Is Your Boss Threatened By Your Dreams?

Would you feel guilty telling your boss about your dreams to not have a boss?

 

Your dream may:

 

1. Motivate you to extreme levels of productivity

2. Make you exceptionally creative

3. Force you to solve problems and expand your comfort zone

4. Increase your decision-making capabilities

 

In addition, it is most likely that your dream does not involve ‘stealing’ from your boss, co-workers, friends, investors, or anyone in order to get ahead.

 

So why do you feel like you can’t even discuss this with your boss or co-workers?

 

I think the reason your dreams are a potential ‘problem’ is because there is no company system in place to support big dreams.

 

There are well-planned positions “Do X and be paid X.” but even with favorable and fair compensation, a company has no plans for your dream, or for you doing much outside the expected scope.

 

Like a cat starving to death on a pile of fresh fruit, your company and boss wouldn’t know how to leverage your big ideas if you told them.

 

• Lack Of Management Systems – How do we manage something if you thought it up?

• Lack Of Upside Compensation Plan – If the idea works, how do you, your boss, and the company get compensated?

• Lack Of Downside Risk Management – If the idea fails, how do we handle that?

 

The solution seems to be: Create new systems based on new assumptions:

 

• People working with you want to expand their potential

• They will have ideas that may actually be good.

• If you give someone an opportunity, they will put in good effort, attempt to minimize risk, and share the upside.

 

First, the company needs new compensation systems based on these 3 assumptions:

 

• Internal Compensation System – If you execute your idea and it works, how does your income increase?

• External Compensation System – If the idea doesn’t fit internally, how can the company invest in you so that you, your boss, and the company share in the upside?

 

Second, the company needs budgeting systems based on these 2 assumptions:

 

• If you have an idea, how much money/resources are you given, and what results are expected to provide more resources?

 

Third, how will the existing company continue to function, embracing that the most highly motivated people will naturally grow into new unexpected directions?

 

• If you leave your current responsibilities for a better opportunity, how can we avoid balls being dropped?

 

Am I alone in seeing a huge opportunity when your boss sees your aspirations and dreams and ideas as potential shared opportunities, instead of threats?