There was a period of time where I was offering free career advice to the visitors of this site. I was just going through some of the emails I received and sent out and I really loved what this guy Alex wrote to me at the end of his message:
“Whenever I have been in the corporate environment I always felt that I should try and be ambitious, but I just simply can’t force myself. I hate sucking up or networking and find the goal of a company of making money to be useless to mankind (I know – a real INFP thing to say!). I always end up bucking company rules to make things better for my staff and exploiting the company to the nth degree for other’s benefit. For example, when I left my finance job, I gave all my staff a 50% pay rise then left, as I felt they were grossly underpaid. My motto in the corporate world ‘ you can love your job and company, but it will never love you back, so screw them’.”
I agree with him in so many ways. I simply don’t trust corporate America. But the best thing about what he wrote is how it gave his entire staff a raise before he quit. What an awesome person!
And this kind of thing is what I think embodies the INFP. We simply care about people. And even though Corporate America completely sucks, we can still make things better for people, especially when we get into positions of power. And we may feel like quitting, but it should be our mission to take as much pain as we can to alleviate others’ pain.
“And we may feel like quitting, but it should be our mission to take as much pain as we can to alleviate others’ pain.”
Careful now, you’re sounding a bit codependent. Alleviating others pain is awesome and as an INFP I love it, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of our own personal peace and emotional/spiritual health. This is something I am just learning now and I have had to learn it the HARD way.
This is an interesting post. I am an INFP, yet I have an MBA degree. One of the things that they teach you over and over again in your coursework is that profits are good and efficiency is good. Produce more profits with less effort/resources basically.
It goes without saying that those are hardly my priorities. True I am not a manager and I do not own my own business; and perhaps this is part of the reason why. So why did I even get an MBA degree? Well I was genuinely interested in learning the mechanisms that make a business work. I especially am interested in how to strengthen all of the various parts to create a company (or brand) with longevity. In a nutshell, I am more in love with the concept of a “good” company rather than a “profitable” one.
I’ve worked in positions where I did or reviewed the books of small businesses. 9 times out of 10, payroll would be one of the top 3 expenses, if not THE top expense. As a business owner and manager, it can be very easy to look at that and want to cut it (or at least control the size of its chunk of your operating budget). However, too many American workers struggle (myself included) to stay on top of our bills. Many times I walk into the office, not looking forward to it….but doing it because I know I have a utility bill to pay or a car payment to make. How’s that for motivation?
My suggestion to my own company (and plenty others can probably follow suit), is to review what you are doing…..who you have on staff. Attribute value to people, not just job titles. Be realistic. If you are paying $3K a month in rent for a downtown office, but $2K a month to your receptionist/office manager (who is the front face of your business); then maybe you have it backwards.
So yes, the salary slice of the pie chart in your budget is tough to look at. But is it any easier to look into the faces of your unmotivated or disgruntled employees?
Good blog Mike!
Thanks Helen!