The “Opportunities For Growth” Problem

This is why most people leave jobs — even though bosses don’t want to admit this is the real reason.

The first thing you need to realize whenever anyone discusses a topic like “the future of work” is that said concept varies drastically from A-Place to B-Place in the world. How could someone in an office park in Topeka, Kansas feel the exact same way about work as someone doing finance in Nairobi? It’s nearly impossible. (Heck, it’s nearly impossible for someone in Topeka to feel the same way about work as someone in Kansas City, relative to factors like their boss, their industry, their salary, their office layout, etc.) No one has all the answers here.

The second thing you need to realize is that, broadly, we still live in a society where you can’t talk about certain topics, one of which is money/salary/compensation. That leads to a good deal of people being confused about what their salary actually represents — which in turn executives and CFOs tend to exploit back to their own personal bottom line — but that’s neither here nor there. What I mean to say here is this: sometimes we claim “Oh, salary isn’t important!” because it feels like a good thing to say on a survey. In reality, salary is important. It’s not the essential key to happiness, no, but it will help you have the type of…