Overcoming Status Obsession with John Whitaker

Sarah gives a shout out to John and Sarah podcast episode on John’s podcast ‘HR Hardball”. John is the Executive Vice President and CHRO with National Partners in Healthcare. The topic of the day is Status Obsession, something that most people who are human can relate to. John talks briefly about his experience with status obsession and symbols of status that you get fixated on, like pagers. Sarah and John both agree that these symbols of status can compromise your value. One thing that the pandemic has taught us is that all of the essentials in life are within arms reach. John’s “mic drop” quote comes out early and says “If you’re so wrapped up in what your title is at work then you’re focused on the wrong things and you have it better than 90% of the world.” 

John brings up a difficult pill to swallow in that you might come to realize you’re not in the right place whether that’s your role or your company. A quote from a guest on his podcast says “Happiness comes first and then success, most people think it’s the other way around.” John provides an example from his own experience on how doing something you love is the way to go and the money part will eventually catch up, that's just the way it works. John provides his HR perspective on how status compromises your values. If you’ve made it this far, please stick around till the end to see a group rant about running over animals on the streets.