According to Gender Intelligence (link is external) expert, Barbara Annis, women tend to spend more time on introspection and worry over social interactions and daily events than men. Women tend to reflect on a situation over and over, looking at what went wrong, what they should have done or said differently, and why people reacted the way they did. They also spend more time than men worrying about what will happen in the future to their security and happiness and how this will affect the people they live and work with. Men spend more time deliberating over solutions; women ruminate on causes and effects.
In other words, as a woman, you often think yourself crazy.
When you feel stuck, overwhelmed or stressed out, your brain is trapped in negative thinking patterns. You are likely to believe the worst will happen. You regret your life/career choices. You might find yourself critical of everything and everybody around you. Here are six tips to shift your perspective out of a negative spiral:
Shifting Tip #1: First, release the tension. You can’t change your thoughts while the adrenalin is flooding your body. Acknowledge you are hurting yourself. Then breathe deeply into your abdomen and slowly exhale until your body relaxes. Think of someone you care about or something you are proud of about yourself. Bring that thought into your heart and smile.
Shifting Tip #2: Notice what point in time you are stuck on, the past or the future.
If you are stuck in the past, look for what your brain is trying to teach you. Recently, a woman told me that no matter how badly a situation turned out, we have to “squeeze the blessings” out of it. What mistake will you never make again? Write it down so you don’t have to think about it anymore. Also, you had a reason for making the choices and taking the actions you did. You now know there were other things you could have done. List out what you have learned from the experience so you have guidance for the future. Your past events shine a light on possibilities in the future based on what you now know about yourself, your desires, and what you do well. You have value. Your love is needed. Your work is important. Quit beating yourself up over the past so you have energy to focus on the future.
If you are stuck worrying about the future, try to determine what is at stake, really, and what is honestly in your control to do anything about what could happen. What are the consequences, really? How likely will the worst happen? How does the bad weigh against the good possibilities if you choose to move forward? If you don’t get what you hope for, what will you do next? Focus on what is in your control to do or influence. When you worry about things you can’t change or influence, you either burn-out or become a victim.
Shifting Tip #3: Examine your past history with worrying. Have any of your worries come true in the past? If they did, how did you cope with the outcome? Did any of the unexpected experiences lead to even better outcomes? It’s likely if you go with the flow you will handle what turns up and maybe even be grateful for the surprises.
Shifting Tip #4: Set aside a specific time to rehash the past or worry about the future. If you schedule a time of day to ruminate, you can remind your brain that you will attend to the problem later. Then you can focus on something more productive until your appointment comes up.
Shifting Tip #5: Practice self-compassion. Treat yourself like you would want others to treat you. Forgive yourself for being a human who has made mistakes in the past and will probably make more in the future. Find gentler ways to talk to yourself instead of using harmful words.
Shifting Tip #6: Focus on your next steps. You will feel more control when you are in action. Plan your next steps, even if they are small. Then be positively curious about what will happen next when you keep moving forward.
If these tips don’t help, I suggest you seek professional help to determine if there are clinical factors that needs to be addressed.
If you do find relief practicing these tips, print this page and keep it nearby so you don’t fall back into bad habits. You can learn from your actions and move on. You can trust things will work out, because they generally do. Don’t ever forget that you are the master of your brain when you decide to take control.
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
Have you ever felt stuck in a job, with a daycare, or just in a bad situation? It’s a sinking feeling when you feel like there’s no way out.
But we have good news! In this month’s Working Mom chat Dana and Lizzy will talk about how you always have a choice and how powerful this can be. Even when we don’t believe we have the power of choice there are options. The key is finding the courage to act on them. We’ll talk about that and how you can help yourself the next time you get stuck.
Join us at 1:00PM EST Wednesday, May 13th right here to view this discussion live!
Here are the topics we cover in the video above…
Why choice is powerful and enables courage.
How you can discover hidden options when you are stuck.
How to remind yourself that you have the power to choose.
Have a question for us to discuss? Some of your own experience to contribute? Leave them in the comments below!
With attention spans growing smaller, impatience is increasing. The more you feel stuck in the situation—listening to a co-worker’s weekend escapades, waiting in line for a cup of coffee, sitting in a meeting you could care less about—the more agitated you feel. If you can’t access the email on your phone, your increasing anxiety with the slow passage of time can feel painful. What can you do?
