“Why does your boss work?” I asked Vicki. “He doesn’t need the money, not anymore.”
“Well, yeah,” Vicki stammered. “He works because that’s who he is. I mean, he has power.” She stopped and chuckled. “He gets to tell people what to do.”
“So, it’s different for your boss, than it is for you?”
“Well, of course it is. If I made as much money as he does, I would come to work because, because.” Her voice trailed off.
“So, the only way you could be happy in your job, is if you made as much money as your boss? The only way your team members could be happy in their jobs is if they made as much money as your boss?”
Vicki was unsure of her response. “I could never make as much money as my boss,” she finally replied. “What I do isn’t worth that much money. What I do has value, but, but. But I am paid, about right, for what I do, for the value I bring to the company.”
“You are paid, about right? Then why do you work? Part of it is money, it is a symbolic trade for your contribution. And, what is the other part, why do you work?”
When you are retired and you have enough money to live and pay for your toys and trips, you find yourself looking for something to do and work. Obviously, it has a lot to do with the satisfaction, the adrenaline, the dealing with capable people, the negotiating part of it, the continuation of what you have done for forty+ years.
Professional development for what you have worked so hard, gets to an end, then the real value of working comes across.