Everytime I meet someone who is looking to change his (or her) job, I
ask them why are they wanting to change jobs. While I learn about their
reasons, I learn a lot more about them from what they say about their
current job and what reasons they give for wanting to change jobs.
was launched when I was in India a month ago. Naveen wanted me to meet
a person (let’s call him Joe) who could be a potential candidate to be
recruited into Compassites. I was happy to meet with Joe and during the
conversation I was trying to determine why Naveen wanted Joe on his
team. I learnt that Joe was working for the same company for the last
nine years and had, of course, grown to a very responsible position
over there. Joe had a lot of respect for Naveen and when the topic of
joining Compassites came, Joe said something very interesting. He said
“Naveen, I have worked for this company for the last nine years. I had
a lot of good times here. Now, the company is in trouble and I can’t
leave them at this time. Once we tide over the current problems, I am
happy to consider exploring options with you.” That one statement sealed it for me and it was clear why Naveen wanted Joe on his team.
Next time when you talk to someone who is planning to change their job,
ask them why they want to do that. You will observe that most people
want to change jobs because their current jobs have some problems.
Duh.. you think. It is almost like they are thinking that there is a
new job where there won’t be any problems. Which we all know is only an
ideal condition.
On a separate note, think about who gets promoted – typically people
who can solve problems. I am sure all these people who are running away
from problems also want to grow in their careers. There seems to be
some contradiction here, don’t you think?
So, the question is:
If don’t face the problems and keep running away from the sight of them, when will you learn to solve them?
Note: I agree that there are
times when you need to change jobs as there are problems in the current
job. I am not talking about isolated situations here. If this becomes a
chronic condition that everytime there is a problem, you feel like
changing your job then that in itself is a problem.