Loyalty never pays

I came across this Tweet recently and it rocked me.

But that wasn’t all. This is the advice that this Cisco Manager went on to give:

“Hard Lessons-

Self-serve first. Corporate companies are not your friend. They are there to make money even if US citizens suffer. Cheap Indian 'engineer' will one day take your job anyway. Keep yourself relevant by learning market-relevant technologies. In today's time, stick to open-source technologies. Do not work on proprietary technologies. In case you are stuck, have an exit plan.

Do not be lured by false future promises. Stick to what can be compensated in the present. No one knows the future, not even your boss or his boss. You will be taken advantage of if you allow that to happen. Fight for your rights diplomatically if your personal situation allows else have an exit plan ready. Do not stay for more than 2 years in a place unless you see strong future growth

Maintain a work-life balance. I regret this as time lost will never come back. Try getting a side income, you never know when your side hustle will turn out to be a lifesaver. Save as much as you can and invest wisely."

He added $100m+ in value to this company and was still so disposable.

These are his words, not mine. But they might as well have come directly from me.

This person learned the lesson the hard way after a few decades but it’s the same lesson I learned back in 2017 when I was laid off.

Your company was not created to take care of you. It was created to take care of shareholders and owners of the company.

Your future and your family are your responsibility. That’s what I have preached on LinkedIn for the past 4 years and it will be what I will preach forever.

Want to learn how to build something you own using LinkedIn so you can replace your full-time income? Check out this free training

And if you want to join the next cohort of my private 8-week accelerator to learn how to build a 6-figure business on LinkedIn, apply here.

Talk soon,

Tobi