The Four Seasons of Job Satisfaction

SPRING LEADERSHIP

The first season is what I call Spring Leadership Season. It is first because it all “Springs” from the leader. As?you may have heard before, people don’t quit jobs, they quit their boss. This is often true. In my most recent unscientific LinkedIn poll, 70% of respondents said leadership was why they or someone they know left their post.

When in an interview, there can be many shiny objects in front of you for wanting the job but one of the most important is to evaluate who will you be working for. Not only that, who do they work for? Who are your bosses’ peers? If you take a new role, there is a more than good chance your boss will not be permanent, there will be a re-org or some other event that causes them to move on. So, get to know the as best as you can the universe of people at your bosses’ level to get a feel for the types of leaders that are at the company. My advice? Listen to your gut. I had a dinner with a potential boss discussing a job opportunity. I loved everything about the idea of the company, but the personality of my boss was a red flag. Welp, I convinced myself to “man up” and manage the situation. I accepted the job but wasn’t genuinely happy the entire time because as I suspected my boss’s personality type didn’t accept me and my style.?

The next Season to win is the Summer Skill Season. Like "summers", building a skill can be long and uncomfortable but also awesome time of year if planned right. Living in Texas I know a thing or two about long hot summers. To?get through any routine you must have a certain level of skill for it. You have to know although it’s 95 degrees outside, people in Texas will often carry a sweater because every restaurant/business has mastered AC and will be at subzero temperatures inside. Car sunroofs aren’t for sun in TX unless it’s winter or nighttime. I could go on, but you get the idea that “skill” gets you through the things you must get through while making it enjoyable as possible- like the need to work.

People can get “passion” confused with “skill”. People (especially successful ones) will say “follow your passions”. ?Well, I am passionate about football. I would LOVE to be a pro-football scout but honestly the pay and the chance for advancement was not as attractive for my lifestyle which I am also passionate about. If I took the advice of others, I would not be happy. Scott Galloway the famous NYU Clinical Professor of Marketing speaks of this situation in one of his many great LinkedIn video posts LINK or check out his book Algebra of Happiness (Illustration he posted on LI above). You have to believe you can be good at what you do and can excel at it and that for many will be more fulfilling than a sexy job.?As Mr. Galloway points out, people in the Corporate Tax Law role may not LOVE their job. No kid ever grew up saying they wanted to be a Tax Lawyer. However, the successful people in this field love the accoutrements their job affords them propelled by the level of skill they have for it. Passion is a myth if looked through the wrong lens. Most people do not get rich following their passions, rather following their ability. It is why some athletes change sports often from what they love (basketball) to what they are good at (football). Do what you are good at.

FALL COMPENSATION

This Fall Compensation Season is the one where everything turns or begins major change hence the “Fall” relationship. This part of job satisfaction is like digital marketing, it is very quantifiable, so it often receives the most attention. Due to the finite nature of compensation this is often what many people use as the main criteria for taking a job or staying at one. Yes, you do need to meet minimal hurdles to achieve you current lifestyle so it is important. However, it is important to look at compensation as broadly as possible when considering how happy it makes you.

The inputs to compensation need to be balanced with your satisfaction of base pay, but also cost and quality of insurance, realistic bonus programs, vacation time, annual merit increase outlook, company perks like auto allowance, stock awards, long term incentive programs, maternity leave, educational reimbursement all are key. Compensation all too often is seen through too narrow of a tunnel where same or even lower base pay / hourly wage can be offset by a wider view of the benefits you receive. Although this may come off obvious, what you should take away here is that “Fall” isn’t the first season and often this compensation criteria is where jobs can whither go dormant or die. Happiness may appear to be connected with compensation the most but many highly paid employees who cannot stand their boss or don’t feel the job really maximizes their skills often are open to work somewhere else regardless of their pay. Know your worth, but know what will really make you happy.

WINTER LOCATION

Winter Location Season is a new and up and comer Season. "Winter" is when people (especially in cold states) burrow in and that is exactly what is happening with so many remote work from home options these days. Since the pandemic workplace location is on the top of every CHRO mind these days. Experienced in relocations I have lived in the Mid-West, West Coast, East Coast and South and am proud to say each of the experience I learned from. Today location is more about home or office but I would say, depending on your current life situation a relocation can be a good experience and provides a chance for a fresh perspective.

You have to ask yourself how much does working from home mean to you? Do you want advancement and if so, how high? Do you want to be a Director, VP or C-suite? My experience is the higher your aspirations, in many cases will need to be an openness to being in a physical location for a majority of roles (at least a decent amount of time). CEOs want to see their staff and be able to have side bars and spontaneous conversations. Leaders often want the ability to have both structured and unstructured time to talk to their employees. You cannot always achieve this when you have to send a Zoom meeting invite. Leaders want to read body language, see how you lead a room or honestly sometimes your dedication when they are leaving the office but they still see your light on the night before a big meeting. If your boss is in the office, you need to determine the risks of not being there too. If your boss is a remote worker, your advancement likely will be less impacted.

Some roles will be permanently from home due to their nature like some sales jobs, some tech support roles and some more entry level roles. However, one needs to have the expectation that you could be disappointed if you want a promotion and you learn that your peer who is in the office regularly, who established more face to face relationships got the nod over you. At the end of the day, people are still emotional and social creatures and may give preference to those they know the best. So it is important for your job satisfaction to understand your priorities between career aspirations and working from home. As Ginni Rometty former CEO of IBM ?once said “Growth and Comfort Do Not Coexist”.

Final take- you cannot win every season and if you do, consider yourself lucky. For the rest of us, try to have a winning record over most seasons and you can find a happier professional life. Three out of four isn’t bad! Try to at least bat 500 and win half of the seasons. Recognize which season’s you are behind in and see if you can improve that situation in your current company. If you are losing three or more it’s likely time to move on. When evaluating other opportunities, consider which season’s will provide you better weather and which will be stormier before making your final decisions.

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Eddie Combs | Chief Marketer | Consultant