in their daily lives provides.
Most companies are not family-friendly. Here are some enlightening statistics provided by mothersandmore.org.
• 70% of working fathers and mothers report they don’t have enough time with their children. • 59% of women and 38% of men report they have no flexibility in determining start and end times of their workday. • 63% of all employees would like to reduce their current total work week if they could. • 88% of women working part time are NOT likely to receive health insurance or pension benefits from their employers. • Wage penalty 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 supposed to do. Maybe this was a good thing to do in 1950s, 60s, and even 70s. I’m not sure. But things started changing rapidly in 1980s with technological advances and first big wave of corporate downsizing.
Before I go any further, I don’t want to leave you with impression that I think all companies or organizations are bad. There are many organizations that have transcended industrial-age command-and-control type mentality and offer team members opportunities to learn, grow, play, evolve as people, and have a fulfilling family life. These entities are to be applauded and celebrated. They have gone Cubeless. If you are lucky enough to work for one of these enlightened organizations, you may not need to read any further. (Please send me an email so that I can recommend your organization on my website: coach@corporaterebels.com).
If, however, you find yourself in a work environment that does not support your higher good, that prohibits emotions and passion, that requires you to wear Corporate Cubeface, that punishes you for having a life outside of work, that has illogical rules for success like “work 70 hours a week and look and act like CEO”, then it may be time for you to considering firing your boss. (I call these work environments Corporate Cubeworld. Please visit www.culturebuilders.com for a detailed description of Corporate Cubeworld.)
The Corporate Cubeworld no longer provides lifetime employment. The Corporate Cubeworld does not value family life. And technology has enabled anyone to start a business from anywhere.
The Conference Board released a report on February 28, 2005 stating that “Americans are increasingly unhappy with their jobs. The decline in job satisfaction is widespread among workers of all ages and across all income brackets.” The report showed that: • 25% of American workers are just “showing up to collect a paycheck” • 40% of workers feel disconnected from their employers • Two out of every three workers do not identify with or feel motivated to drive their employers’ business goals and objectives.
They also found that money cannot buy satisfaction. Job satisfaction has declined across all income levels and only 14% of workers earning $50,000 or more are “very satisfied” with their jobs. The report says that “Rapid technological changes, rising productivity demands and changing employee expectations have all contributed to decline in job satisfaction.”
My interpretation of this: Corporate Cubeworld is inherently rigid and inflexible and demands more and more from workers who are less and less willing to surrender their lives to their jobs.
This report shows is that there is a LOT of unhappy workers in America today. Is there something wrong with all of these people or is it more plausible that there is something inherently broken in Corporate world?
