Summary
Many of us start out our careers in the same place – working for someone else. But we can finish in any number of areas. What distinguishes those who ultimately end up with more commas in their bank account from those who remain in the same cubicle?
Mindset. Future millionaires approach their jobs very differently – they see working for someone else as an opportunity to learn about how they can become the boss themselves. They see each day as a lesson, in the front row of the classroom, to take away when they launch their own empire.
There are some common traits these high achievers maintain in common. They don’t allow the scope of their thinking to be dictated by the constraints of their job position. They take calculated and strategic risks to assume more responsibility and more insight into how business works. And they use their time effectively – ensuring that every moment at the office is driving their own mission forward.
Read on to learn about how you can spot the future power brokers in your work space – and assume the habits that will help ensure that you end up as one yourself.
Transcript
Many of us dream of staring our own businesses and being our own bosses. We nurture a shared desire for freedom to set our own schedules and determine our own levels of success. A great number of self-employed individuals, however, start out their careers working for someone else.
This can be invaluable training for those with the right mindset – they can learn how organizations function and determine their own management style. But for every future entrepreneur in the office, there are plenty of employees who will be lured in by the comforts of working for someone else and ultimately never make that critical jump. So what is it exactly that the future millionaires do differently at the office that sets them apart from the cubicle lifers?
There are a few key attributes that indicate that a worker is thinking seriously about what it will take to begin signing the other side of the paychecks. Do these describe you – or anyone else you know at the office?
They Think Beyond Their Job Description
The words that you will never hear come out of the mouth of a future boss are, “That’s not my job.”
Career employees think narrowly about the confines of their role as documented on a job description. They avoid broadening the scope of their responsibilities and focus on what they are explicitly being paid to do.
Future bosses on the other hand can’t restrain their curiosity about all areas of the enterprises they are working within. They actively seek out opportunities to engage in work that is beyond the borders of what they were initially hired to do. They also are not content to carry out their work as it has always been conducted. They look for ways to present alternative options to their leadership on how work could be carried out more efficiently and effectively.
Keep in mind that just about anyone can point out a problem or where things are going poorly. The real value to be contributed lies in presenting alternatives and solutions for remedying problems. If you can propose these proactively and elevate them to your boss before they become dire issues, you will know that you are operating with a boss’s mindset.
They See Their Time As Employees As An All-Expenses Paid Business Education
They aren’t dreading the hours that they spend working under someone else’s watch because they consider it to be a form of paid business education. They have a front row seat to learn upfront about what makes organizations tick – invaluable knowledge that they can leverage later in their own companies. They may even be able to identify lucrative niches that are not currently being exploited by competitors in the marketplace. Best of all, this intelligence and insight can all be gathered on someone else’s dime!
In support of this education, they routinely find ways to meet individuals working in different areas of the organization so that they can gain a more holistic understanding of marketing, human resources, information technology, and the myriad of other components that go into building a sustainable and profitable business.
They Use Their Lunch Hour Effectively
When time is limited, that lunch hour is all the more crucial. They see lunchtime as a chance to network with colleagues or fit in a bit of exercise. They don’t stay shackled to their computers eating a “sad desk lunch” alone – not only does it make for an unsatisfactory meal, it prevents them from getting to know their colleagues and surroundings.
The difference is that future bosses don’t see themselves as confined to a narrow box – they see every day and every hour as a chance for exploration. Why not use that chunk of time to ask an interesting colleague to eat and get to know each other better? You can bring a prepared lunch from home to help you cut down on costs – the important thing is to use all of your time as effectively as you can. Your employer will always have more work to assign you – don’t fall into the trap of using all of your time to help someone else in their quest to get rich.
They Take Advantage Of The Benefits While They Can
Working for someone else surely does come with a set of advantages that the self-employed can only fantasize about. There are a whole host of perks and extra costs that are absorbed by your employer – just think of the costs associated with your company picking up your health care, paid vacation time and business expenses.
It is crucial to keep in mind that these amenities are used explicitly to lure you in and maintain you as a happy employee. Going off on your own will necessarily require you to give up on some comforts – a risk that some of us are more capable of taking than others.
Rather than allowing a benefits package to keep them working for someone else, future bosses are sure to maximize their benefits while they can, to help steel them for rockier waters ahead. The most notable example here is with benefits like 401k programs. For as long as you are employed by someone else, be sure to make maximum usage of the free money that you can earn through such programs. Check with your accountant to see if your income bracket benefits from using the tax deductibility and tax compounding you will gain from the account. You will be happy later that you maximized the usage of this benefit while you still had access to it.
However, don’t let these benefits become “golden handcuffs” preventing you from pursuing your dreams. Remember that your ultimate objective is to do great work that you love and enjoy the full extent of the rewards you have earned – not to have a guaranteed two weeks of paid time off each summer.
They Think And Act As Though They Already Own The Place
No, they don’t lord orders over others or expect others to do their bidding for them. What they do have is a sense of shared responsibility and a genuine interest in the health of the organization. While they maintain an attitude of learning in preparation to start their own ventures, they likewise maintain a passionate commitment to the performance of their current teams.
They know that the first step to becoming a leader is thinking like a leader, which means elevating the needs of their organization over their own daily interests. Through their commitment to the mission, they build strong relationships that they can continue to leverage throughout their professional journey, when they do go off to launch their own ventures based upon their own ideas and concepts.
There’s nothing wrong with working for someone else – must of us do it for large chunks of our career, if not for the duration of our working lives. Some of us may ultimately find that we are better wired for life as an employee than a boss – or perhaps we prefer a role that falls somewhere in the middle, such as serving as a consultant or trusted advisor to clients.
Working as an employee may mean less freedom in some senses, but it can certainly provide some life balance, which is especially crucial if you are focused on raising a family. There is a very real trade-off to keep in mind, however. There will simply always be a cap on your earnings as long as someone else is calling the shots.
Are you taking active steps to learn as much as you can about business from your company or organization? If not, you can start today to learn as much as you can so you can soon venture out on your own.
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