Would that be career suicide? :.
( Wednesday, November 22, 2006 )
"Many people still think you must have been mad to do what you did". Those were the words uttered to me by a former senior colleague that I held in considerably high esteem. Probably, the assertions I make in this post will upset persons in my former job, specially those who had spent the best years of their lives working for a company they eventually left as Directors, Senior Managers etc.
That was not bad in itself. The problem was they knew NO other life, and had acquired little or no other socially relevant and marketable skills to guarantee their successful re-entry into the real world. Many, as started to happen to me, would have gone through all those years telling everyone "Look, I'm busy", "I don't have time for that now!" etc.
As a jung executive in the company I quit from, I could not help noticing how defeated some retired ex-managers looked after some years.
Most of them, simply cannot bear the thought of not being able to have access to steady inflow of cash to carry on with their established lifestyles. This "It can't happen to me” mentality, lead them to readily drop all pretences at being "honest" and accept to do illegal and immoral things when confronted with the posibility of a life without money to spend. They absolutely dread the thought of going through any period of time without the assurance of an inflow of steady income. Since going into self-employment carries with it the heavy risk of enduring often prolonged periods of cash shortages, they therefore fail to see why anyone in his right mind would decide to take a decision to do such a thing.
To this I could argue, that there is a saying that madness is continuing to do something the same way every time, even when you know the results will still be the same unsatisfactory ones you have always gotten! For a long time I did the 9 to 6 job routine that made feel unfulfilled, saying yes-sir, getting periodically caught in corporate politics, and other things that cannot be told. That is crazy. So I quit the international corporation that host me, and I take a trip to the north. Some incredible things happen, and soon I will tell you all about them.
Meanwhile, my box has been filled, my mane retired of the lists, and the routine continue for those who still fail to understand that the creatures called "entrepreneurs" - the authentic ones - many times do not put the desire for money ahead of the thrill, the excitement and the challenge of pioneer something new to improve the lives of others.
Just quit the corporate life... and start to work.