Love Where You Work - Working With Someone, Not For them

One of the best things about what I do is having the opportunity to speak with a variety of younger professionals entering the workforce. It is a pleasure to see their energy and enthusiasm in the workplace. Often times they ask advice about their career. Sometimes we discuss specific skill sets, other times it is about trends, but invariably we always come around to career goals and objectives.

In one of the more recent discussions I had with some of these younger professionals, a topic that I firmly believe in came to light which is that you love where you work. A workplace environment is where as an individual you will be spending a significant part of your day and a good portion of your life. So it helps to start early in making sure you are actually choosing these workplaces with care.

A key thing that I always point out is that it is up to the individual professional to do the necessary due diligence and homework so that they can be best prepared for the environment. In addition to searching the internet, there are sites like Glassdoor that can be of great use in determining the culture of a potential workplace. Also there is no substitute for speaking with individuals from that company through events such as unconferences, hack-a-thons, conferences, meetups, and the like. Additionally close friends, professional associates, and mentors are great networking sources for meeting with and speaking to people within the target organizations.

Meeting individuals is not usually the biggest challenge. The most difficult part is understanding what the professional is looking for in a workplace. My advice to these budding (and seasoned I might add) professionals: look for a workplace environment where you are working with people, not for them. This sounds simple enough but in truth many professionals find the distinction very confusing. Typically speaking an environment that approaches the working relationship as "working for people" is very command-and-control oriented. They have a rigid hierarchy, rigid procedures, proper channels, and are very critical of individuals that do not adhere to these conditions. Sometimes this is necessary such as working for the Pentagon, credit agencies such as Equifax, or the NYSE. Even specific groups within organizations such as Human Resources or Payroll have very rigid controls for legal and compliance reasons. However what I am referring to is such a rigid adherence to rules for rules sake. Even the most basic suggestions for change are thoroughly quashed not because the ideas are not without merit, but because literally there are individuals in leadership positions that take the "working for people" approach too close to heart. The most clear case one can hope for is to see situation where a supervising professional tells others reporting to them something like "You will do what I tell you because I am your boss!" A lot of young professionals are amazed such attitudes exist but they are sadly all too common.

By contrast an environment that most respond to well is one that I call "working with people." This type of work environment displays the traits of open and consistent communication, mutual trust and respect, collaboration, support, dissent and commit, openness and transparency, and a common sense of purpose that everyone rallies around. This type of environment is radically different than it's counterpart. People are passionate about their work, the organization and their peers. They respect one another and while there are arguments and debates, everyone gets along at the end of the day and buries their professional differences with strong dose of camaraderie.

Most professionals both budding and experienced respond well to the "working with people" environments. However many of them settle for the "working for people" workplaces thinking mistakenly that the choice is not their own. In truth, making your own choice is the ultimate power that professionals have in taking charge of their careers and their professional lives.