CHAPTER VIWHERE ARE YOU?

If you are six months into your job, you should pat yourself on the back. Then start to think more about how to objectively evaluate your current position. Consider your boss, your lifestyle, your geographic preferences, and your pay, as shown in Figure 6.1.

Illustration of Boss, Lifestyle, Geography, Pay objectives.

Figure 6.1 Boss, Lifestyle, Geography, Pay

You need to be realistic about what you can improve and how you are perceived within your organization and with your clients. Whom you work for should be the most important consideration; your immediate boss will overshadow lifestyle, geographic preferences, and pay. Every position is a mixed bag of likes and dislikes.

Boss: The old adage says that people join great companies and they quit bad bosses. People join great companies for macro reasons like the CEO, the brand, the reputation in the marketplace, the momentum of the company, and so on. Once they join a new company, many people overemphasize their function within that company and underemphasize the importance of a good boss. We will discuss your boss at more length later in the book.

Lifestyle: When evaluating your current spot in terms of lifestyle, is your boss aware of your current lifestyle and the lifestyle you aspire to have? Does your boss have a clue that you are in at 6:30 a.m. or that you are working all-nighters? Does your boss know what work you have on your plate? Your boss may have ...

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