FHC #8 – Career [2 pages]

Concerns of “Historical Beings”

Education, Money, Career, Membership and World

Careers are practical identities of trustworthiness, value, authority and leadership (TVAL) that are based on past performance or accomplishments.

Other people speak identities into existence socially to help one another know who to trust and who to avoid when seeking help.

They are “historical” because identities are always based on past accomplishments.  In any moment we already know, or have some idea, what it means to have a career as a lawyer, doctor, accountant, salesperson or trapeze artist. 

When we tell someone our assessment about the value of an offer, practice, narrative or strategy we have accepted,

… or characterize someone’s trustworthiness, value, authority and leadership,

… we always speak about something that has happened in the past.

Careers are necessary because we are “historical beings” who are fragile and vulnerable.  Consequently, we seek to transact with people who will not betray us, or people with identities of superior trustworthiness, value, authority and leadership.

Our assessments are based on the ability to produce steady streams of highly valued accomplishments in the past.

Our only choices exist inside already existing linguistic domains.  We can be businesspeople, or CEO’s, or salespeople, or … but whatever it is, it already exists when we begin our careers.

This enables those in our communities with whom we will transact, such as our colleagues, customers, employees, employers, competitors and vendors, to know and anticipate the nature of the help we offer in the marketplace in order to make money. 

When someone announces they sell insurance, cutlery, financial applications, bottled water or oil rigs, we know what they are talking about because it already exists.

Careers, or identities, are “existential” because our identities  — other’s public assessments of our trustworthiness, value, authority and leadership —  are their own form of currency or value.  They open and close our “space of possibilities” to produce transactions, make money and fulfill our financial, career and business intentions.

In short, our careers open and/or shut our possibilities to earn a living, or become rich, so we can survive, adapt to life’s changing circumstances and live a good life.

Careers are “strategic” because our identities affect our capabilities to execute strategies, improve them or design and execute new ones.

They are “competitive” because characterizations have marginal utility.  Some identities are valued more highly than others.  Some are scarcer relative to demand. 

The more highly valued and scarce relative to demand is a businessperson’s identities of trustworthiness, value, authority and leadership,

… the more likely Buyers are to accept their offers, practices, narratives and strategies quickly and pay a high price for them.