Fire Your Boss (24 page)

Lucky for him, Bill Kaplan’s job situation wasn’t as unstable as Patrick McCleod’s. Bill worked on developing a personal network, as I suggested, and began job fishing, looking for interesting offers. During his first year on the job nothing came along that provided more than improvements in unimportant factors. After eighteen months, however, that changed. Bill attended a fund-raiser for adult literacy at the local library. There he met and struck up a friendship with a well-known author. At a dinner party at that author’s home, Bill met the owner of a special-interest bookstore. The two hit it off and the owner offered Bill the job as manager of the store, for a 20-percent salary increase. Bill took the job. Six months later he came to me for help in negotiating the future purchase of the store from the owner, who’s planning on retiring in the near future. For Bill, the transition from uncertain college graduate to potential owner of a bookstore in just a couple of years has made him happier than he could have imagined. Firing his boss has turned his life around.

Firing
your
boss can turn
your
life around as well.

YOU CAN INCREASE
your income.

You can spend less time at work and more time at home with your family.

You can achieve the kind of psychological, emotional, and even spiritual fulfillment you’ve always wanted.

You can feel in charge of your work life.

You can decide when to leave your current job and have a choice of new job offers.

You can feel optimistic about your work future.

You can lead the life of your dreams.

You can achieve all of this by adopting the new set of attitudes toward work I’ve discussed and following the seven simple yet empowering steps I’ve outlined in this book. (See the box on page 198 for an outline of the entire process described in the preceding eight chapters.)

THE FIRE YOUR BOSS PROCESS

1.	Fire your boss…and hire yourself.

a.	Check your control over your work life.

	What is your value in the workplace?
	What kind of benefits do you deserve?
	What skills do you have?
	What do you consider your greatest achievement?
	How long do you think you need to work at a particular job or task to master it and be ready to move on to another job or task?
	Do you have a personal plan for your work life?

b.	Take charge of your work life.

	Write your own job description.
	Give yourself a performance review.
	Define alternate courses.
	Put your plan in writing.

2.	Kill your career…and get a job.

a.	Why do you work?
b.	Come up with ways to get what you want, other than money.

3.	There’s no I in job.

a.	Figure out what your boss most needs and wants.

	What does he do during the day? What does he get from it?
	When does his mood change? Why?

b.	Is he one of the common types of bosses?

c.	Prioritize his multiple needs.
d.	Develop ways to meet his needs.

4.

Go fish.

a.	Stay abreast of job opportunities.

	Note alternate and current paths.
	Determine top trade publications for each path.
	Find headhunters or employment agencies for each path.
	Compile reading and agency list.