I HAVE been mentoring some of my students who are part of the workforce in the past few years. Just recently, one of my mentees made mention about some plans of shifting a career. After much digging deeper as to the reasons of these plans, I realized that there are two main reasons why this possible transfer is taking place: one is pushing towards a greater mission and a more aligned direction to a personal cause and, two is a pulling away from his current employer as a result of a bad experience.
To be quite honest, I had some difficulty in facilitating our discussion as regards having my mentee reach a decision and having a concrete action plan. It has been rare for my case to have this dilemma. I, however, provided him some points to reflect on, which can hopefully aid this person in the decision making process.
For one, let us look at the factor that pushes people away from their current work. I believe that having to expect organizations to be perfect and infallible will just lead people to frustration. Looking at all organizations, there will always be something that we can complain about from them. It could be salaries, certain work dynamics, gossips, ethical considerations, and the list goes on. After all, organizations are managed by imperfect individuals who have personal issues, goals, biases and even concerns. Collectively, these interactions create a system of both collaboration and, most often the not, a competition of needs.
In the revised curriculum of our educational system, I think that this is the same reason why our students are being helped to develop competencies to interact and work in groups. In various workplaces there is so much negotiation, compromises, and collaboration activities that they need to be prepared to undertake. But amidst the many complex workplace dynamics, what must stay is to have an awareness of our personal non-negotiables, which pertains to our values. When this aspect is challenged, it could be that our silence enabled it to be compromised or inaction made it happen.
As to the factors that pull people to another organization, I am always reminded by Frederick Beuchner when he said, “the place where God calls you is where your deep gladness and the world’s hunger meet.” In this formula, to put it simply, it is always a balance of self and others.
Having been given the opportunity to mentor student leaders, because of their idealism, most of the times, they have tremendous amount of passion to serve communities and organizations. They have a strong sense of the world’s hunger. This is not bad at all. In many respects, I feel proud of these pursuits.
However, because of this, there are many times that they unintentionally failed to remember their personal needs. While their passions and advocacies are laudable, they often times fail to remember those that would pay the bills or those that provide them with food on their table. Thus, I truly believe, as what Beuchner suggests, it should be an intersection of both our deep gladness and the world’s hunger.
To sum it up, we need to understand that there is no one formula for our personal and organizational success. But to achieve something, there is a need to make a decision and be able to take a leap of fate and take some risks. One can never be prepared to do anything. But for someone who sets his or her heart towards his or her values, deep gladness and the world’s hunger, are meant to meaningfully shift their gears.