Salary is a common reason for dissatisfaction with one’s professional situation. It is often triggered by comparisons with other people’s salaries. I am not immune to the occasional comparison either. Bill Burnet, an author about design thinking, differentiates between salary, impact and self-expression in this context. This differentiation has the potential to make you happier.
At least it worked for me – but more on that later.
Let me illustrate the aspects by looking at people who have maximised one of the three: A successful stock trader earns a high salary. Even if the work is important and he enjoys it, his ambition is probably not to make the world a better place. The aspect of impact and many personal potentials are likely to be neglected in this highly specialised task.
Personal needs are decisive
Those who work for an NGO that is committed to issues that are important to them will maximise their impact. They will accept a lower salary and self-expression is not a priority. And finally, the full-time poet maximises her self-expression. As poetry leads a niche existence, she is unlikely to achieve much impact. Above all, however, she is unlikely to earn a salary that will secure her living.
The weighting of the three aspects is based on personal needs and preferences, which can change over the course of a career, as my own example shows: I worked in asset management in my first years of my career. The salary was high considering my limited experience. After graduating, this suited me as I could afford things that I had previously had to do without. I couldn’t make much of an impact in this role and there was no question of self-expression.
If you are going to compare, please do so in full
Over time, I became dissatisfied with my situation. So, after a personal and professional assessment, I went into personnel consulting. This meant a loss of salary for the first few years. I was compensated for the fact that I was able to make an impact: Placing jobseekers in positions where they could develop further was very satisfying. As my salary increased with my success, the balance between the three aspects was right for a long time.
After a few years, I felt the need to set up something of my own and bring more of myself into counselling. I therefore set up my own business as a career coach. This fuelled the aspect of self-expression, as I designed my business according to my own ideas. I also continued to make an impact in counselling. To optimise these two aspects, I initially accepted a significant drop in salary. Since then, I have juggled the three balls – salary, impact and expression – according to my needs, sometimes more and sometimes less successfully.
And when I find myself comparing myself to others, I always ask myself the following question: «Would I like to swap places with the envied person in every aspect of life?» That always puts the issue to rest.