Tag: job

Reflecting on Simon Sinek’s philosophy

If you need an introduction to Simon Sinek I recommend you go watch one of his many videos, he does a better job at introducing himself than I will ever do.

He came up with the golden circle, put simply he argues that:

  • Companies usually know WHAT they do,
  • Most companies know HOW they do it,
  • Only a few know WHY they do what they do.

I used to work for the automotive industry, I have nothing against cars but the high paying job didn’t give the fulfillment I needed.

You might say: “Oh you are an artist, artists don’t like to work in a corporate organization.”

That’s not true, we don’t care as long as we know our work has an impact. And to be aware of our impact we need to know why we are doing what we are doing.

Fast forward nearly two years later, I am still working in the same country but now for a language center. I am not going to lie I get paid just enough to pay my rent, my bills and have some for food and the occasional get together with friends. I feel so happy that I feel guilty enough to question my happiness (later on this topic).

So what’s the difference? Was I meant to be a teacher? Maybe but I can’t prove that. I believe nobody can prove for what job they were destined to, otherwise everybody would be taking that magic test to do what they love or at least to find out what they love to do.

After listening to Simon Sinek’s philosophy, I believe the reason why I love going to work even on a Saturday when most people complain 5 days a week and are shaking like addicts to get to Friday, is because I know WHY I am doing what I do.

I help people communicate so that they can achieve what they want and I can see that in my students’ faces.

Bonne journée.

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Cartoon blog day 13: Corporate culture

I used to work for a multinational company in the automotive industry. I don’t know how much money the company spent on building a “corporate culture”, needless to say it felt important.

There is nothing wrong with that, after all, you have people from different cultures working together towards company’s goals.

CBD13 Corporate culture.jpg

I am still not sure whether this corporate culture is a solution to cultural differences or a genuine attempt to make employees feel like they belong in a social structure. You have probably heard Managers’ speeches like “We are a family”. (Then what about my real family?)

As you might have noticed I referred to the corporate culture as a possible solution which means cultural differences are seen as problems.

But cultural differences are problems only when faced with the method that the company followed so far to get successful results. A Japanese company follows a Japanese approach, a French company follows a French approach and so on.

Cultural differences are not problems, they are part of our reality.

I feel that these differences are not discussed in all honesty not only because of their complexity but also in fear of offending someone in the process. It’s like a relationship in a couple if you don’t address the differences they will build up exponentially. But people won’t talk about them, because it’s easier to break up than to lose your job.

Bonne journée.