Loyalty or just too set in your ways?

Loyalty or just too set in your ways?

So, I've just celebrated my 15th year with Venture Information Management (now part of the wider Sword group) and I've had several public and private congratulations along with a few cheeky comments about that being a "sentence" and it got me thinking ... I was brought up to consider loyalty as a virtue and if you're treated right then you reciprocate but many seem to think that anything longer than 3 or 4 years in any one company can be seen as a sign of weakness where you're no longer motivated and lose some passion or inspiration for the role you're in; I think that may be true but very situational. I work for a company that values it's employees and I'm in a posting (for 13 years now) that I actually enjoy working in and feel I can make a difference to the business every day, for a company (CNOOC Petroleum Europe Ltd) that does the right thing and, as much as possible, walks the walk along with the precursor talk! So, old-school or not, loyalty can, and should, still be considered a good thing in your career.