Why some careers collapse in layoffs and others take off.

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I’ve realized that over the last two weeks, my newsletter eerily depicted a gloomy picture of the corporate world and our relationship with it.

But the fact remains.

Many employees confuse their identity with their job title and struggle when that title is stripped away.

The solution often starts with a shift in mindset.

Because the reality is simple: there are two broad kinds of people in the corporate world.

• Followers.
• Value creators.

And which one you choose to be determines whether you spend your career at the mercy of layoffs—or whether you thrive no matter what the market throws at you.

Followers

Followers play by the rules the system gives them.

They show up, complete the work, tick the boxes. They wait for managers to tell them what to do.

Have you ever gone back to see what your Job Description said when you were hired? Unless you are in some form of ledgering roles, I’m sure it wouldn’t exceed 40% of what you actually do today.

And followers do not care.

Because they think that they are doing what their manager wants. They wait for direction. And if there is no direction, they are just passengers waiting silently.

They obey the system and expect the system to take care of them.

Followers are the easiest to replace. They were never hired for their unique value. They were hired to fit into a slot. And when that slot closes, they’re out.

Value Creators

Now contrast that with value creators.

Value creators thrive in any situation—even in the middle of layoffs, even when budgets are tight. Why?

First, they understand the value they bring.

They don’t wait for a manager to hand them a task list. They look for opportunities to make something better, faster, cheaper, smarter. They connect dots others don’t see. They ask: how can I make this more valuable? or going even further to challenge the status quo, cut through corporate charade and look at work that actually matters.

Second, they know how to communicate this value.

It’s not enough to do good work, you need to show the business case for your existence. Value creators make their impact visible. They show higher-ups why they are irreplaceable.

Third, they don’t confuse the system with survival.

Once you start creating and communicating value, you realize something: you don’t need the corporate ecosystem to sustain your life. You’ve already been an entrepreneur inside an organization. And if you can do it inside, you can also do it outside.

This is the quiet truth that value creators discover: they aren’t chained to their résumés anymore.

I call this approach Valuepreneurship

The corporate ladder may still exist, but it’s shaky. Titles vanish. Markets shift. Loyalty is just one way.

That’s the choice.

And in a world moving this fast, it’s the only way to stay relevant.

A Valuepreneur is someone who doesn’t just deliver work but builds value that stands on its own. Value that isn’t tied to a title, a company, or even a résumé. It’s a mindset shift: from being paid for tasks to creating outcomes that make you irreplaceable.

Let's take a pause at that for this week. Next week, I’ll go deeper into what it means to become a Valuepreneur and how you can start building that mindset.

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I hope you enjoyed this week's version. See you next week.

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Best wishes,

Nimalan.