IT Professionals Stress – Is it Getting to YOU?

IT PROFESSIONALS STRESS AND TECHNOLOGY

THE PROBLEM

Let’s face it, IT professionals have a stress level today that is unreal.  Not only do we face the constantly evolving technology issues, but we have all the “will I have a job tomorrow?” issues that other managers have.  While projects eb and flow, IT pros face security breaches (and how to prevent them), disaster recovery plans that never seen to be complete, I’d say evolving technology, but this isn’t evolution, and the list goes on.  I’m really was BYOD, even a blig on the horizon three years ago?  All these things boil and bubble and the stress levels go up.  What was challenging becomes same-oh, same-oh and we all know that the house of cards could fall at any minute.

Please don’t hear me saying that you don’t love what you do.  I’m sure you do.   On the other hand, maybe its time to look five years out and ask yourself “Do I really want to be running on this treadmill then?”   Yeah I loaded the question, but what the heck.  Have you really looked at the lifestyle your boss has, or his boss?  Is that where you dreamed of being yeasr ago?  I’ll bet real money that the amswer is NO!

THE SOLUTION

This is where things get a little tricky.  If we could point at a solution and say “That’s it!,” we really wouldn’t have a problem would we.?  I’m going to look at this from three different directions.

1. Part 1 – MINDSET – where we see ourselves.  CASHFLOW QUADRENT – a management consultant named Robert Kiyosadi wrote a very famous book called The Cashflow Quadrent.   While this is a very interesting book, it doesn’t make it into the IT reading list very often.  In it he explained that you can divide how we get income into four distinct categories or quadrents.   a) E for employees, b) S for Small Business Owners, c) B for large Business Owners and d) I for Inverstors.  Most IT professionals see themselves as firmly entrenched in the E quadrent.  When they even think about breaking out – it is into the S quadrent.   Note that a Small Business may be making a million dollars a year, but if it is dependent upon the ongoing efforts of one or two people, it is still a SMALL business.   The owner needs to be able to take off for a year and still see a profit before a business becomes BIG.
2. Part 2 Mindset – Us Vs Them   One thing I noticed over the years is that IT Professionals have a tendency to see the Marketing guys as THEM.  They certainly aren’t US and I’ll NEVER, EVER be a salesman.  Part of this mindset is just word games and part is mental protection.  We tend to ignore the fact that we are all sales people.   Did you ever talk upper  management on some new technology?  Or maybe I should say “sell” them on it?  Are you married?  You certainly pulled off a sales job there.   For me I associated sales with Used Car Salesmen and that was that.  I mean seriously, I just wasn’t ever going to go there.  It was only when I studied up a little that I discovered that the Pit Bull Saleman is only one of the types and the other types are just as repelled by them as we are.  So what I’m saying is that WE are THEM, we just don’t want to admitt it.  Let’s face it “nothing happens without some sales.”
3. The last MINDSET issue is that JOBs are the solution.  Most of us tried a Network Marketing company sometime in the past. We failed at it and decided “Never Again.”  All that glitter and (excuse the French) “I suck at that?”

THE SOLUTION – INTERNET MARKETING

IT PROFESSIONALS STRESS  – the meltdown or the pick slip is coming.  Will you be ready?

WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT?

I’ve been where you are.  I’m not some young punk kid.  I understand the IT Professionals stress levels.  (Yeah it is exciting, but even that gets old after a few decades!)  I know we can do this together and I’m willing to share.

Give me a call if you want (321) 279-9615  or sign up for my blog.  I’ll be talking more about this over the coming months and years.

‘Till then!