Happy Valentine’s day! Is it after “5 reasons Santa Claus is a better Manager than you” and the “Halloween Special: 4 Points Your Boss Has In Common With A Serial Killer” appropriate to link another highlight of the year, Valentine’s day, to career management?

Of course it is!

Let us break down the different phases of a relationship, ugh, I mean your job:

  1. First love: The first weeks in the new company. You have high expectations and feel highly energized. It is so much better here than with your previous employer! Love is blind!
  2. Reality sets it: First After 3-12 weeks, you wake up. Next to someone who has wrinkles and imperfections. And can be mean at times. Mmmhh, not everything is better here, actually some things were even better where you come from…
  3. Learning to getting along with each other: If you get past phase, trust will be built. You can reoly on each other. In the new job and during your first year, you will constantly increase your performance and become a proven team member. Like in your relationship!
  4. Routine sets in: In year 2 in the job, you will get solid results. You have mastered “good and bad times”. By now, you have understood many aspects of this special relationship and you perform without much guidance or hesitation.
  5. Maturation: As of year 3, you will stabilize at a high level. You are able to manage all dimensions of your job, have created a reputation as well as a solid internal and external network. You have achieved the peak of your career in this company, your personal top performance. This phase can last several years though research shows that it is mostly not more than 5 years.
  6. Still in love? At one point of time, your motivation will decrease, you will get first doubts about your couple/ your firm’s strategy or you disagree more and more. You are not as committed as you used to be. You begin thinking about, let’s name it: a change.
  7. The end of love: You feel demotivated, you are tired when getting up in the morning. Maybe you talk bad about your spouse/ your boss to others. Small things upset you. People in your environment notice something is wrong with you. Your demotivation has a negative impact on your private life and your health. You feel worn out.

When you have reached phase 6, it is getting complicated and you should recover fast. Or leave fast. Find love again – here or elsewhere. Why did you fall in love in the first place? What did you see in the other that you do not see anymore? How can you find that again? But also: What did YOU do differently and how has YOUR behavior changed? Remember: “ask not what your lover or employer can do for you. Ask what you can do for your lover or employer!”

May your love and your job always stay in phase 5. Happy Saint Valentine!

Remark:

PS: The original post about the job life cycle, not love, has appeared on “Forbes”. It did not make it to the top 10 for two consecutive days. But “Seven Things A Headhunter Won’ Tell You” made it there