From the inside, hamster wheels can look like career ladders

From the inside, hamster wheels can look like career ladders

It was a freezing morning as I made my way to a board meeting. I was not a board member, but I was still standing at the front. I had to explain why the ambitious programme I led had missed its bold delivery promises by a considerable margin. We were refurbishing aircraft cabins. The first of eighty aircraft in the refurbishment programme had taken a hard-fought 143 days instead of the planned sixty. That is not delivery reliability! Somehow, I managed to convey enough confidence: the championship we were playing for would not be decided after the first match. Three of the toughest years of my professional life followed. Many, many more times, I would stand at the front and spread confidence.

After one of these rounds of reassurance, I met a friendly colleague on the airport shuttle bus. We had not seen each other for a long time and had only a few minutes before Terminal 1. He told me about his difficulties; I told him about my reassurance sessions. As he got off, he offered a sentence in true friendship that I would remember only years later: “My friend, make sure they don’t burn you out here. Remember: from the inside, hamster wheels sometimes look like career ladders!”

Studies at Liverpool John Moores University have shown that a pleasant home makes hamsters more optimistic, no joke: the more varied their cage furnishings, the more optimistic the little rodents’ outlook. That is precisely the danger: attractive furnishings sometimes obscure our view of the hamster wheels. HR departments do not call remuneration packages “compensation benefits” for nothing. Compensation? For what, exactly?

Today, I look at companies from outside and spend considerable time with leaders. As an outsider, I find it much easier to recognise hamster wheels than when I was a hamster myself. Of course, there are careers that do not resemble hamster wheels, and thankfully many leaders do not experience a hamster’s existence. Nevertheless, looking back, I would not want to have missed that experience. Quite the opposite: I am grateful for that time.

If you are in the wheel, I hope you eventually manage to jump off. Be especially alert when your company talks about compensation. Time out, reflection, hobbies, family, good friends, a coach and occasionally supportive colleagues can also help distinguish the ladder from the wheel.