Working to Improve the Company vs Working to Improve Your Career

[epower]

I was thinking today about why I work longer hours than I should, why I put myself in stressful roles with lots of responsibility and management of others and dealing with the bureaucratic nature of the workplace.

Is it to benefit the company or to benefit my career?

The longest I've spent at one company was six years. During that time I couldn't say I ever wanted to buy into the CEO's and higher managements big idea and change the world thinking. I just wanted to hit my KPI's and budgets so I personally looked good. I also wanted to develop and nurture the skills of my direct employees. By primarily it was for selfish reasons to get promotions with more money, more responsibility and you guessed it, more hours and stresses.

Throughout my career I can honestly say I've only ever worked to improve my career. Doing this has flow of effects to improve the company as a whole, but has never been a driver to get me out of bed to work in the morning.

Thoughts?

[Rural]

I work to get paid and because the work itself is worth doing (college professor in a poor rural area). This means I have turned down promotions that would have meant more money but would have taken me away from the work worth doing while adding hours and stress. A promotion would not improve my career, and while those above me believe my taking a promotion would improve the college, I don't know that I agree and don't care to sacrifice myself for their goals even if they are correct.

[Sarah Saverdink]

It's all intertwined. There are workers who are self-motivated, proactive and care about doing a good job, no matter what the job is (and often work a bit extra to make it all come together)... and there are workers who do what they are told and just enough to meet performance objectives without going above and beyond. Can you guess which ones will excel within a company? It helps the company, but it also boosts the individual's career, leading to higher responsibility roles and higher pay.

Ever since I was a kid, I haven't been capable of doing a half-assed job. Conscientiously NOT doing a good job would be more stressful than just putting in the work. If something is my responsibility, I do it to the best of my ability. From 5th grade homework to corporate presentations. That being said, as more things end up on your plate, it's important to understand which are truly important and prioritize. They aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done, but when my boss says "Hey, I need you to put together a presentation that I'll be showing to the VP", yeah, I put the time in to make sure it's good. If I make my boss look good, I will be rewarded with higher compensation down the road.