Hi there,
When I met Diego, what I liked the most is that he was a guy who had traveled, who had his degree and a master’s degree, who had a good job and general knowledge. Apart from all this, I thought he was a good person, something that is very rare to find in Spain.
Despite all these positive aspects, he also had several aspects that could be improved.
At that time, he was already earning almost twice the average for a Spaniard, and he saved practically nothing. With my poor salary I saved more than him. In addition, during the week he did absolutely nothing. He came home from work, exercised and that’s it, the day was over. So, he had to spend the weekend cleaning and doing things that he could perfectly well do during the week.
I am obsessed with productivity, saving and order, so I began to teach him to better organize his day-to-day things.
First, I told him to use the same Excel that I have in which I put the monthly income and expense report. At first it annoyed him, but then he became a fan of his board, he began to know where his money was going and to save a lot; He even made savings projections for the future.
Secondly, I told him that one had to organize the week to do everything and be free at the weekend. One must arrive on Friday with a clean house and the food already prepared. It is absurd that one must spend Saturday and Sunday doing homework; the weekend is to rest and to do the things that one is passionate about.
Diego had another problem: he was doing a master’s degree and he never had time to dedicate to it. How was it possible that a person who left work at 3 in the afternoon did not have a little time to study every day? There also had to be a schedule to organize the weekly study hours.
Another thing that frustrated Diego a lot is that he had been in the same job for 8 years and there was no way he would be promoted. The average Spaniard would be more than happy with his permanent position for life, and it would not even occur to him to consider moving up a category, progressing professionally or getting paid more.
Those who worked at my former company would kill for Diego’s job.
Since I saw him so bitter about it, I told him to request the promotion trough the union. After a year of fighting (and I fighting with him so he would stay strong), he got it.
Do you know what their parents said? What was he changing for and why did he want more money?
Here it is important to explain Diego’s family background. Their parents are the most conformist thing you can imagine. They do not consider that one as a professional may want to progress and each time aspire to more.
On a personal level one also wants more and more money. Money is the only thing that guarantees you can cover a medical emergency and do what you love.
In fact, Diego recently changed jobs. He got a better chance with an American startup, where he would work in English, earn almost triple his previous salary, and work remotely, so now he can live anywhere in the world. A marvel, right? His parents weren’t even able to congratulate him, they just lamented that he had left the old company.
You can’t imagine how outraged I was with that situation. Diego trying to justify the decision to have changed jobs and explaining all the advantages and the parents with their miserable faces unable to open their mouths to congratulate him. Incredible.
I told Diego that you tell that to any Venezuelan parent and at least they throw you a party.
There Diego explained to me why he is such a “silly” as I always tell him. Because since he was little, that has always been the attitude of his parents for everything: if he got a good grade, they told him that his sister got a better one; if he wanted to study a language, what a desire to bother! if he wanted to travel, why so much travel! same with everything
They would be happier if Diego worked in the mine, earned 500 euros a month and did absolutely nothing with his life. I, with parents like that, would not tell them anything; in fact, I think I wouldn’t even talk to them. But Diego is too good a person and he is always looking for that approval and hoping one day to have some positive comment.
But hey, let’s continue with the story. He improved day-to-day organization, productivity, savings and went up a category within his own company. Physical improvements also began, such as putting on braces, because no, his parents didn’t put braces on him when he was little.
After having finished two master’s degrees and having spent three years in the new category that had taken him 8 years to achieve, he realized that in that company he was not going to get any further (something that I had been telling him for quite some time). Because in Spain, in general, going up the ranks does not exist.
So, after my countless fights, the process of looking for work abroad and preparing for better opportunities, began. Because within Spain, it was very clear that he was not going to get anything better.
What did this mean?
Put aside conformism and mediocrity, practice and prepare for interviews in English because Diego, like most Spaniards, has a big problem with English and even though he knows it, it costs him his life to express himself well.
In addition, work on the way of expressing and communicating. You think that apart from the fact that education in Spain is terrible, Diego did not give exhibitions either at school or at the university. In other words, there is no such thing as preparing people to know how to express themselves in public and have good oratory.
Get Diego to say things well in an interview, was a great challenge.
After two years of hard work and practicing interviews in English, an opportunity arose.
An American startup offered him to work part-time to try and then he would see if they offered him a full-time job. When the quarantine began, his part-time began. Which was good for him because he took advantage of the time he was locked up in something useful and earned extra money.
Then the boss told him that he wanted to hire him full time. They negotiated the salary that Diego wanted and that’s where the fears started to show. “It’s just that leaving a permanent position…”, “And if it didn’t work out?”, “It’s just that it wasn’t a job for life”, “And if he wasn’t good enough?”
All understandable fears to a certain extent since you are in a job that bores you, that you know that you are going to do the same until you retire, that you do not have the category or the salary that you deserve and you will never have it, etc. Add to this the fact that no one ever thanks you or gives you positive reinforcement.
I bet on risking because that job was what we were both looking for. In addition, the boss is what a normal boss should be and what Diego had never had during his entire career in Spain: an extremely friendly, empathetic, and grateful person who is always giving him positive reinforcement.
For this reason, he obviously opted for the new job, leaving aside the criticism of the family that does not understand self-improvement, the apathy of friends who would never in their lives consider raising their position, the uncertainty of the future and the doubts regarding being without a job in the future.
Also, I always saw that Diego’s potential in Spain would go to waste, so that only in a company with a different culture and mentality could he grow as he wants.
The funniest thing is that when he notified Iberdrola that he was leaving, all the bosses did call him to tell him how happy they were with his work and that thanks to him the department was now working well. Why was he never told in over 10 years?
A month after being in the new job, he said he was “depressed” because he felt uncertain about his future and because he felt that his resume was worthless. Also, because he saw that the salaries in Spain were crap.
My response was “Why are you feeling depressed? For receiving a salary that none of your friends and that most Spaniards will never see in life? For working in English for an American startup with a boss who is a sweetheart? If you have uncertainty about your future job, continue to grow professionally and continue preparing yourself so that when this job is over, many better ones will come. Besides, you can’t pretend after this to go back to Spain to collect a crap salary in a mediocre company. You go from here to a better job in a better country. One has to go forward, not backward.”
After 3 years, Diego is the happiest worker there can be and all the fears he had have disappeared. He works in English (what he wanted), he has a wonderful work team, an empathic boss who constantly asks his workers to rest and take vacations, he works remotely and organizes his work schedule as he wants so he has all the freedom possible. Also, he never stops learning new things.
Thus, the lesson that I leave you is to always look for more, more money, more knowledge, more freedom, more vacations, more free time. There will always be a job that improves your current conditions.