“Quiet Quitting” or Passionless Jobs?
Employees want more inspiration and work-life balance
The last three years have brought about a drastic change in how we work and live. The pandemic caused people to pause and take stock of their life. For many, this period of reflection resulted in what’s been dubbed The Great Resignation, one of the largest turnovers in talent in recent memory. Millions of people have left their jobs to seek better opportunities where they feel their work has more purpose and they have greater work-life balance.
But some employees are taking a different approach. The latest trend is something called “quiet quitting.” According to the Wall Street Journal, this phenomenon is where “young professionals reject the idea of going above and beyond in their careers, labeling their lesser enthusiasm a form of “quitting.” It isn’t about getting off the company payroll, these employees say. In fact, the idea is to stay on it—but focus your time on the things you do outside of the office.”
Quiet quitting sounds like just another label for the age-old tension between company leadership that wants greater employee engagement (i.e., productivity) and the employees who are tired of giving their life or sacrificing mental health just to earn a living. This problem isn’t a new one, but with more conscious leadership in the workplace, we can help solve it.
The issue with the term “quiet quitting” is that it implies employees don’t want to be at their company anymore, or they’re somehow lazy. While that may be the fact for some employees, most people want to use their talent to earn a good living and contribute to a cause they believe in. The challenge is when work takes over life and employees find themselves pushed by employers to basically commit every waking hour to the company. Stress from too much work and managers that refuse to help their struggling teams take a toll on mental health as well.
Conscious leaders can set an example for their industry by creating a different culture; a culture that honors the personal lives of team members while also inspiring them with a vision worth committing to. It’s possible to create a better way so that employees have the flexibility they desire to enjoy their life, while also inspiring them to contribute their best talent at work.
This starts with the conscious leader, who embodies passion for the work while also demonstrating how to create a fulfilling personal life. In Conscious Leadership, John Mackey describes how leadership needs to inspire others by showing their passion for purpose:
“Conscious leaders infuse their organization’s purpose with authenticity and meaning. They make it come alive, in little ways and big ways, every day. Their passion for purpose can become a touchstone for those around them. They demonstrate and embody the “why” of an organization. And they show a reasonable pathway to “how.”
Quiet quitting is a symptom of the larger problem plaguing how we currently work: a lack of purpose that inspires the best work. If the purpose continues to be maximizing profit for stockholders, trends such as quiet quitting will persist.
Conscious leaders can transform how we work by communicating an inspiring vision for their team and showing how each member’s work contributes to making the world a better place. We can redefine what it means to have a successful career and what it takes to achieve it.
This week, consider how you embody the purpose of your organization and its values. If you have team members who seem to be quiet quitting, perhaps they don’t understand the company’s purpose, nor can they draw a connection between a higher purpose with their day-to-day work.
As a conscious leader, you can inspire them with a vision for the difference they can make in their role. And you can empower your team to do their best work by providing the flexibility they need to create a fulfilling personal life.
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
P.S. Want to keep up with the latest on the future of work, conscious leadership, and building strong teams while you’re on the go? Check out my Subscriber-only podcast. You can listen to this newsletter and support my work!
The way we work and build teams is rapidly changing. Leaders often feel unprepared to navigate the transition. As a conscious leadership coach, consultant and communicator, Meredith helps leaders and their teams create new ways of working and relating so they can prepare for the future by consciously co-creating it.
Contact her to develop your conscious leadership and transform your organization into the workplace of the future.
You can support my work developing more conscious leadership in the world by investing in a paid subscription to this newsletter. Upgrade your subscription today!
Connect with Meredith on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for content related to these topics.