Philip Palaveev
Philip Palaveev
THE BIG PICTURE we all strive for autonomy( the need to feel in control), mastery( the desire to do something worth doing and do it well, as Aristotle would put it) and a sense of belonging( relatedness). You can see the connections with the Maslow pyramid easily, though the newer theory believes we experience these motivations concurrently rather than sequentially.
We saw as much in our survey. When we asked people how happy they were with their careers, 60 % of those who were the happiest were also the most likely to say,“ I am on a career track and feel in control.” Only 44 % of those who were merely content said that. And none of those with the lowest satisfaction scores said it.
So if you want to be happier with your career— find a career path and stay on it. If you want to help your employees experience more career satisfaction— give them a career track.
And the most control you can feel is through ownership. The happiest respondents in our survey were mostly owners in their firms. In the happy group, 60 % were owners with some form of equity. In the merely content group, 46 % were owners. In the“ not so happy” group, only 11 % were.
Nothing will make you feel as good about your career as being an owner.
Sense Of Belonging
Both Maslow’ s pyramid and the self-determination theory agree that we seek a sense of belonging and feel terrible when we aren’ t accepted by our peers. In fact, the ancient Greeks considered exile( ostracism) the worst of punishments.
That idea jibes with our survey results as well: Those who are happy with their careers say that the way they rate their satisfaction with“ the culture in the firm and relationship with my colleagues” is 10 out of 10. Those who are content rate it at 8 out of 10. Those who are not so happy rate it as 6 out of 10. Considering the general“ grade inflation” in all surveys, 6 out of 10 might very well say“ Yuck!”
This suggests that if you want to be more satisfied with your career, you should find a firm where you feel accepted and where you enjoy the company of your peers.
I once worked with an advisor who had created a very successful business where he was the CEO and majority owner. He was highly regarded by his clients and the industry. But he had such a poor relationship with his colleagues that he didn’ t set foot in his own office for over six months because he simply hated to be there. He eventually left his own firm, actually doing so in the middle of the night, and started a new one— leaving several confused employees and partners behind.
This is not a freak accident. I could share many stories of miserable CEOs suffering the contempt and resentment of their team, leaders who experience their careers as Sisyphean labor— endlessly pushing a rock up a hill— rather than as a celebration of success. This suggests that if you want to be happy with your career, you should surround yourself with people whose presence you enjoy.
Self-Actualization
Many people are motivated by their ability to be creative— and to be who they really are inside— and that drive certainly applies in our professional lives.( I’ d say they want to be“ authentic,” but ironically I’ ve never found people using that word to be very sincere.)
Still, the ability to be creative and grow and express yourself is critical for career success. In our survey, once again, those with the highest satisfaction score are more likely to say they had opportunities to grow. Significantly fewer of the unhappy participants said they had that chance. The same is true for how our participants perceive their firm’ s openness to their ideas and intellectual contribution— the happy ones gave their firms a 10 out of 10 score rating for that, whereas not-so-happy people gave their firms a 5— the worst score in the entire survey.
The Support At Home
Life is a team sport. It really is. Other people are always involved in our lives and in our work. We are not advisors without clients. We are not leaders without a team. We are not professionals without colleagues.
And outside of work we have families or friends, parents, siblings and neighbors. The support we receive from our families matters a lot for our career satisfaction. Once again, those who were happiest with their careers strongly agreed with the statement,“ I feel supported by my family in pursuing my career.” Those who were content simply agreed. Those who were challenged in their career said they were“ neutral” about their family’ s support— and again, in the context of a question like“ Are you happy?” the word“ neutral” sounds a lot like“ Nope!”
Your firm is not the only factor in a balance-of-life equation, and often I see how problems can begin on one side of that scale or the other or both.
The Bulgarian Theory Of Motivation
Bulgarians have a saying:“ Success is doing a little bit better than your neighbor.” Humans measure their own well-being in relative terms. We tend to compare ourselves to those around us, which is why I often work with“ undercompensated” professionals making more than $ 1 million a year who are unhappy someone next to them is making $ 2 million. This is not just a Bulgarian theory— in an experiment, the brain scans of participants showed more activity when they“ earned” more than others, even if the payout was smaller in absolute terms.
There is a Bulgarian joke about a guy who discovered a genie in a bottle. The genie told him:“ You know the drill but what you wish for, your neighbor will get double that.” The guy thought for a long time and then said:“ I wish to lose half my money.”
In summary— don’ t be that guy. Don’ t look around too much. I call it the“ Look at Your Own Plate” rule. If you always look at the other plates in the restaurant, you will never be happy. Build your own career and climb your own pyramid, and you will do very well.
PHILIP PALAVEEV is the CEO of The Ensemble Practice, the leading business consultants to the financial advisory industry, and founder of the G2 Leadership Institute, a leadership program that trains the next generation of leaders.
JUNE 2025 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 17