One is always exploited through fear. Fear is rooted deep in our childhood experiences and moves us subconsciously. I believe that there is a correlation between fear and the amount of power a person seeks. If we consider this statement in cross-cultural phenomena, we can derive it to state that societies maintaining high distance feel insecure and demand safety by the virtue of it. The generic tendency to confront uncertainty in these societies is very low. Meanwhile, the business and job-related activities are more regulated. This can stifle innovation, creativity and an ability to adapt to change. The motivation behind the desire to hold these jobs is certainty, reliability, and safety. This is where finding purpose in work becomes so important.
The Changing Tide In Work Expectations
India as a nation, for example, is on the cusp of a cultural shift from high context to low context. Individuals have become increasingly driven by their own desires and are taking more responsibility for their own career development and employability, rather than depending on organizational career management. This relates to the idea of independence and finding psychological success in one’s work life and seeking a boundary-less career. Considering the fact that millennials are the most purpose driven generation in the world, employees now prefer a culture that permits innovation, independence and value expression and allows an individual to “learn how to learn” in a variety of potential contexts.
The Impact Of Purposelessness On The Workplace
Most of the time people do not perform because they do not have the clarity of their own goals. With a study, it was found that about 87% of people in this world feel emotionally disengaged with the work they do. The dissonance between the organizational mission and an individual’s capability to perform at higher standards make an organization succumb to defective strategies. Look around you where you work, and pick out the people who have reached their level of incompetence. You will see that in every hierarchy the cream rises until it sours.
According to the Peter Principle, every position in a given hierarchy will eventually be filled by employees who are incompetent to fulfill the job duties of their respective positions and it becomes their position for ‘final placement’. Here they are no longer evaluated based on their output but instead are evaluated on input factors, such as arriving at work on time and having a good attitude. Promotions based on lower level job skills may harm twice as much to an organization. It leaves the team with less productive output as a whole and a new manager who may not have the skills required for the different role.
Growth From Stepping Out Of Your Comfort Zone
When you focus on finding purpose in work, it encourages the autonomy, flexibility, and freedom within you. In order to overcome the various challenges associated with the independent role, one’s optimism, self-belief, social support, and career management skills must develop. The mental capacity of these individuals strengthens gradually in response to the demands that they face. They start learning based on the new circumstances they are confronted with and when injected from outside to an organization, they fix a global gap.
Conclusion
So, if next time you feel an urge of changing your career or taking a job in some new industry, do not let your insecurity delay your decision. A good decision today is worth far more than a perfect decision next month. Switching careers can be intimidating, but you’ll find dozens of skills that are directly transferable. For what seems like a legitimate reason for not moving forward is, in reality, a made-up excuse created by the mind to protect us from potential harm. Start seeing life as an adventure where nothing is forever and mistakes are part of the journey. One day your heart will stop beating, and none of your fears will matter. What will matter is how you lived. Don’t move the way fear makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move!