First let me differentiate temporary tedium from chronic dissatisfaction. Temporary tedium is episodic. Hopefully, you won’t experience having to wait for something or tolerate a waste of your time more than once a day.
Chronic dissatisfaction comes from feeling totally bored with your job, your relationship or your life. Finding contentment and joy with your work, your partner or your everyday existence will require a number of internal and external modifications.
In the article Descent from the Doldrums (Scientific American Mind, July/August 2013), James Danckert cited studies that indicate the negative effects of boredom ranging from harm to your health to your ability to perform at school and work. The lack of external stimulation can also lead to drug and alcohol abuse, depression and other maladies based on the desire to check out of a meaningless or undervalued life. So besides feeling uncomfortable, there a many reasons you should try to limit your bouts of boredom.
The best cure for boredom is to make sure you have regular new challenges and interesting things to do so one incident won’t throw you off too much. However, if you have planned your life well enough so that your work and hobbies are stimulating and fun, you still need to make sure you maintain an emotional balance. You need some down and “boring” time to rest your mind and nervous system. If you are overwhelmed with challenges and interesting things to do, your patience level for “time wasters” will be slim.
If you find yourself uninterested more often than you like or irritated when you have to wait or listen to things you don’t care for, ask yourself the following questions:
Are you surprised by the delays or distractions?Making a concrete plan in a world full of other people with plans is a sure way to be disappointed. If you had a plan or expectation for how you were going to use were time, the disruptions or disappointments are bound to be more annoying than if you suspect there will be delays.
Could you have planned ahead for the dead zone? Take charge of your time by planning for delays and distractions. Carry something to read or do with you at all times to deal with the lines and waiting rooms. Have your car radio set to an interesting station or soothing music to cope with traffic jams. If stuck in a boring meeting, what can you notice about the people in the room? If you have a piece of paper, plan how you will make your next meeting more interesting. Or map out your three-year career plan.
Are you taking the delay or distraction personally? You might be feeling disrespected or that someone else has control of your time, which increases your agitation. Is it true they are intentionally disrespecting you or are they doing what they always do? If no one has the intention of making you feel less important, find something else to do with your mind and time. Your anger only makes the situation worse.
What can you gain from the moment? Is this a good opportunity to practice curiosity? Does the person who has a hold of your time need some compassion? Is this a good moment to breathe and relax so you have more energy when you regain control of your time? There is often a gem of wisdom in the moment that you can’t see when you are impatient, irritated or bored.
Has life become meaningless and hollow? Is it time to work with a coach or counselor to recover your sense of purpose? Have you disengaged with your work or people because you’ve been hurt or disappointed? What do you need to let go of and allow to disappear from your life so you can begin to formulate what is next for you? Your boredom may be a sign that you are in a transition. Acknowledge what is changing so you can move on.
Extreme agitation and the inability to focus could be symptoms of a deeper issue you may need to explore with a professional. And if your disconnection with your relationships and your life leaves you feeling more and more depressed, you should reach out for help to assess what you are able to do for yourself.
Recognize your boredom. Then when you sense ennui settling in, you can mentally shift as soon as you can. It’s easier to shift your emotions and focus if you catch yourself drifting into boredom before the cloud blankets your brain.
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
By applying the power of leverage to business, you can (with less effort) accomplish a lot more. Without it, you increase your risk of burnout and frustration, and limit your rewards.
Put simply, leverage is all about multiplying gains and making money work for you. In this challenging new economy you need every advantage you can get, especially in entrepreneurship and business. Gaining the competitive advantage isn’t easy. Chaos is almost guaranteed, but the upside outweighs the tough times. Here are six fail-proof ways to give yourself the ultimate leverage.
Position Rather Than Prospect
Everybody is looking for prospects, clients and customers. This never-ending search process will eventually burn you out, and is tough to scale on a consistent basis. An easier way to approach your business is to position yourself as the leading authority — the expert, specialist or the trusted advisor — on your subject. This takes very strategic and intentional action, but the rewards are exponential.
When you’re perceived as the expert, people will start coming to you. Be more elite and exclusive. Define what makes your business different. Once you figure out what makes you unique, get more attention. Start leveraging your experience through other peoples proven platforms. Whom could you connect with that already has influence and impact within your target market? Some examples include publications, podcasts, features, magazines, speaking events and sponsorship opportunities. You will expand your reach a lot faster.
