The Golden Rule: Thee with the gold makes the rules!

​     During my time training for work-life in government contracting, one of my online training modules was simply titled The Golden Rule….I was intrigued!  As I sat in my small cubicle downtown Atlanta and pre-COVID-19, I kicked back at my desk with my headphones on, laptop in front of me, and dug in to this learning module hoping to learn all I could.  After all, contracting was a new world for me having recently moved from Orlando, FL and serving as a hospitality professional!   I needed to learn quickly! 

      As I read and listened, I quickly grasped the concept as it related to contracting…but let’s not get ahead of ourselves in this tale…  At the university I was serving, our Office of Sponsored Programs received and awarded just over $1 Billion in Federal funding in fiscal year 2020.  When we received those funds through grants and contracting, that money came with terms (or rules!)  Who do you think makes those rules?!....you’d be right if you guessed the U.S. government.  That was the lesson of the day….thee with the gold (or money!) makes the rules (or terms!).  It was then my job to flow down much of these rules to subcontractors by way of subcontracts and subgrants. 
​     Thinking about this principle today brings me clarity and peace about many of the life lessons and scenarios I have encountered professionally.  Culture is critically important to the workplace; there is no doubt about that!  In fact, I have joined organizations because of good culture and bid farewell to others due to bad culture.  With that said, I want to share the 3 top items that I looked for as a newly graduated college student back in 2013:

1. Core values and culture
2. Salary potential
3. Time to promotion

I certainly found what I was looking for but, like many professionals, what I looked for in an employer has evolved.  Here is a quick look at my interview with the Professional Readiness Program at the University of Northern Iowa just before graduating college: https://www.uni.edu/prp/chandler-fahrner/
Circa 2018, my thinking began to change in terms of what I looked for in an employer.  In fact, I searched and researched information like this 2018 Forbes article which discusses a 2018 Mercer study that collected input from 800 business executives and 1,800 HR leaders, as well as 5,000-plus employees across 21 industries and 44 countries around the world: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alankohll/2018/07/10/what-employees-really-want-at-work/?sh=622b02c05ad3
     Of course it was not long before my wife and I re-located to the Atlanta area and my professional view on my work was a key factor along with the desire to be nearer to family.  However, one focus area that seems to be missed on many professional teams is one critical truth that thee with the gold makes the rules.  In more recent years, I have been able to turn this key understanding into actionable insight professionally.  Thus, a word of advice to up and coming professionals that may not be found in most places: remember that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21) and don’t forget to find your "gold" early so you don’t always have to play by another’s rules!  External change can require patience because it can take time.  Change of oneself…that’s up to you!