Elliott Jaques on the importance of work in our lives

Been perusing Executive Leadership. Jaques says about our work being important:

The simple fact is that managerial organizations have become the most important of the social institutions of the modern free enterprise democratic society.

Consider their impact. In the economically developed nations anywhere from 75% to over 90% of those who work for a living, do so for a wage or salary in employment in a managerial hierarchy. They spend 40 hours every week, for 30 to 50 years. The different economic wealth of families is distributed mainly by the salary system.

Nearly everyone’s career is fixed by employment opportunities and the goodness or badness of judgments of managers. And we are talking of lifetimes — for over 125 million people and their dependents [in] the USA, 30 million in the UK and in France, and hundreds and hundreds of millions of others throughout the rest of the world…

About the Author

Forrest Christian

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E. Forrest Christian is a consultant, coach, author, trainer and speaker at The Manasclerk Company who helps individuals and companies find insight and solutions to what seem like insolvable problems. Cited for his "unique ability and insight" by his clients, Forrest has worked with people from almost every background, from artists to programmers to executives to global consultants, both as individuals and as leaders of organizations at least as diverse. [contact]