The War between Employees and Management needs to end

I have lived on both sides of the paycheck. I spent years as a corporate employee, and I've spent more than a decade as a founder responsible for other people's paychecks. What I've learned from both is that we have an empathy deficit at work.

Right now the conversation about work is dominated by extremes. We talk about greedy bosses who treat people like commodities, and we talk about quiet quitters who do the bare minimum and hurt the team. Bad actors do exist on both sides. In most workplaces, though, I think the bigger problem is that each side can't see the risk the other is carrying.

Employees see the disparity in pay. They feel the pressure of inflation, and many feel a deep and often earned distrust of leadership. They want meaning and safety from the place where they spend most of their waking hours.

I know that distrust firsthand. At my first job, I had a boss who was emotionally abusive. She would harass me one day and tell me the next that we had to stick together. It was an emotional rollercoaster, and it left me with trust issues that I had to work through.

Owners carry risk that their teams often can't see. I have leveraged my personal credit, taken on significant debt, and spent sleepless nights worrying about making payroll. My team sees the revenue. They rarely see the margins, or how heavy it is to be the one person responsible for everyone's paycheck.

I believe we close that gap by being more transparent with each other, and it has to go both ways.

Leaders can start by being open about what it takes to run the business. When employees understand the risk an owner is carrying, the way the rewards are shared makes more sense.

All of us can be more honest about ambition and effort. It is okay to want a stable 9-to-5. It is okay to want to be a VP. The second path asks for more sacrifice, and the bigger rewards come with more risk.

We can also talk to each other as people. Imagine how different work would feel if a leader could say what keeps them up at night. What if an employee could say plainly what they want from their career and what they're willing to give for it? What if both of them listened with curiosity first?

I want to build something sustainable, where owners and employees both feel seen. That is how we make work better for people and people better for work.