The Job Security Myth

A few days ago, I found myself in conversations with a COO, a VP, a Director, an Enterprise CSM, and a Cardiologist.

On the surface, there isn't much connecting those careers. Yet somehow, everyone seemed to be wrestling with a version of the same question.

These were accomplished professionals. People who have invested years, and in some cases decades, building expertise.

I've spent nearly 20 years in corporate, including at Microsoft. For most of that time, there was an assumption many of us quietly shared:

If you work hard, become exceptional at what you do, and build deep expertise, you'll be okay.

I don't know if as many people believe that anymore.

The headlines & industries might be different.

But underneath many of the conversations I've been having lately is the same realization:

The rules feel less certain than they used to.

WHAT

I call this The Job Security Myth.

The belief that if you work hard enough, become valuable enough, and build enough expertise, you'll be safe.

For decades, that was a reasonable assumption.

When you work hard, become exceptional at what you do, you build expertise and keep climbing the corporate ladder.

The rest will take care of itself.

For a long time, that advice served a lot of us well. The problem isn't that expertise no longer matters.

The problem is that expertise alone no longer guarantees security.

That's the shift many professionals are waking up to.

A job and a career are not the same thing. And job security and career security are not the same thing either.

A company can change. A market can change. Technology can change.

None of that takes away the value of your expertise.

But it can change where, how, and even whether that expertise gets rewarded.

That's why so many accomplished professionals are asking different questions today than they were a few years ago.

The assumptions they've relied on for years are being tested in ways they haven't seen before.

WHY

What makes this moment feel different is that the advice many of us built our careers around isn't wrong. It's just no longer enough.

Become really good at what you do.

Build a reputation for doing great work.

Keep growing in your career.

Those were the rules. And honestly, they were good rules.

In many ways, they still are.

The problem is that the world those rules were built for is changing.

Technology is changing. Industries are changing. Business models are changing.

And while none of that makes expertise less valuable, it does change what expertise alone can do for you.

That's why I don't think the answer is fear.

And I definitely don't think the answer is blaming companies.

Companies aren't evil. Leaders aren't evil. Technology isn't evil.

The world is simply evolving.

The question IS whether we're willing to evolve with it.

Because there is a difference between reacting and responding.

The women I've been speaking with aren't looking for guarantees.

They're looking for a way forward.

And I believe that's a much more useful question.

HOW

And that starts with recognizing the difference between reacting and responding.

Reacting sounds like:

"This isn't fair."

"Why is this happening?"

"I hope things go back to normal."

Responding sounds like:

"What assumptions am I still operating from?"

"What skills will matter next?"

"How do I create more options for myself?"

"How do I build a career that can adapt as the world changes?"

The goal isn't to predict the future.

The goal is to build enough adaptability that you're not dependent on predicting it correctly.

I think that's the real mindset shift.

For years, many of us focused on becoming valuable within a system.

Now we're being asked to think more broadly.

How do we create opportunities instead of waiting for them?

How do we build a reputation that travels with us?

How do we ensure our expertise belongs to us, not just the role we happen to occupy today?

Because at the end of the day, the question isn't whether the world of work is changing.

It's whether we're prepared to change with it.

READY FOR MORE?

Maybe the real question isn't:

"How do I create more security?"

Maybe it's:

"How do I create more options?"

If that's a question you've been wrestling with lately, let's have a conversation.

Together, we'll look at where you're relying on old assumptions, where new opportunities might exist, and what your next chapter could look like.

Until next week,

Jaspreet