Many technology companies boast generous and flexible schedules, including the ability to work remotely full-time and an unlimited PTO policy. Yet many of their employees still feel the common frustrations of being under-appreciated or overlooked for raises and promotions. It can be challenging to know when to advocate for advancement while also maintaining an attitude of gratitude.
Paradoxes like these are not uncommon. We often hear adages that seem to contradict:
“Don’t rock the boat,” but “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
“Pick your battles,” but “you must stand up for yourself.”
Wisdom is contradictory because wisdom holds all things.
How can employees be ambitious and hungry for more for themselves and their organizations while staying fulfilled, engaged, content, and retained?
Can you be content and advance your career at the same time? Absolutely.
Here’s how:
Active Patience
Active patience is taking action in the direction of your dreams, noticing what you enjoy about the process while maintaining perspective.
Setting process goals and an exercise inspired by a classic Charles Dickens novel can be a great way to inspire and reconcile seemingly opposing goals.
Process Goals
You can set outcome goals, but no matter what your efforts are, the outcome goals can evade you with circumstances outside of your control. Process goals, on the other hand, are much more in your control. Have a sales target (outcome goal). Determine how many prospecting calls (process goal) can you make
Past, Present, Future Audit
In Charles Dicken’s classic novel A Christmas Carol, the main character is visited by ghosts of Christmas past, Present, and Future to enlighten him toward a more fulfilling life. A similar framework can help you find opportunities to self-reflect for self-advocacy and appreciation that align with your career goals and company goals.
Past
Think back to when you first started at the company. Think about the onboarding time and the following weeks. How did you feel? What were your challenges then? What were you proud of then?
Write a few sentences here.
Present
Write down a few sentences about how things are currently going for you. What do you see as your wins, your challenges? What does it feel like to go to work, do the work, interact with your team, individuals, and customers, or any other stakeholders? Imagine writing a mini State of the Union address, but instead of the country, you and your work are the centerpiece. Be a matter of fact. Don’t sugarcoat, but also don’t forget any sweet elements. Be sure to ask, “What’s going well at work for me today?”
Future
Write a dream bio. Imagine going to a conference where you are the keynote speaker or unveiling your best-selling book. What does your dream bio say? What’s in that conference pamphlet by your picture or on the book jacket about you, the author? Write it down. This should also be a few sentences.
Writing does two important things:
- Writing calms the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain, and it engages the prefrontal cortex, our more evolved/rational brain.
- It engages the same parts of the brain as mediation. Meditation has been show to increase our telomeres on our DNA strands keeping us biologically younger.
However, the true value in this exercise is not in the listing and writing spurred by the prompts but rather in the self-refection and analysis that ensues. What does it teach you about yourself? What perspective do you have now that you didn’t before? How can you use this knowledge to take inspired action to reverse engineer your dream bio, learn from your experiences, and enjoy the process with contentment along the way?
When was the last great dinner you had? Was it at a fancy restaurant, home-cooked by a loved one? A big celebration or an intimate dinner date? Hold this memory in your mind and transport yourself there. Was the purpose of this meal to finish your plate or enjoy every bite?
A Christmas Carol, a timeless tale with practical applications in the modern workplace, can teach us to enjoy the journey, not just for ourselves but also for our place with others. Whether you are an employee looking to advocate for a raise or promotion while also expressing gratitude for the parts of the work you love or a Chief People Officer looking to engage a workforce on a limited budget, this exercise can lend perspective to find the right balance of active patience to inspire joy in the process.
