Imagine this: It’s your wedding day, and you’re about to walk down the aisle. You’re feeling pretty good about things, and looking pretty good too.
Just then, a group of the people you care about most walks into your dressing room, their faces concerned.
“Look,” they say. ” You can’t do this.”
They go on to explain that no matter how in love you think you are, the match is all wrong. Your betrothed is just too unpredictable for you. It’s never going to last. It’s only going to make you confused, ruin your finances, and lead you down a path of heartbreak. It’s just plain crazy to jump in.
Only a fool would do it.
Instead, your grandmother interjects, she has a nice young person you should meet. . .
Leaving a Job That Pays is Just Like That
Ok, so hopefully your family wouldn’t do that to you. But the reality is that many people’s family and friends readily squash dreams related to leaving jobs, and do it because they believe it’s in our best interest.
They encourage us to stay at safe, comfortable jobs we hate, even though our souls are eroding and our hearts may be congealing into hard gobs of menace. Like somehow that is safer.
What they don’t realize is that they are misinformed, and they are doing it out of their own fear.
What’s interesting is that leaving your bad job for a great one that you love is not only possible, if you’re leaving your job, it’s likely that your next job can be at a company you care about.
Socially Responsible Companies Are Thriving
Many people are interested in spending their days doing something that means more to them than just bringing home a paycheck.
This doesn’t have to mean working for a non-profit (though it can). What it often means is working for a company who has a mission or values that align with your own, and even possibly a company whose mission and values are socially responsible – which means the company sees a need to “be of benefit to society at large.”
Millennials are driving demand for social responsibility and Generation X (ages 34-54) is driving that change from their professional roles.
The thing is, your friends might think that while it would be fun if you could get a job working somewhere that aligned with your values and bring home a paycheck at the same time (and, oh, by the way, had a fun culture as well), that’s just not how the real world works.
The next time you hear something like that, hit them with one of these fun facts:
In Corporate Culture and Performance, Harvard professors John Kotter and James Heskett found that firms with shared-values–based cultures had:
- 400% higher revenues
- 700% greater job growth
- 1,200% higher stock prices and significantly faster profit performance
as compared to other companies in similar industries.
Want to learn more about it?
You can also learn more about the Firms of Endearment, a list of companies fueled by passion and profit that have out-performed traditional companies by 1681% over 15 years. You can also get the list of companies at firmsofendearment.com
The classic book about socially responsible companies is Good To Great by Jack Collins.
How Social Responsibility Impacts Your Job Search
The statistics above are staggering. These companies are growing aggressively (and there are other such lists along the same lines) and this trend will only cause more companies to adopt the same model.
The old way of doing business is dying.
What that means for you is that you will be allowed – even expected – to have a job you believe in. Jobs that are out there will be jobs that are from companies that care.
It will be up to you to decide what you care about and what you stand for, and align yourself with that mission and purpose.
The days of working for just a paycheck will be over soon. Your friend who tells you that you need to keep the job you hate because there’s no way to get paid well to do something you actually believe in will be proven painfully wrong.
Take the next step by figuring out your passion and mission. Start here.
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