Know That Plans Fail, But Movements Don’t
Reposition your business and make it about something. Think about Disney; it’s not about movies or about amusement parks or about cruises — it’s about being part of a brand where dreams come true. Or think about how Subway went from being a fast-food chain to a weight-loss program. Most companies, whether startups or billion-dollar corporations, don’t have compelling stories or visions behind them. The entrepreneurs on a mission bigger than themselves are always attract top-tier talent. Life becomes much more fulfilling when you’re involved in a movement or a cause greater than yourself.
Stand on the Shoulders of Giants
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, and you certainly don’t need to figure everything out yourself. Find something that is already working and make it better, or find your niche and do what the best are already doing. In an interview I did with Gary Vaynerchuk, he said, “A penguin cannot become a giraffe. So just be the best penguin you can be.”
A smart person learns from their mistakes. Those wanting world-class results learn from other peoples’ mistakes so they can shorten their learning curve. Nothing will make a bigger impact on your future than the people you associate with on a daily basis.
Become a People Developer
As a young entrepreneur, I had to realize I couldn’t do it all by myself. You not only need a solid team around you, but you need to know how to develop and lead that team. When you watch sports, you’ll find the most successful teams are the ones that play very well together. They complement each other, and they all have one single focus: winning.
The same goes for business and life. The people you have in your inner circle are your team. Who needs to be on that team to make sure it’s a “dream team?”
Create Raving Fans and Advocates
Business is the management of promises, and if you can consistently deliver and exceed the promises you make to all your customers, you’re ahead of the game. It’s much more expensive to get a new customer than it is to take care of the ones you already have. The purpose of business is to create raving fans and advocates who will go out of their way to promote what you do — not because you asked them, but because they want to. Every person in your organization should be responsible for outstanding client support and service, from the reception to the mail room to the CEO. You must create a culture where people are passionate about meeting clients’ needs.
Work on the Business, Not Just in the Business
One hour every week, work on your business as opposed to in your business. Most people get so caught up in the day-to-day grind of making everything work properly that they forget about working on the vision. So once a week, every week, work on your strategy for the year and where you want to be a year from now. Plan your long-term strategies before you plan your tactics: where you plan on going, who you want to be, and what types of clients you want to attract.
The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.
Originally posted on The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
Do you ever think you can’t make change happen because you don’t have the title and the authority? Think again and find inspiration in this chat with Emily and Patti – two changemakers of the first order! – InPower Editors
Kindness may not be the first word we typically associate with the top ranks of corporate, but that’s changing fast thanks to people like Patti Johnson.
A former senior executive with Accenture and current Founder and CEO of People Results, Patti is equally at home in the boardrooms of clients like PepsiCo and Microsoft as she is in the dining room of her Texas home.
And that’s what I love about her.
Despite her success and hard work, she doesn’t take it all too seriously.
Did I mention that some of the best advice on balancing motherhood and career in Who Says It’s a Man’s World came from her?
For example: “If everyone is out the door and the house is still standing, then who cares if no one had a hot breakfast.”
Amen to that.
A few years ago Patti casually told me she wanted to write a book and – in true fashion – the next thing I know she has a colorful wall of Post-it note chapters and is neck deep in research on organizational change.
The idea behind the book is to explore ways we can all be successful “wavemakers”, creating real change even without the obvious benefit of title or clout.
I had the opportunity to chat with Patti about what wave makers have in common that we can all apply at work and her advice, as usual, was spot on.
What do you do in that moment where you see someone discriminating against you – or another woman? – Click To Tweet
Sometimes you want to lash out at gender discrimination. Sometimes you’re so flabbergasted you don’t know what to say or do. Take some tips from InPowerWomen.com bloggers Dana Theus and Emily Bennington and have your strategy ready! – InPower Editors
I gave this interview a while back to AJ+ about what to do when you encounter gender discrimination face-to-face. They brought in one of our other awesome bloggers – Emily Bennington – to give some solid tips about what you can do when it happens to you. Great advice! What else can you think of to do? Share your thoughts in comments below.
[hide_from visible_to=”public”]
Anna had the opportunity to apply for a high-paying consulting job but she had procrastinated so long the deadline was looming. She called me to help her figure out what to do.
