How I Killed the “Company Man”

At the start of my career, I worked for a small, independently owned lead generation company. It was rather menial work — doing various odd jobs — but it was a means to cover my expenses while I worked on my degree.

I ended up learning some HTML/CSS (that’s a story for another day) and I got my first big break — the owner of the company took notice of my abilities and began to mentor me and help me grow professionally.

I spent the next 5 years developing my skills and making increasingly valuable contributions to the company. Without question, I had become a “company man.”

However — the tendrils of discontent began to take hold.

There was no room to grow — I was operating as the owner’s right-hand man — and I had nearly exhausted my learning potential at the company. While the discontent was growing, I still felt a sense of obligation to the company.

Because the owner had given me my big break, I felt like I owed him my loyalty.

I was torn.

My heart was, and many of those around me were, telling me to stick it out and be loyal to the company — but my gut was telling me it was time to make a change.

Ultimately, I did what I felt was best for me — it was at this moment that the “company man” inside me was vanquished.

I found my next opportunity and I left the company on good terms. It was a difficult decision, but in retrospect, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Jobs Are Not Relationships

By working in a small company with a low growth ceiling, I stumbled upon a valuable truth:

If I cannot whet my appetite for growth with my current company, it doesn’t hurt to start looking elsewhere for new opportunities — I don’t need to wait around for the sake of loyalty.

Many people consider this mentality to be somehow lacking in integrity. I’d remind them that a job is not a relationship — by modeling your professional values after your interpersonal values, you are creating a trap for yourself that ultimately leads to disappointment and, potentially, financial turmoil.

A job is not a relationship. Loyalty in the professional world is most often a one-way street.

Think about this — if a company comes on financially hard times and must lay off half of it’s workforce to survive, do you think it would reciprocate your loyalty?

At the end of the day, your company is going to look out for it’s best interests — you should follow suite.