Julian looked forward to his new job and expected a successful long-term career with the company he had joined. Steady promotion, satisfying, interesting and responsible work and using the expertise he worked hard to build-up was his vision of things to come. Unfortunately the reality for Julian is somewhat different.
There is plenty of work to do and Julian is run ragged most of the time and is never entirely on top of things. He’s given instructions which he diligently follows and gets frustrated when he discovers that the required course of action takes him down the wrong path. His manager appears to be so busy that they never get a chance to talk about Julian’s development and future career. Encouragement and supportive comments are rare although his colleagues are quite friendly.
Julian feels he could tackle more demanding work but thinks he does not have the required know-how and also worries he might make mistakes and that his workload would become even more of a burden. He did take on a project but got caught out by the political games that people seemed to play in this company so the project fell short of expectations. He often feels left in the dark and has to guess what is required which results in unexpected problems that seem to come out of nowhere.
He has some contact with clients but they seem uninterested in his expertise and elegant proposals for solving problems and are more focused on their own needs rather than his suggestions. His might be a more expensive solution but Julian gets indignant when they can’t see and appreciate the long term benefits of his ideas.
Ultimately Julian has lost the plot and his enthusiasm. He still puts in long hours out of necessity but his heart is no longer in it. He is stressed out, feels powerless and goes home exhausted with no energy left for his passions outside of work. He marks time waiting for things to change for the better and dreams of an opportunity that will rescue him from his life of drudgery.
Meanwhile another organisational shuffle is due – he wonders what fate is in store for him this time!
Julian has become a work victim and it’s not a good place to be. It might feel comfortable as it’s easy to pass on the blame and he has decided that there is not much he can do about it except reduce expectations and settle for a ‘quiet’ life. However it’s not a secure, satisfying or rewarding place to be stuck in. It creates different stresses, frustrations and dissatisfactions.
No-one gains – least of all Julian.
Have you been in this situation? How did you break out of the mindset that Julian is currently in?
There is more about this in The Self Directing Professional book
