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If your employer offered you a lump sum to permanently ditch the job that stresses you out like no other, would you take the money and runor worry about what it might cost you later? I never thought Id actually encounter this career conundrum. Looking back, Im surprised by the choice I made. The all-company virtual meeting initially seemed like any of the weeklies that had preceded it. There was a weird icebreaker to get folks loose, various team updates, some HR housekeeping. Then the billionaire who signed all of our checks took the screen. For months, senior leadership had been deprioritizing a project that Iand the vast majority of my colleagueshad been specifically recruited to the startup to produce. They called it a strategic realignment. Or something like that. Our CEO knew many of us werent exactly enthusiastic about the reroute. Achieving this newfound mission, he explained, would require the company to get lean. He wasnt referring to Ozempic. In retrospect, the writing was on the wall like Destinys Childs second album. But those markings might as well have been hieroglyphics, because I sure as hell couldnt decode them. I didnt anticipate what came next. Corporate folks call it a voluntary separation package, (VSP) but at the time, it seemed like both a trap door and an escape. It was a lot like the severance packages that most professionals are familiar with, but instead of outright cutting roles, the company presented every employee with a tantalizing offer: five months of gross salary and half a year of covered health insurance. All that was asked in return was that you leave the company. And dont look back. We had a week to decide. Workflows hit a halt. All outstanding deliverables entered a strange purgatory. For my coworkers, the VSP became the only topic of discussion, as whispers spread about who was clocking out for good, who would remain, and what would be left behind. For some, the decision to secure the bag was a no-brainer. You could have a dope summer, said Gary, one of my Slack homies based in the DMV. He imagined months of passport stamps and midday mischief, and as he spoke, I could damn near feel the beach breeze sweeping across my brow. Gary meant well, but I had to be real. These were the final days of quarantine. The pandemic had ravaged head counts at rival companiesand Black folks like me were often the first out of the door and seldom rehired. Those fortunate enough to be employed held onto their jobs tighter than Stevie Wonder and his locs. I wasnt afraid of chucking the deuces. But I was afraid of starting over in a job market that had already shown me who it was willing to discard first. I didnt have the luxury of pretending this decision was just about vibes. That whole week, the second verse of Donell Jones Where I Wanna Be played on repeat in my head: Do I leave? Do I stay? Do I go? Or think about my life and what matters to me the most? Essentially, I was deciding between the risk of extended unemployment (albeit with a nice runway) or the uncertainty that awaited those who remained at the gig. Dominique Dawes had nothing on the mental gymnastics twirling in my brain. The key to escaping decision paralysis was having conversations with the powers that be. Really, they were more like negotiations. Whats in it for me if I bypass five months of paid freedom and remain on the team? One of our directors hinted that the anticipated departures might open opportunities to ascend the org chart. She couldn’t straight up promise upward mobility, but I was very capable of reading between the lines. For the first time since the offer was announced, the decision stopped feeling emotional and began to feel strategic. If I decided not to abandon ship, it wouldnt be out of fear or blind loyalty. It would be because there was something tangible on the other side of thanks, but no thanks. That week felt like a month, and it ended with an exodus. But I decided to stay put. And it worked out: I was elevated to senior management, and the work . . . well, lets just say the pay bump motivated me to get on board with the new objectives. But sometimes I wonder how the opposite decision mightve played out, considering the stream of job offers that came pouring in once word got out about the company shakeup. Im not a math guy, but Im smart enough to know two salaries beat one. (Gary would agree; he, like some of my other former colleagues, picked up a new gig within a few weeks.) In the end, the voluntary severance was a lesson in recognizing my leverage. It forced me to ask what I wanted, what I was willing to risk, and what decision put me in the strongest position to win. For that one week, my value and my priorities were crystal clear.
