How Corporate America Feeds Our Insecurities

Why corporate America feeds on our insecurities

You see them. The CEOs, living the lavish lifestyle of running a company. Being well respected. Working hard. Exerting themselves to push for more, and more, and more. You think to yourself, wow, they really have it all. They worked hard. They are making great money. They can afford the house, the cars, the trips, the private schools. They really have it all. 

But maybe when you stop to think about it, why becomes the most important word in this equation. Why do they continue to push themselves in so many areas. Working 60+ hours a week. Missing out on their kid’s lives. Always focusing on what the corporate team beneath them can forcibly squeeze out. Why do they do that? They seem so perfect on the outside but underneath that perfectionism, why do they have to have all of this? 

It has been a lurking question in my head. Why do we follow this culture? Whether you work for a 20,000 person company or a 20 person company, the mentality is the same. The top person keeps pushing for more = they make more money. At that point, why do they need more money? They aren’t going broke any time soon. Well, money is power. Power is validation. 

When you break it down, at all levels, corporate America pushes for more. The more you make, the more “power” you have over others. And power gives you external validation. While most everyone wants some level of external validation for a job well done, there is wanting it as a small function of your overall self and then there is needing it like oxygen. I need to do more, make more, be more. That validation fuels them every day. It is why bodybuilders get on stage and let others judge them solely on how well they manipulated their figure. Validation. Any situation where you can openly take the proverbial stage and receive an outpouring of validation is the prime opportunity for you to thrive. The more you take the spotlight, the more it consumes your core. 

So why is it that corporate America is feeding our insecurities? Well, what is at the top will always bleed down. The more external validation required to support the top of the pyramid, the more resources bled below to get it. The CEO pushes the corporate team to execute as he sees fit, which gives him all the cards. The corporate team, in their perfunctory attempt to do their best for the CEO do as directed - in hopes of securing validation from him and their role as a whole. They now push this idealization down to mid level managers. The mid level managers are trying to grow, to become, to level up, so they continue to push outside of their normal bounds as a human being to stretch as thin as possible to be seen as a “great team player”. After that vacuum seal of human effort, it puts the pressure to the boots on the ground. The teams actually fulfilling the work that brings in the revenue. For every time a sales manager pushed his sales team to meet their goals. For every time a production manager stayed late every night, ensuring the work was completed and all of the exasperating tasks that were asked of them were checked off the list. For every marketing manager who got screamed at for not “producing enough leads”. For every customer service manager who spends their days getting an ear full for every over inflated customer they have. For every person who has done all of these things, only to be laid off or let go without a reason or warning. The question remains, why do we do it? 

We do it because we feel it necessary to fulfill other buckets of our lives. To live well, make good money. Showcase the best of our “skills”. But we have something to prove. The bigger the insecurity gap, the bigger hurdles we clear. All of it to get a 3% raise [maybe] after 12 months of belittling, mental health scares and a completely depleting sense of self. We do it for 50+ years and then we stop, to “live our life” which is ultimately fueled with the stress of declining physical health, withering financial assets and a basic acceptance that it is “too late”. All of it to feed the insecurity beast. At the top. Within ourselves. All to spend more time being enveloped into the “problems” of the workplace instead of enjoying the impact you make. 

But why can’t we stop?