They Don't Own You

Loyalty, in 2017, is to self in all areas of a person's life; work, relationship and community. In the work world, there is no longer the employee who is striving for a pension or even the gold watch at 20 years. Most people in the work world will work at the minimum of 5 companies by the time they decide to stop working. This isn't the worst trend in the world. It shows that people are taking control of their careers. No longer will they toil and wait for the manager to promote them, the team leader to choose them, or the merger to redefine their roles. However, there is an underlying loyalty to people. People you work directly with, people you met working with a client, people you have connected with outside or work and the industry.

The idea of networking, passing out a business card and meeting for lunch a couple times a year, is no longer the routine. Instead, the connections are more specific about what each person's goal is long term, how they work in and around projects, interact with people and adhere to policies. The long term goals are not company specific, which means as people move and leave companies they bring some of their people with them. This isn't new, but before it was only done at the top levels. Now people are bringing in "people I work well with" at every level. This is where the freedom of not being tied to the whim or folly of the company structure opens the door, but if you don't think this way then you are mentally tied and owned by the company.

Regardless of the new networking structure, there are still those who are trying to be noticed by this person, liked by that person and ensuring they are where they are supposed to be for the opportunity within the company to happen. Those people ARE owned by the company. YOU are NOT that person! YOU are not owned. YOU are in charge of your career and the direction that it takes.

Don't get mad today as you think about the years you've toiled at this one company being passed over or ignored. Instead, begin to believe how free you are and shift your focus and physical belonging to get where YOU intend to go. YOU own YOU.

(Click on the Picture Above)

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