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The 30 Year Paycheck: It’s Redemption Time (Video)

Jamie Shanks
Jamie Shanks

Social Series

Are you in your job for the paycheck or the adventure?

This blog is definitely one of my favorites. I had the opportunity to interview Sander Biehn about his new work, “The 30 Year Paycheck: Destruction and Redemption in Corporate America”.

For those that don’t know Sander, he is a superstar who has closed millions of dollars in revenue by using social selling techniques during his sales process. He is now a newly minted author who offers a fresh perspective on a topic that affects us all.

Finding Fulfillment and Meaning

As the information economy rapidly advances, our careers, professional goals and, ultimately, aspirations comes to question. Especially in the world of sales, who are we today? What purpose do we serve? Gerhard Gschwandtner from Sales 2.0 & Selling Power even went as far as to predict that technology will start to make more and more of us obsolete.

Sander brilliantly pens a book that’s about getting caught up in the corporate world, its politics, and being entangled in the policies of corporations that stifles our creativity and gifts.

Watch this interview to see the candid discussion that he and I had. As you watch, ask yourself if you’re in it just for the paycheck or the adventure. If it’s just the paycheck, you will be pushed and prodded in unwanted ways.

Losing Our Religion

In the interview, Sander explains to me how he got caught up in the corporate world. An example he used was that he used to emulate his VP but then ultimately realized that there’s only one person he could be: himself.

While this point may seem trivial to some, and while others may gloss it over, it is fundamentally one of the most important factors that contributes to the destruction of our creativity. We are all trying to be like someone else. Little do we realize that in this process, we lose ourselves. Our creativity, insights, values, morals and ethics slip away, day by day.

While Sander explains these concepts through a beautifully penned story, make no mistake about it: this story is about each and every one of us. There are stories in this work that will resonate with all of you. You’ll think back to examples in your own professional life.

The Personal Redemption

When the protagonist in the book finds himself, there is a sense of calm, happiness and euphoria. He is redeemed.

The metaphor is powerful; we need only look into a mirror. All of us can be redeemed. By exerting our natural abilities, gifts and creativity, we can all do a better job in standing up for what’s right.

Ask yourself eventually if you’d like to live a life of mindless corporate bureaucracy or one where you get to express yourself. I’m not suggesting that we bash all corporations, but I am pointing out the culture that most corporations have these days.

The Corporate Redemption

I believe that corporations will be redeemed within the next 10 years. Even if they resist, they’ll be forced to adapt. The millennials are coming, my friends. They will shake things up like never before. The generation of individuality and autonomy will force even the most stubborn of us to yield to the new order.

The Bottom Line

The challenge to not losing ourselves while working in set confines. Although this may seem daunting, we can all contribute by challenging the status quo. In the world of sales, that means really living by example and giving the best of you. Disagreements will happen in the process, but who wants a “yes man” anyway?

Redemption exists for all of us. If you feel stuck in your career, it’s time to pick up a copy of The 30 Year Paycheck and then get perfectly aligned with what matters: YOU.

Amar Sheth

CTA

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