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E-Commerce
More than two dozen privacy and advocacy organizations are calling on California Governor Gavin Newsom to remove a network of covert license plate readers deployed across Southern California that the groups believe feed data into a controversial U.S. Border Patrol predictive domestic intelligence program that scans the country’s roadways for suspicious travel patterns.“We ask that your administration investigate and release the relevant permits, revoke them, and initiate the removal of these devices,” read the letter sent Tuesday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Imperial Valley Equity and Justice and other nonprofits.An Associated Press (AP) investigation published in November revealed that the U.S. Border Patrol, an agency under U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), had hidden license plate readers in ordinary traffic safety equipment. The data collected by the Border Patrol plate readers was then fed into a predictive intelligence program monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.AP obtained land use permits from Arizona showing that the Border Patrol went to great lengths to conceal its surveillance equipment in that state, camouflaging it by placing it inside orange and yellow construction barrels dotting highways.The letter said the groups’ researchers have identified a similar network of devices in California, finding about 40 license plate readers in San Diego and Imperial counties, both of which border Mexico. More than two dozen of the plate readers identified by the groups were hidden in construction barrels.They could not determine of the ownership of every device, but the groups said in the letter that they obtained some permits from the California Department of Transportation, showing both the Border Patrol and Drug Enforcement Administration had applied for permission to place readers along state highways. DEA shares its license plate reader data with Border Patrol, documents show.The letter cited the AP’s reporting, which found that Border Patrol uses a network of cameras to scan and record vehicle license plate information. An algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Agents appeared to be looking for vehicles making short trips to the border region, claiming that such travel is indicative of potential drug or human smuggling.Federal agents in turn sometimes refer drivers they deem suspicious to local law enforcement who make a traffic stop citing a reason like speeding or lane change violations. Drivers often have no idea they have been caught up in a predictive intelligence program being run by a federal agency.The AP identified at least two cases in which California residents appeared to have been caught up in the Border Patrol’s surveillance of domestic travel patterns. In one 2024 incident described in court documents, a Border Patrol agent pulled over the driver of a Nissan Altima based in part on vehicle travel data showing that it took the driver six hours to travel the approximately 50 miles between the U.S.-Mexican border and Oceanside, California, where the agent had been on patrol.“This type of delay in travel after crossing the International Border from Mexico is a common tactic used by persons involved in illicit smuggling,” the agent wrote in a court document.In another case, Border Patrol agents said in a court document in 2023 they detained a woman at an internal checkpoint because she had traveled a circuitous route between Los Angeles and Phoenix. In both cases, law enforcement accused the drivers of smuggling immigrants in the country unlawfully and were seeking to seize their property or charge them with a crime.The intelligence program, which has existed under administrations of both parties, has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers since the AP revealed its existence last year.A spokesperson for the California Department of Transportation said state law prioritizes public safety and privacy.The office of Newsom, a Democrat, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Courts have generally upheld license plate reader collection on public roads but have curtailed warrantless government access to other kinds of persistent tracking data that might reveal sensitive details about people’s movements, such as GPS devices or cellphone location data. Some scholars and civil libertarians argues that large-scale collection systems like plate readers might be unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment.“Increasingly, courts have recognized that the use of surveillance technologies can violate the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Although this area of law is still developing, the use of LPRs and predictive algorithms to track and flag individuals’ movements represents the type of sweeping surveillance that should raise constitutional concerns,” the organizations wrote.CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but previously said the agency uses plate readers to help identify threats and disrupt criminal networks and their use of the technology is “governed by a stringent, multi-layered policy framework, as well as federal law and constitutional protections, to ensure the technology is applied responsibly and for clearly defined security purposes.”The DEA said in a statement that the agency does not publicly discuss its investigative tools and techniques. Burke reported from San Francisco. Tau reported from Washington. Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/. Garance Burke and Byron Tau, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
