Millionaire employees

Many of us aspire to have freedom, especially the kind that frees us from having to wake up at 7.00am every morning to go to work. To have enough money to do that seems to be the aspiration of most people I speak to.

Would you believe it if I said that not every employee is there for the money. Although its rare, such people do exist. A millionaire employee is one who has enough withdrawable cash in the bank to last them the next two lifetimes. Those who think they are worth millions but actually have nothing in the bank don't count.

If the sorry pittance of a paycheck means little to millionaire employees, then why do they even bother you might ask?

To answer that question, one has to understand the concept of the value of work, not in how much it pays but in non-financial terms. In my own experience, the handful of millionaire employees that have worked for me came because of one thing - the search for self esteem.

A quest to earn genuine respect for one's own abilities draws many types, including millionaires. Such people tend to diffrentiate respect demanded from respect earned, the latter being far more meaningful to the ego. Some try to earn it by sailing around the world in a balloon. Some race. Some duke it out in the corporate world. Whatever they do, there seems to be a common denominator - how they feel about themselves. Self worth or self esteem if you like.

The reason I why wrote this topic is because many managers are at a loss on how to handle such employees. They hear from the grapevine that one of their subordinates is the son or daughter of a wealthy tycoon who is rich enough to buy the company. They fret about what it means when the usual methods of control by financial rewards don't work. Some may fear for their own future, imagining what money and influence can buy.

I can only speak from my own experience. Of the few millionaire subordinates that I've had during my career, except for one eccentric chap, all had been gifted and result oriented. I noted that many treated their salaries, commissions and accolades almost like scores on a card, serving to prove some kind of personal point to themselves. Maybe it gave them bragging rights when they go out to do their thing after work. Some of them seemed to view their jobs almost like a game.

In the end, I'm convinced that millionaire employees are not all that different from other employees. They all want to be people of their own making. No doubt each employee might have a certain preference of how they'd like to be appreciated but if you've been in long enough, you'll find that a sincere well-communicated pat on the back works just as well as monetary reward in a world where money is not the point.

A good manager understands this. If work is a game, then you have to be a savvy gamemaster. It may take some mental dexterity on your part to shift control from one based on simple monetary rewards to one heavily dependent on communication skills. If you are an uncommunicative manager, be prepared for the tables to turn on you. But once you come to terms with the fact that money isn't everything and you can adapt according to the situation, you'll find that millionaire employees are basically just that - employees.