Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Be Careful What You Wish For...

So, I'm on a REALLY short list for a not-unsubstantial promotion. Specifically, it's between me and one other person. It's a fairly high-profile job, with travel, clout in the industry, etc. And it's about a 10K raise. I should find out whether I've been selected in the next few weeks.

If I do get offered the job, I'm a lock to accept, right? I'd like to say yes, but it's not that easy.

Through my contact network, I've found out that people in the job I've applied for have a burnout rate of approximately 80%. Not good. Too high to be a fluke. This job is tough. It's a high-risk, high-reward proposition. If I survive, the contacts I'll make will benefit me for the rest of my career, and I'll certainly be able to parlay this experience into a high-flying executive career. If I don't, I'm one more ego on the scrap heap, another promising manager this job has chewed up and spit out. And that's just me, there's my family to think of too. Will I end up being more of a liability around the house if this job saps my life force even more than my current one does?

There's also the fact that as much as I bitch about my work, no one can deny that I've done something of value there. My unit had its best year on record, with gains that are directly attributable to my procedural changes and motivational techniques. All of that, and I didn't manage to get everyone on board with what I was doing. Every day, the results improve, and I get more buy-in. Another year in this job and I might cause enough good to impact the entire organization. Or screw-ups elsewhere could make whatever I do a moot point as we're all shown the door.

Nobody ever said it would be easy, but I've never been presented with dueling possibilities that both have the potential of being win-win or lose-lose...

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