There are three mutuals you need to have with your employer, and if you don’t have them, then you could find yourself in more than a few situations where you’re really unhappy, especially when interest rates, inflation, and cost of living are up, salaries are going down, turnover is crazy, and everyone’s frustrated.
You want to have three mutuals with an employer because that will allow you to build a solid partnership (not a relationshipâyou should never treat employers like friends or family!). Here are the three mutuals you should live and die by in your career, and why they’re so important…
Trust, Respect, And Benefit: 3 Mutuals For A True Partnership
The first mutual you need with your employer is trust. The second mutual is respect. And the third mutual is benefit.
When you have mutual trust, mutual respect, and mutual benefit, you have a true partnership, not a relationship. They’re not your friends. They’re not your family. You have a true and equitable partnership, and that is what you’re always striving for.
Now, if you’re sitting in this partnership and all of a sudden one day something feels off or you’re not happy, take a step back and ask yourself, “What’s changed?”
- Did the trust factor change?
- Did the respect factor change?
- Did the benefit factor change?
Be honest with yourself. Then, if you can identify what it is, have a conversation with your boss and talk about how the mutual trust was broken or the mutual respect was broken or the mutual benefit was broken. Calmly and rationally talk about how you can get it back on track to an equitable partnership. And if you can’t, then guess what? You know it’s time for you to go find your next partnership (your next job). No hard feelings. You gave it a try. You tried to fix the partnership. The partnership didn’t work. You’re moving on.
When I coach Work It DAILY members, they learn to take the emotion out of this situation. They look at the partnership. They build an equitable partnership. They nurture that partnership. And if for some reason it changes, they try to fix it. And if it doesn’t get fixed, they go find a new partnership.
If you adopt this mindset in your career, your career will change for the better. You will have so much more power over your career success. But let me let you in on a little secret. You don’t just naturally get there. You don’t just set out and go, “Okay, from now on, I’m just going to hold out until I get one of these partnerships with the three mutuals.” You need to put in the work. You need to change your approach to job search. You need to know your unique value add. You have to put in the time to completely shift yourself from being an employee who feels like they have golden handcuffs on to being a business-of-one who knows how to run their business-of-one and get the trust, respect, and benefit they want and deserve.
You do not need to be a victim. You can be the hero of your career story. And it starts with building that partnership with your employer. It starts with mutual trust, respect, and benefit.
Good luck, and go get ’em!
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