Let me start out by saying I am not a career guru by any stretch of the imagination, but I have been around the block a few times and its taken me quite a while to figure some things out, one of which I will pass on to you. Last night, I was having a discussion with my girlfriend, who has a Master's in teaching and will finish her MBA in December, and we got into a fairly heated discussion about the idea of working and career. She is certain she wants to start a business, but is all over the map when it comes to what kind of business she wants to start. One day she wants to start a clothing store for kids, the next day she wants to buy ultra low cost housing to rent out, and it just continues on and on with virtually no end. Now, each one of her ideas, by themselves, might not be bad, but with no start-up capital to speak of, and no business plan developed, she's far too scattered, in my opinion to be successful. Now, all of that was to set up this, she also states, rather unequivocally that she can't see herself working for someone else, she just wouldn't be happy. Now, I have heard so many people say this so often in various ways, "Do what you love doing.", “Do what you would do for free.”, "Do what you would do if you had $1M,", etc. I say this is the biggest career myth. Now, this isn't meant to burst anyone's bubble, I am not contending that staying in a dead-end job with no future is a good plan, certainly it isn't. If you are in the situation I just described, find a way to get out, period. I am no longer in that group. I was, for a 5 year period between early 2001 and very late 2005 and I got out. I had a friend get me an interview, and ultimately a job with then Cingular Wireless, which later became the new AT&T. They shut down our facility, moved me to Atlanta and the rest is history. So, what does this have to do with the myth of "Doing what you love."? Read on...Best selling author Dan Pink has written the definitive book on what science has proven motivates knowledge workers in the 21st century. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us gives three key factors that truly motivate knowledge workers (knowledge work is defined as “when a task gets more complicated, it requires some conceptual, creative thinking.) - autonomy, mastery and purpose. Autonomy is the desire to be self directed, mastery is seeking to become better at something and purpose is to do something which has an impact greater than yourself. Yet, I am willing to even rail against this.
I know, I'm crazy, but follow me here. I contend that you can have the three motivation factors Pink mentions, but they don't have to be from the same source. I like my current role at AT&T, do I wake up every morning and jump out of bed at the opportunity to go to work? Most days, not everyday. But what am I certain of? I am certain that the door to my future and my success opened, the moment I got the call back in December of 2005 that I was hired at Cingular. I can't explain it, but I knew immediately upon hearing that we could move to Atlanta, after our center was closing, that it was exactly what I needed to do. So I did. Now, I went from nearly being homeless and kicked out of my parents house after one of many arguments in 2005 to owning a home, having achieved my PMP and now back in school, partially paid for by the company, getting my BS and eventually my MBA. The important thing here is that I am not certain what I'd do if I had $1M, I wouldn't do what I do for free and while I, as I said earlier, like my job, I not really sure I love it. Also, while my job is full of autonomy and does help me to achieve mastery of some skills, its a little short on the purpose side. Whats important here is that I don't have to “Do” any of those things I talked about earlier, I can do the things that do answer those questions affirmatively, because I have my job.
So, what are the things I do to find purpose and what do I do for free? First, I volunteer with several organizations (and was just honored by the President for it) to enhance the Atlanta Metro Area. I do quite a bit of writing in my role as Assistant VP of Communications for PMI Atlanta and as a Networking Exchange Blogger for AT&T (completely volunteer and separate from my role in the company). I am a very active participant in the Junior Achievement Job Shadow Program at AT&T (also completely outside my daily role and completely volunteer).
So, while I agree that being able to do what you would do for free, or if you had $1M or what you really love would be great. I don't find a lot of people making a career as a mattress tester or a sleep study participant, so until those hit the want ads, I'll keep building my career as a Project Manager at AT&T. As for my girlfriend, I know she'll be successful at whatever she finally does, she just needs to get her mind wrapped around what that will be.
