“I no longer work for companies – only for people.”
A friend said this to me recently. I hear variations of the same sentiment from many clients, particularly those in mid-career who have invested years, sometimes decades, of time, energy, and identity into organisations. Often, that investment was made in exchange for promises of progression, stability, or a sense of belonging.
Yet many of those who have reached this stage have already lived through multiple cycles of uncertainty: restructurings, broken psychological contracts, leadership changes, and rounds of layoffs. For them, organisational volatility is no longer theoretical; it is lived experience.
The Shifting Meaning of Loyalty
In a professional landscape dominated by headlines about “downsizing,” “rightsizing,” and “strategic realignment,” it is unsurprising that many are becoming more discerning about where they place their trust and what they are willing to sacrifice.
Research from institutions such as The Wharton School reflects this broader shift. What we traditionally called company loyalty is evolving. For many professionals today, loyalty is no longer anchored primarily to the organisation as an abstract entity, but to people: managers, colleagues, clients, collaborators. Those who contribute meaningfully to our development, our sense of purpose, and our capacity to grow, regardless of where or how a particular professional chapter ends.
These are the people who support us through complexity, help us navigate adversity, and often play a pivotal role in moments of reinvention. The organisational logo may change; the learning and the relationships endure.
Leading From the Inside: A Real Dilemma
Many of my clients are not only navigating this shift as employees, they are also leading from within these same organisations. They sit in the uncomfortable space between mandates they are expected to deliver and people whose trust they are deeply committed to protecting.
This tension is real and often under-acknowledged. Yet even in complex and constrained systems, most of us can still distinguish between leaders who default to opacity and those who consistently show up with respect, dignity, transparency, and humanity. These are the individuals we tend to trust, even when the corporate context itself feels unstable or misaligned.
Choosing Relationships Consciously
Having experienced uncertainty and layoffs in my own corporate past, I am grateful to now be in a position where I can more consciously choose the people I work with and invest my time in.
Lately, I have been spending time intentionally reconnecting with individuals who shaped my professional journey – including some who once sat across the table from me in formally adversarial roles. What stayed with me was not the organisational outcome, but how those moments were handled. They demonstrated that even under pressure, it is possible to lead with integrity and an awareness that our human relationships often outlast the organisations that temporarily house them.
Beyond Roles and Titles
Our roles, titles, and missions evolve. Organisations merge, restructure, and sometimes disappear altogether. But relationships, when grounded in mutual respect and shared learning, often carry forward, shaping not only our careers but how sustainable and meaningful working life feels over time.
Here is to those relationships that help us grow through and beyond our current roles. And to the people who make working life not only viable, but genuinely engaging and, at times, even fun.