At her current job, she had been a successful team leader and agreed to take on a struggling team to prove she could turn them around. She was on the path to meeting her goal when the offer came in. If her team succeeded, she would be well recognized in her company. If she left, there was no guarantee of success.
I asked Anna, “Put yourself in both positions successfully a year from now. From that point of view, which one leaves you feeling more regret for not choosing the other?”
She told me the company had been good to her but the salary in the new position would give her money for a new house for her family.
I repeated my question, “Which decisions will leave you with more regret?”
She told me the team really trusted her and would think she betrayed them if she left. But she could learn so much from the other position.
I asked, “So which would leave you with the greatest regret?”
Finally, she said, “I want the new job. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll go somewhere else. I’m just afraid people will think I’m stupid for leaving a good thing. Then if I don’t succeed, they will call me a failure.”
I asked Anna if she were stupid. She said she sometimes did stupid things but overall, she was fairly smart.
Then I asked her what selling out looked like. She felt people who sold out compromised their values. She said she was loyal but loved new challenges so she figured her guilt for leaving would disappear pretty quickly.There was no truth to the claim she was selling out.
Then I asked her if there were a chance she would be a failure if the new job didn’t work out. She doubted the possibility; she had worked too hard to get where she was.
Then she said, “Someone else can take care of the team. Taking care of myself and my family is more important than the company gossip.”
At the end of the conversation, she knew she would have more regret if she did not take the consulting position. She also promised herself to re-evaluate her choice in one year because she could always move on if the job didn’t fulfill her needs.
If you aren’t happy or you desire something else, what is holding you back from changing your life circumstances? Are you afraid people will judge you for making a crazy decision? Or, are you afraid you will fail and people will laugh? Tell the truth. Only then can you make conscious choices for yourself.
It’s hard to make a decision when you are emotionally wrapped up in other people’s opinions. Parents often lay heavy shoulds on their children in the name of protection. Friends, colleagues and strangers often drown out the voice in your heart. I have met people who didn’t know what they really wanted to do with their life or didn’t have the courage to follow their desires until they spent half or all of their careers doing something else.
You might start your career down one path and decide you don’t like it anymore but you have financial obligations that keep you from moving on. Your sense of obligation keeps you from exploring what really matters to you, what you now enjoy, and what would be fulfilling to you in your next phase.
Often “should-motivated” people become resentful and fatigued because they are constantly doing what they think they have to do rather than what they choose or want to do.
Shoulds are so pervasive it is no wonder people are dissatisfied and disappointed at work. They often blame their bosses and the company for their resentment. They rarely blame their own fears. So they live their lives in compliance and spend their time either complaining or numbing out. Is this you?
Choice means you are free to do or not do something because you decided on your own. To activate conscious choice, you first have to do some work to determine what really matters to you. What strengths are you proud of? What tasks do you most enjoy? What dreams keep haunting you? What would you do if you had no obligations or people to please? Take time to sort through your desires. Then answer these questions:
What do you think others will say about you if you choose to make a change? Write these statements down so you can separate them from your own feelings.
If you peeled away the opinions and shut out the judgments, what is left? Can you find a way to take at least one small step toward your desire? Each step could help you feel more confident.
How can the situation be reframed so the choice that feels uncomfortable is considered on par with the easy way out? What are merits of the uncomfortable option? If you decide not to take the uncomfortable path for now, at least you made the choice for yourself.
The recognition of your should-based actions and the practice of personal choice can lead you to a should-free life.
I have written about the “stay” interview and, really, the importance of having meaningful conversations with the people with whom we work—our colleagues and team members.
I have received more appreciative feedback about this theme than I remember from past leadership posts. This has hit home with a great many of my clients and other readers. And I am thrilled about this, as our conversations with our people are as important as any of our other responsibilities as a leader.
So, I’d like to continue this topic, as there seems to be a significant interest.
I had said the term “stay” interview was somewhat new to me, and so is the term “feedforward.”
That is “feedforward” versus “feedback.“
I have encouraged feedback, as feedback in the form of people helping one another is a path to improvement. And I’ve said feedback is the lifeblood of teamwork. It is very important. It helps us learn.
Feedback is about the past, and is certainly important so we can learn from our actions. Just as important, though, is feedforward about the future and how we may improve.
