"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature nor do the children of man as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." -Helen Keller

The headlines these days tell of companies laying off workers. In their attempts to down-size, right-size and correct, some people are losing their jobs. And it's not just the dot-coms. Major manufacturers, airlines and retailers are cutting divisions, closing inefficient or unprofitable plants and laying off workers.

Some economists see this as a trend toward to recession.

I see it differently.

In the nineties, we saw the leaning out of American companies. And we did experience a recession. But while we got more efficient and prepared the way for one of the biggest booms in history, Japan was trying to keep everyone employed. They didn't enjoy the abundant nineties.

We may very well see a slowdown in the economy, but I don't think we'll see a a full recession. What looks like insecurity may very create even better security than we had before.

What about you? Do you have job security?

If you're counting on a company or an institution to take care of you, I recommend you rethink your position.

No one owes you a job. Companies are not in business only to provide for their employees. They exist to fulfill a mission and to make a profit.

And as Stephen Covey says, "No profit, no mission."

Sure, good companies try to take care of their people as best they can. It's smart today to offer benefits and incentives to attract and keep good people. But they don't owe anyone a job.

I'm not a big believer in unions who perpetuate the myth that workers will be "taken care of." Collective bargaining organizations that seek only to get more money for the same efforts will not succeed.

I'm not saying there isn't a place for unions, I AM saying that many of them have shortchanged their members by threatening strikes and negotiating to keep jobs that are no longer needed and get higher pay for the same or even less production.

I think any kind of tenure is bad for business and ultimately bad for employees.

It might seem unfair that someone with 14 years' seniority gets passed over for someone with only 5 years' experience. But perhaps the senior worker doesn't really have 14 years' experience. Perhaps the senior worker has only 1 year's experience-14 times over.

True security lies in our ability to provide real value to the marketplace. And it's up to us to learn and train ourselves to change with the needs of the market and our employers.

I've always liked the story of two boyhood friends who both started out working for the railroad. Twenty years later, one of them became the president while the other stayed in pretty much the same job (a laborer) he had when they started.

The laborer was once asked why he had not advanced and his friend had become so successful.

The laborer's answer was interesting. He relied, "Years ago I went to work for seventy-five cents an hour. My friend went to work for the railroad."

We don't work for $10 or $20 or even $100 an hour. We work for the value of the results we produce-whether we're working for ourselves or someone else.

If you want more security, become more valuable to the marketplace. Learn what you need to learn, develop the skills you need to develop and become the person you want to become.

That's the way to have job security.