At work, we still talk about careers like theyre ladders. As if success must be a straight line upward: more responsibility, bigger title, better office. But that old image isnt just outdated. It can be harmful. Ladders come with an unspoken message: if youre not climbing, you must be falling. If you experience job loss, the ladder metaphor makes you feel like you slipped off and cant recover. If you take a step sideways, it makes you look like you stalled and arent motivated. If you change careers completely, it can feel like you have to start from scratch. Most people dont need any more pressure or extra worry about what others think, when theyre already trying to make hard decisions about their work and their lives. Thats why I think we need a better metaphor. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/i-169-Ashley-Herd.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/i-11-Ashley-Herd.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cem\u003EThe Manager Method\u003C\/em\u003E","dek":"Want practical leadership development training that actually sticks? Visit managermethod.com to learn more and order Ashley Herds book, \u003Cem\u003EThe Manager Method\u003C\/em\u003E.","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"http:\/\/managermethod.com","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91478992,"imageMobileId":91478994,"shareable":false,"slug":""}} Why a quilt is a better model than a ladder Imagine a quilt. Its not one long piece of cloth that stretches up into the sky. Instead, its many pieces, each with its own shape, material, color, and history, stitched together into something useful and uniquely meaningful. Thats what modern careers look like: Pieces of skill you build over time Patterns of work that overlap and influence one another Mistakes, leaps, and detours that add texture Priorities and goals that can shift as life changes (sometimes by your own choice, and sometimes because a square ended before you expected) A career quilt has direction, purpose, and depth. And unlike a ladder, it doesnt require you to constantly compare your height to someone elses. How to think about your own career If youve been picturing your career as a ladder, its easy to fall into critical self-talk about where you should be. You might feel behind or worry that a change means youve lost everything youve worked for. The ladder metaphor leaves very little room for lifes unexpected turns, or for choices that dont look like a straight climb upward. A quilt gives you a different way to look at your past, and your future. A job loss isnt slipping off the ladder, its simply a square that ended before you expected. A pivot isnt failure, its a new piece of fabric. A sideways move isnt stalling, its part of your quilt that builds depth, resilience, and new skills. So instead of asking, Whats my next rung? try asking, What do I want my next square to be? What skills do you want to strengthen? What kind of work feels most important to you right now? What chapter are you ready for, even if it doesnt look like a promotion on paper? Careers dont have to be explained in a straight line to be valid. Youre allowed to choose your next piece intentionally, without worrying about how it looks from the outside. How to support your team members career quilts You dont just stitch your own quilt. Managers (from first-line leaders through senior executives) have an enormous influence on whether your team members feel boxed into ladders or supported in building something broader. One of the most helpful things you can do is expand the conversation beyond titles and promotions, and focus instead on skills, experiences, and growth that can happen in many forms. If someone feels stuck waiting for a promotion, instead of saying, You just have to wait for the next role, a manager might say: Lets look at the skills you want to build and how you can grow and demonstrate them in this role so youll be ready when the time comes. That feels empowering and grounded, instead of simply waiting to be chosen. If someone shares that theyre interested in trying something new, even if theyre not 100% sure its for them, respond with openness: Im glad you let me know. Lets think about ways you can start getting exposure – maybe by shadowing someone, sitting in on a project, or meeting a few people on that team. This acknowledges that growth often starts with exploration, not certainty. And if someone shifts direction entirely – for example, moving from people leadership back into an individual contributor role – your words matter. Reminding them that it isnt a step down, but another meaningful square in their career quilt can help make that transition successful, and it may matter more to them than you realize. Redefining success Ladders measure success by how high you climb. Quilts measure success by what you build along the way. When we help people (including ourselves) see their careers in a different light, we stop equating promotions with progress. We start valuing depth over direction, learning over hierarchy, and stories over status. And careers become something people shape, rather than something they endure while waiting for their turn. Because real growth isnt about how high you goits about shaping a career that reflects who you are and allows you to contribute something uniquely valuable along the way. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/i-169-Ashley-Herd.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/i-11-Ashley-Herd.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cem\u003EThe Manager Method\u003C\/em\u003E","dek":"Want practical leadership development training that actually sticks? Visit managermethod.com to learn more and order Ashley Herds book, \u003Cem\u003EThe Manager Method\u003C\/em\u003E.","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"http:\/\/managermethod.com","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91478992,"imageMobileId":91478994,"shareable":false,"slug":""}}
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