Fear of loss trumps desire for gain

fear
I’ve had a traumatic few weeks. For reasons that it would be impolite to go into here, I had to recruit a new Assistant. For this particular role I deployed the services of a recruitment company based in Solihull, the owner of which I’ve known for many years and she’s always done a really great job for me. She knows me very well and is therefore ideally placed to find the right person with whom I will hit it off and won’t be put off by my little idiosyncrasies and somewhat demanding expectations.

It took her three weeks to come up with a shortlist of five candidates and I cleared the best part of an entire day to meet with them all in the hope of finding the perfect new member of my team.

Fortunately, two of the ladies concerned stood out, head and shoulders above the rest but one in particular was top of the list. I’ll call her Jane for the purposes of this article, although that is not her real name. Jane has worked for the last eight years for a large PLC. She told me that her current role is not challenging and “definitely not exciting – I don’t bounce out of bed in the morning like I used to.” She’s on a very good package there, including generous pension contributions and Jane herself is 33 years of age.

I really believed we would be perfect for each other and so I was genuinely gobsmacked when she turned down the job that I offered her. Even more so because the package I put on the table was effectively a 25% uplift on what she’s currently earning.

The saga went on for several days because, as you might guess, I don’t like being turned down so I resolved to fix whatever problem was in the way and secure her employment. She came into the offices again, when I wasn’t here, and met the whole team and, as she left on that particular day, she was all set to go and hand her notice in.

But then Jane spoke to her parents once again and it didn’t happen.

You see, Jane is very comfortable in her current role. She’s well liked, well paid and, she believes, in secure employment. She has a house of her own, is surprisingly alert to the importance of pension provision for one so young and, when we boil it all down, this massive life changing decision (for I am certain now, as is she, that she will never voluntarily leave the company she’s currently working for, came down to her fear of loss being stronger than her desire for gain).

I have no doubt she was heavily influenced by her parents in this regard, but I find it genuinely sad that such a dynamic, energetic, capable woman has had her career neutered at such a young age
because of an irrational fear as to what might happen if things went wrong.

Sure, it’s a shift moving from a big PLC to a company like mine – but it’s not like we set up yesterday. We’ve got a 10-year track record, great offices, I even showed her the accounts, but her perception is that she is safer and more secure in a big company than making the leap to somewhere like here. I bet the staff at Comet, Jessops and HMV all felt the same. Oh, and the 2,500 at Thomas Cook that have lost their jobs in the last three weeks as well.

I know that I’m preaching to the converted here because, as business owners, we know the prize for taking on full responsibility for what happens to us and our families is a massive one but even in our environment, I do meet a lot of entrepreneurs whose thinking is too similarly influenced by fear of loss, as opposed to desire for gain.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting cavalier behaviour, shit or bust, put it all on red type thinking here, but what I am suggesting is that for many people there are sensible steps that they could take that, sure, would be outside their comfort zone, that might make them nervous or scared, but in which the odds are stacked in their favour and, if it comes off, the benefits are really quite big – just like it would have been for Jane.

I’d go so far as to wager that there is something in your life or business, an opportunity of some kind that you have known about for some time but not yet grasped. Something deep in your head is stopping you. Well, I want to encourage you to get it on the table and pursue it because, dear readers, life is precious. Life is short. And life is for living. The only things I regret in my life are things that I didn’t do when I had the chance – and I know, for sure, that the same will be true for Jane. She made a massive mistake. Colossal. And I don’t want you to do the same.

If you want help evaluating the particular opportunity or could use some assistance with the implementation – then let us know. That’s what we’re here for and it’s why our mission remains “to help UK business owners escape mediocrity and live the life they want to lead.” If fear of loss is stronger than desire for gain in your mind and your house then mediocrity is where you are destined to spend the rest of your days. And that was never the plan, was it?