Avoid lifestyle pressure in the workplace

Q: Hi Waceke. I work for an international organisation in Nairobi. I want to empower myself to create wealth. However there is a lot of pressure to conform to a certain lifestyle at work.

Our managers actually encourage us to drive certain cars and live in certain neighbourhoods. I fear I will not rise up the ranks if I do not conform. Please advise me.

I conducted a training session at yesterday and someone pulled me aside during the tea break to ask me this. We had just been talking about ‘image’ during the session.

A lot of people face this dilemma. They feel there is external pressure for them to look good so they dress in a certain way, drive a certain car and can be seen in certain entertainment venues.

The answer to this question is slightly more complicated than what I am about to state, but the first thing to remember is that the manager is wrong to do that.

However the major danger is when employees start to believe that they have to live a certain lifestyle in order to get promoted. One thing is for sure is that it will never be enough. From the experience and testimonies of the people I have worked with, these types of managers or organisations will always keep demanding something from you. Then you will get into the trap of an image driven lifestyle.

CAUSE OF DEBT

There is always a bigger phone, a bigger car and a bigger place to live in. To be able to make objective decisions with what we decide to do or not to do, we first need to believe that these external things do not actually make you better at your job, or a better person. The majority of your efforts should be spent on developing the experience and skills that in fact do “make you good”, rather than figuring out how to acquire material things that only temporarily “make you look good”.

This is actually one of the reasons many people are struggling with consumer debt. Remember, the person putting pressure on you to “upgrade your image” is not going to come to your rescue when you are having problems repaying your loan. 

Once you are clear within yourself that this item does not define you and does not add value to you as human being or employee, then you can then make objective decisions about what to do. You can also set boundaries on what you will and will not accommodate.

One of my clients realised that she thought that driving the right car would open doors to certain networks. She realised it was her who had actually become attached the thought of the car, thinking will add value it her. Once she realised that it was the networks she wanted, she worked not on getting a car but on getting the networks.

Yes, she did spend some money being at certain social functions, but far less than the debt she would have paid for upgrading her car.

Sometimes we may think that the iPhone, the Mercedes and the house in Runda are a short cut to doing the true work. They are not! Even if she had bought the car, she would have still had to put the same effort into building the network but she would have held a false belief that it is the car that opened doors. Then at some point, she would have bought yet another car thinking it would open the bigger doors.

If you are the manager who is putting pressure on people to conform to your standard, there is no gentle way of putting this: It is wrong and in in the worst interests of your team. If, as an organization, you strongly believe in a certain standard, provide it to people. If you believe client visits should only happen in a Mercedes, then buy one for your people to use.

I don’t mean offering them a cheap loan to buy the car, but rather buying them the cars.

Maybe you also need to question your own beliefs and opinions on success and wealth. Also evaluate what truly makes people better at their jobs and push that agenda rather than the agenda of materialism.

I was thoroughly impressed when the MD of a large bank that I know stood up in front of all his employees and told them not to copy him. He stated that his car, house and lifestyle was all paid for by the bank so none of them should be struggling to get the same life through their salaries. He was actually horrified to find cars as expensive as the one the bank had bought him in the staff parking lot.

I wish more leaders would pass this message on because there are many people trying to copy CEOs, falsely believing that they will be noticed more.

Let’s all remember that all these material things have nothing to do with true wealth. Do not buy them at the expense of acquiring real assets that will work for you in the future. When you are retired, your shiny vehicle will not be shiny anymore and will not put food on the table.