Would you stay in your job if you won the lottery?

My neighbour was joking today that her other half loves his new job so much she couldn't tear him away if they won the lottery.  Conversely it made me think about the survey Lee Smith talked about recently that said almost half all British workers want to move into a more fulfilling second career by age 45.

If all 6 numbers came up on Saturday night, would you turn up at work on Monday?  Do you yearn to be a yoga teacher, a charity worker or an animal welfare person (some of the top more fulfilling careers on people's minds according to the survey Lee quotes)? Or does internal comms do it for you?

Two things have made a difference to me in the past week thanks to people who were passionate about their work. On Thursday I saw Billy Elliott on stage. I loved it - it made me laugh, it made me cry and I came out on a real high. I wondered what it must feel like to have audiences standing on their seats cheering every night and thought about the people you see on Any Dream Will Do that get so emotional because they want the chance to perform so much.

On Sunday I went to church. Usually I'm half focused on stopping my 1 year old godson eating the hymn book or untangling his hands from my hair. But this week I was on my own and what the vicar said hit home and made me think - hard. By the time I walked out I'd realised some things about myself I hadn't thought about before. I found myself thinking what an excellent communicator he was and trying to work out why. I decided it must come from believing so much in what he was saying and wanting so much to make us think.

So am I passionate about internal comms?  Actually, yes - I've done lots of soul-searching this year because I want to really believe in what I do and I don't want to spend time on things I don't honestly care that much about. I've narrowed my focus and I pass some of the things I used to do onto other people. And I've cut down my hours. It's hard to be passionate when you're sleep-deprived and stressed, and I wanted some free time to write a book - something else I feel passionate about.  So comms actually does it for me ... but I've had to make a few changes in focus.

Personally, I don't think you need to find a cure for heart disease or find the solution for world peace to make a difference or feel fulfilled.  I think it's about knowing what really matters to you, wondering whether you're doing those things, and if not, deciding what changes you're prepared to make.

So what do you reckon?  Can you feel 'passionate' and 'fulfilled' in an internal comms job ... or is that pushing it a bit far?

Sue 

 

Comments

[Jeroen]

Interesting question to ponder, isn't it? :-)
Accidentally, I just won the lottery and, uhh... sorry - I was just reading a newspaper article about someone whose job it is to 'counsel' lottery winners in Belgium. She says those stories about people spending everything in one go and ending up bankrupt do occasionally happen, but most of the time, lottery winners tend to just keep on living the way they do. Interesting observation: they don't want to change their ways (like buying a large castle far far away) because they're so attached to the comfort they already have (!), like being near friends and family.

I guess you can never know how you'll really behave until you're in that situation, but apparently most people keep it modest. I don't think I would give up my day job either. I would miss the social contact, and get bored to death in my fancy mansion. Unless I would make it a Playboy mansion. Hm...

[Liam]

I read somewhere that many winners fear the challenge of what they are going to do with thier time. If you've worked hard all your life it is pretty hard to imagine what you'd do after you've finish the Caribbean cruise.

Me, I'd be cycling around Laos and paying for my daughter's trips to West End musicals

Liam

[Sarah Ponsford]

I wouldn't walk out of my job and leave the organisation in the lurch, as it were, but I've always known what I'd do with a large Lottery win and working full time isn't part of that! I can't see the point of winning a life-altering amount of dosh and then not actually altering your life - why bother to take part? I'd use it to do something I could never do with an 'ordinary' salary - breed a Derby winner, for example (a long-held personal wish).

I do find my job intellectually fulfilling (most of the time) so I would want to make sure that I could duplicate that in a non-work environment. Perhaps that's a bigger challenge than finding things to do?

[Sue]

Just in case anyone thinks I'm a total saddo, I wouldn't work full time either.

In fact I'm trying very hard not to work full time now, and interestingly now that I've cut down my hours, non-work things have presented themselves to fill the gap and more, so maybe when we all win the lottery the 'finding interesting stuff to do' part won't be that difficult.

I'd definitely cut down my hours some more and take lots of holidays, and I'd get very choosy about the work I did, but there are some things that I really like doing work-wise and I can't see myself wanting to stop. And this is going to sound REALLY crawly but Black Belt is one of them. (So now you don't think I'm a saddo, do you? You KNOW I am!!)

[Janine Miller]

The Communic8tor link doesn't work. Can you help?

[Sue]

Thanks for letting us know Janine - we'll follow up. EDIT: we've checked this out and the blog seems to have been shut down, so we've now removed the link.

[Sally Hinder]

At last I've made it on here to make a comment after much cajoling from Sue and Liam. As I am the person Liam referred to in an earlier comment who left her job because she wanted to make a difference, I thought it only fair and proper to comment on this entry.

In answer to Sue's question on whether you feel you can feel passionate and fulfilled in an internal comms job, I say, yes absolutely. I completely agree with Sue when she says you don't need to find a cure for heart disease or find the solution for world peace to make a difference or feel fulfilled. It's about finding what's right for you. I left the corporate world to go freelance but continue to work on internal comms and change issues as well as coaching. For me it was about getting out of the large corporates and doing more of my own thing but I definitely agree with Sue's point - if you're doing what matters to you then you will feel you're making a difference.

Would I continue if I won the lottery? Umm, trips abroad and a Mercedes SLK beckon me thinks.

[Sue]

Hurrah! Great to have you with us Sally - I just know you won't be able to contain yourself from making more comments now ...

Just back from one of the parts of my job I love - today was melcrum's strategic research forum meeting. A) it's a great bunch of people and the company and debates are always good and B) I'm permanently curious about how different companies are doing things or learning some new theory or insight from a subject matter expert, so getting to shape, review and comment on the research reports is great. Another thing I suspect I'd be trying to hang onto with the lottery win (plenty of time to go abroad in between ... and I have QUITE enough trouble parking my mini!)