By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Are you working your tail off for a 3% raise while watching outsiders land the promotions you’ve earned? You’re not alone. In this video, I deconstruct the “Myth of Career Loyalty” and expose the “Madness of Careers”—the painful gap between the dream we were sold and the reality of being a cog in a corporate machine. We’ll dive into the Fable of the Snake to reveal the true nature of business and provide a actionable, 4-step plan to detox from false hope and start prioritizing your interests over the company’s bottom line. It’s time to stop waiting for a savior and start being your own CEO.
Today, let’s talk about something a lot of us believe in, or at least used to believe in, the myth of career loyalty. We’re gonna dig into what happens when that whole illusion just shatters. Let’s get right into it.
You know, it’s a feeling that starts out pretty small, kind of like a nagging thought in the back of your mind, a quiet frustration. But over time, it can grow and grow, until it becomes this one, single, overwhelming word that just defines your entire professional life. Madness.
Maybe it’s that sense that the rules you thought you were playing by just don’t seem to matter anymore. If that sounds even a little bit familiar, you are in the right place, because we’re about to explore exactly where that feeling comes from. Alright, so let’s start by framing this whole conflict.
We’ll call it the madness of careers. And really, it’s all about the gigantic gap between the dream career we were all sold and the reality that so many of us are actually living, day in and day out. So on one side, you’ve got the dream, right? The story is simple.
Do great work, get recognized for it, and you’ll climb the ladder, earning more money and authority. But then, there’s the other side, the reality. It’s that feeling of being just a tiny ant in a giant machine.
It’s watching outsiders get hired for the very roles you’ve been working your tail off for. It’s feeling like you have to be an empty suit to get ahead. And what does that recognition look like in the world? Well, for a lot of people who are labeled a solid performer, all that hard work, all that loyalty, it all gets boiled down to a number that looks a lot like this.
3%. A 3% raise? I mean, that feels less like a real reward and more like just checking a box, doesn’t it? And this right here, this is the heart of all that frustration. It’s this fundamental disconnect.
Management says one thing, you know, we really value you. But their actions, when it comes to promotions or pay, tell a completely different story. And it’s in that gap, that incongruence, where the madness really starts to take hold.
So what happens when that disconnect just keeps going day after day, year after year? Well, it leads to something the source material calls a death by a thousand cuts. It’s this slow, painful wearing down of your ambition itself. And it’s a gradual thing, you know, it’s not overnight.
First, maybe you realize management is actually getting in the way of your success. Then you’re sort of encouraged to ignore all the contradictions you see. Fear starts to creep in, fear of losing your job, and that makes you obedient.
Trusting Others’ Opinions More Than Your Own
And eventually, you might just give up and surrender to what’s called acceptable mediocrity. You become this hollowed out version of the ambitious person you were when you started. So the crucial point is this, and it’s a real wake-up call.
The path of just being quiet and obedient, of never rocking the boat, that is not the path that leads to leadership or fulfillment. That’s a path that leads you further and further away from the person you actually want to become. To really wrap our heads around this whole dynamic, we’ve got to shift our perspective.
And there’s a powerful metaphor that explains everything. It’s called the fable of the snake. The story is pretty simple.
A snake needs to get across a river, so he asks a turtle for a ride. The turtle, you know, being a smart turtle, is a little hesitant. He asks the snake for a guarantee that he won’t get bitten.
And the snake, well, he makes a promise. A promise that sounds completely reassuring, totally logical, perfectly safe. And the turtle, because he wants to believe the promise, agrees and lets the snake climb up onto his back.
But of course, halfway across the river, the inevitable happens. The snake breaks its promise and bites the turtle, dooming them both. The turtle, in total shock, asks, why? You promised.
And right here, this is the core lesson of the whole story. The snake’s response is simple, and you really can’t argue with it. It wasn’t about malice.
It wasn’t even really about a broken promise. It was about its fundamental nature. A snake does what a snake does.
So what in the world does this mean for us? Well, a business isn’t necessarily evil, just like the snake wasn’t evil. It simply acts according to its nature. And the nature of any business is to survive and protect its owners and investors first.
That is its primary function. Everything else comes second. And here is where we connect everything back to that feeling of madness.
The madness isn’t the system itself. The madness is our misplaced faith. It’s us expecting the snake not to act like a snake.
It’s us hoping that a business will choose to be kind to us over ensuring its own survival. Now, the source material uses a really blunt metaphor here, and it’s designed to jolt us awake. This addiction we have to the idea that the company is going to take care of us, it’s a dangerous one.
It’s time to detox from that fantasy and start planning for yourself and for your interests. And this brings us to the final and honestly the most important section. Once we understand the nature of the system, how do we actually operate within it? Well, it all comes down to taking full, complete responsibility for your own career.
This whole thing breaks down into a clear, four-step plan. First, you’ve got to acknowledge the reality of the system, understand the nature of the business snake. Second, you have to abandon the false hope that somehow you’ll be the one exception to the rule.
Third, recognize that you are in charge of your career and start planning for your interests. And finally, number four, you have to act now. Don’t wait for a crisis to start preparing.
And always remember, even a manager with the best intentions in the world can’t save you. When the tough decisions are made way up at the top, your direct boss is usually powerless. You cannot outsource your career security to anyone.
You’re the one in charge. So we’ll end with this. A business operates with a crystal clear understanding of its own purpose and its own nature.
The most powerful question you can ask yourself right now is, do you understand yours? And are you willing to act on it?
Decisions
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS job search coaching and career advice globally because he makes job search and succeeding in your career easier.
You will find great info and job search coaching to help with your job search at JobSearch.Community Subscribe to No BS Job Search Advice Radio, the OG of job search podcasts with more than 3000 shows, wherever you listen to podcasts
Expert Advice for Senior Leaders in Transition
Connect on LinkedIn
Schedule a discovery call to speak with me about one-on-one or group coaching during your job search at www.TheBigGameHunter.us.
15 Questions to Prepare for On Your Next C Level Interview
We grant permission for this post and others to be used on your website as long as a backlink is included to www.TheBigGameHunter.us and notice is provided that it is provided by Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter as an author or creator. Not acknowledging his work or providing a backlink to www.TheBigGameHunter.us makes you subject to a $1000 penalty which you proactively agree to pay. Please contact us to negotiate the use of our content as training data.
