My name is Fred Bucher. But, if I’m being honest, there have been times in my life when my name was longer and hyphenated. For example, for a good chunk of my career my name was: “Fred Bucher-from-ESPN.”
There is a revealing little exercise for determining how much of our identities are tied to our jobs, titles, or employers that Cliff Marks, my very wise friend, and former ESPN colleague, taught me. Every once in a while, all of us need to look in the mirror and answer the “what’s my name” question honestly. If your surname is “from so-and-so” or “SVP of marketing for such-and such” then you have a problem.
There’s nothing wrong with loving what you do or where you work. All of us should be so lucky to have jobs that we are super-passionate about. The world would be a happier place. But there’s a danger in allowing our professional identifies to become so tied to our current roles.
Over-identifying with your job gives your current employer way too much control of your professional happiness and fulfillment. We become convinced that our current company is the only worthwhile employer and that leaving would be a step down. Perhaps we even become deluded into thinking that it is the only place we can happy.
When this happens, our employers have us right where they want us. Those who are afraid to leave become easy marks for the full range of corporate indignities: pigeonholed and put in a box, overlooked for new assignments, shitty raises, head-scratching restructures, diminished job responsibilities, the list goes on.
We rationalize our “thank-you-sir-may-I-have-another” compliance by telling ourselves: “Yea it sucks, but there are hundreds of people who would love to trade places, I’m lucky I still have this job.” And if our worst nightmare comes true and we are laid off, it can be devastating.
In essence tying our identifies so closely to a specific job makes our world incredibly small. We see only one company as worthy and, worse, we lose the ability to imagine professional happiness and achievement for ourselves in any other setting. It’s one of the saddest things that can happen to us in our careers.
It happened to me for a time. I was a lifelong sports fan and an avid viewer of the network so working at ESPN was practically a dream come true. But after leaving I began to realize how long I’d been navigating my career while wearing blinders. It’s a big world out there. Once you give yourself permission to believe that there are other places you could find professional happiness, you begin to see the myriad of possibilities.
The worst thing any of us can do is to turn over our sense of professional self-worth to someone else. Our work histories are a critical component of our professional identifies. But you are more than the companies listed on your resume.
This is more important than you may realize. As much as working at A-list companies can be a feather in your cap, the place that has become part of your name can also overshadow and water down your accomplishments. Hiring managers might not give you the credit you deserve and question if your success was more a function of the brand you worked for rather than your individual contributions.
The key is crafting a narrative for yourself that threads together your work history and transcends your current employer. You need to have a story tied to your name, not that of your employer. What is the unique combination of skills and experiences that define your journey: where you’ve been, what you’re doing now, and where you are going. You want people to appreciate your value beyond where you work.
Once you figure out what that is, you need to share it beyond the confines of your day job. Serve on industry committees or boards. Blog or post on LinkedIn about relevant topics or trends that interest you. You have a point of view, share it. Or just do more simple, good old-fashioned networking, still the most powerful weapon in our professional arsenals.
Owning our personal career narratives keeps us in control. It broadens our horizons and empowers us to take responsibility for our own happiness. It reminds us that our career journey is not determined solely by our current job, regardless of whether we love it or hate it.
Remember, in the end the only name that stays with you throughout your entire career journey is yours.