Whether it’s your job doesn’t matter
I haven’t weighed in on the media’s obsession with quiet quitting because I don’t think it is quitting. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of “quit” is to give up or resign; let go; or relinquish. HBR defined quiet quitting as “opting out of tasks beyond one’s assigned duties and/or becoming less psychologically invested in work.”
If this trend describes you, know you are not quitting. You are recalibrating your relationship to work. This recalibration is long overdue.
The reason women are recalibrating
I've seen many women burn out from trying to hold work as the most important part of their life for years. We’ve unconsciously pushed ourselves to emulate how men approach work, and it’s not working for most of us. Collectively, we hold many pieces beyond career in our lives. We value romantic relationships, friendships, community building, service to society, raising kids. Trying to do it all, at the same time, isn’t working.
You’re still doing extra work
Let me be clear: Employees are fulfilling their core responsibilities. And they’re changing their relationship to the extra work in their career.
I want to highlight not what you’re giving up in this recalibration, but what you’re contributing.
Women are making huge investments outside of offices and companies. The extra work we’ve always carried is a deep service to humanity and society. We’re the heartbeat giving life to everything around us.
This is absent from the conversation. By design. Outdated systems are committed to erasing our extra work. Let’s bring it back into the fold. It's time to remember the value of our collective contribution. Even if others don't validate what we know.
When we remember that truth, we’ll be less tempted to justify our recalibration. That’s important because one prevalent justification is devaluing our contribution.
The problem with “it’s not my job”
The prevalent justification I hear women feeling like they have to give for opting out of tasks is “it’s not my job.” At face value, it’s true. What organizations are expecting of you often deviates from your hired scope. But saying no to something or putting up a boundary based on what is and is not your job isn’t a great approach.
The idea that your job will remain consistent is a fantasy. Within six months of taking a role, your job will not look the same. The global landscape is changing and organizations are following with frequent changes. What's needed today is often outdated in months.
The justification of “it’s not my job” minimizes three gifts of women’s leadership.
1. Contribution. You are not unwilling to do work that is not your job. You do that every day on a global scale. Picking up the pieces of the failure of society’s infrastructure. You are doing A LOT OF WORK that is not yours to do.
2. Adaptability. It's an inherent need in having our attention on so many varied, moving pieces, as well as working in environments not designed by us or with us in mind. Adaptability is inherent.
3. Choices. Great leadership requires conscious, often hard, choices. The chooser in you is constant. Women understand the tradeoffs of these choices every single day. You know the necessity and responsibility that comes from making choices.
A different way to view your own recalibration
The framing of “quiet quitting” and what it insinuates couldn’t be further from the truth.
A more empowered way to look at the recalibration you are doing is to see it as an assessment of priorities. Expand the pie chart of your contribution beyond your career to invite in aspects of your contribution that society is failing to value.
When looking at any slice of the pie as part of a larger whole, you see why knowing what's most important is critical. You have limited time and energy to invest across the entire pie, not just the slice that is your career. Investments toward work until now may be greater investments in other aspects of the pie.
When you're clear about your whole pie, you can approach the career piece collaboratively. Key stakeholders can inform the most important investments of your time and attention. You can approach their suggestions with flexibility. The changing business needs will change the scope of your work. You can proactively take part in that change.
This shifts the conversation. From avoiding things that “are not your job” to doing “what is most important.”
Call for reflection:
How are you contributing to society in ways that are not your job? Take an inventory and see the value of your investments outside of work.
Shine On,
Alicia