Posted from Ft. Smith, Arkansas-

I'm in Arkansas to keynote a conference on leadership.  I'm lucky because audience members have always been interested in my message and what I do as an information marketer.  Lately, however, that curiosity is more of an aggressive interest.   

That's because more and more, people are being asked to take care of themselves.  Banks say, "We're limiting your credit."  Employers say, "We can no longer match your 401k."  

This is not an economy problem or a money problem or even a job problem.  It's a relationship problem.  There are four basic types of relationships:  dependence, co-dependence, interdependence and independence.  

If you need your boss more than she needs you, it may be in a dependency relationship.  A person usually becomes painfully aware of dependency status when he gets laid off, when the economy slumps and during periods of high employment.

A co-dependent relationship is even more precarious.  In this situation, you and your employer need each other to succeed.  This reduces the risk of being let go, but it can be a new kind of trap because you can't leave.

A relationship of interdependency is healthy, but can be difficult to attain and balance over the long term since there are so many intervening circumstances.

Finally, many people find independence to be extremely rewarding.  Think financial independence or being self-employed.  By the way, being self-employed is not for everybody.

A good balance for most people is having an interdependent relationship with an employer and some sort of supplementary income to make life a little more rewarding and fun.

Being compensated for speaking and writing appeals to my audience members because they don't need to quit their job to enjoy extra benefits.