The “Paying Your Dues” Blues

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The “Paying Your Dues” Blues
Don’t you hate it when…
Your boss overloads you with the work of five people and dumps all the projects and busy work on you that no one else wants to do. Then he tells you with a smile that you’re “paying your dues,” as if that’s a legitimate reason to treat you like an indentured servant. For example, everyone in your department is invited to an all-day off-site meeting that includes a fascinating guest speaker, a buffet breakfast and a gourmet lunch. Your boss invites you to the meeting, too—just to deliver the reports. Then he gives you another special assignment—coat check, so you can say hello to all your colleagues as you check their coats and bags, cementing your position on the lowest rung of the corporate ladder. What’s worse, your boss sees no end in sight for “paying your dues.”

Wouldn’t you love to…
Prove how “paying your dues” can have a very finite (and short-lived) time frame. “Paying dues” implies membership in a club, which means privileges as a club member. Let’s face it, why would you join a club if there weren’t any privileges? For example, if you join a club to play golf, do you think it’s acceptable for the club to tell you to mow the lawn? I don’t think so!

Create a “paying your dues” chart/checklist. For every annoying, demeaning (and often, not even work-related) task your boss tells you to do, write it in your chart and assess a dollar value. Figure out what your hourly wage is and assume that each task is worth at least an hour or more of your time. When you reach $100 on your chart, congratulations! You’ve paid your dues! After achieving this milestone, the next time your boss tells you to do an assignment that is completely beneath you—because he says you’re still “paying your dues”—tell him you have already paid your dues in full. When he looks puzzled, show him the chart and tell him you now are entitled to all the benefits of club membership—same as him! Then tell him you’re taking advantage of one of the basic privileges of this club’s membership—leaving early to “work from home.”