I just read an insightful article by Marshall Goldsmith on this topic. I encourage you to read it, as well. I do not know Marshall Goldsmith personally. I do love his book, What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There. It’s packed with wisdom addressing the reality that often we promote a successful person to become a boss because of certain skills, e.g. sales, information technology, as examples. Too seldom do we first sit the person down and ask if she/he wants to be a boss, that it will require becoming a leader, a whole new set of skills are needed and that your new focus must be about helping your team members succeed, and it is no longer about you!
Marshall’s article about feedforward has insight about the help we can give others by offering and asking for suggestions and ideas about the future, that is, what we can do better and how we can improve. It takes inner-confidence to offer and maybe especially to ask others for their suggestions and ideas. This inner-confidence, coupled with a humility that we want to improve, will illustrate our leadership.
And the good news, very good news, is that we can get great suggestions and ideas for all levels—from the field, from administrative assistants, from up and comers, maybe everyone. We can also get suggestions at any time. In fact, a Forbes article this past July points out that feedforward can be an ongoing dynamic encouraged throughout the year.
Again, I am excited that conversations with our colleagues is resonating with so many people. I really appreciate your feedback about my weekly posts. Our conversations with our people deepens our leadership, enhances the success of our team and builds an appreciative and energized organizational spirit!
Don’t just rely on your vision — find business success by developing a solid plan.
“What are you, my daughter’s age?”
I clearly remember not being taken seriously. I was an engineer with a few years of experience under my belt, trying to fight my way to entrepreneurial success in a field dominated by older men. It would have been easy to allow this kind of disrespect to knock me down, but luckily, I had something that helped me bounce back after each punch: a vision.
There are now more women entrepreneurs than ever. Although the odds aren’t always in our favor, we have the opportunity to step up, take our businesses to the next level and be role models for future women entrepreneurs.
When it comes to accomplishing that, nothing will serve you better than remaining committed to your vision and developing a solid plan for the upcoming year. When I sit down to plan each business year, I hold onto the wisdom of Ronald Reagan’s words: “To grasp and hold a vision — that is the very essence of successful leadership — not only on the movie set where I learned it, but everywhere.”
4 Tips for Planning a Successful Year
Women with well-thought-out strategies and grit are hard to come by, but those are the ones who are habitually successful. This year, set aside plans for low-hanging fruit because success in 2015 will require big-picture plans. Here are some ways you can position your business to achieve success this year:
Find new inspiration. Take a retreat by yourself and travel. Successful business plans require a successful mindset, so finding your inspiration will serve you and your business well. According to the Brightspark Edu-Travel report, 94 percent of American business leaders agree that being well-traveled gives them a competitive advantage in the workplace. Even if it’s just a three-day weekend, go somewhere you’ve never been. It will open your mind up to the world. Then, you’ll have a different perspective as you plan for the next year, enabling you to set even bigger goals and take your business in an unexpected, more fulfilling direction.
Solidify your infrastructure. A successful year depends on a successful infrastructure.A successful infrastructure requires reviewing and documenting company processes. By ensuring your accounting process is in writing, reviewing your employee handbook and hiring practices, and addressing any other basic structural concerns, you can springboard your business into the new year.
Feed your culture. Take a hard look at your company’s culture. Great culture attracts great people, and your people are the source of your company’s success. Mindvalley is a great example of a company whose cutting-edge culture is changing the way people everywhere perceive work. Its employees have bought into the company’s vision, but more revolutionary, the company itself has bought into each employee’s vision. It does this by getting to know employees on a fundamental level: understanding their goals for growth, experiences they’d like to have in their life and how they’d best like to make a contribution to the world
Flesh out your target markets. Before the end of the year, create and execute your research plan. Send out surveys, request testimonials and ask ideal clients to do a short interview session with you. The holidays are a great season to do this kind of work, and the data you get will feed your company in powerful ways. Do whatever it takes to generate quality data and feedback about how your company is doing and what your clients truly want.
It’s certainly an exciting time to be a woman business leader. In 2014, women entrepreneurs pulled in $1.4 trillion in revenue — up from $819 billion in 1997. As a woman business leader, you have the power to set the pace for your peers. Get inspired, think big and focus on long-term goals.
If you match your inspiration and long-term goals with a solid strategy, 2015 will be your best year yet.
The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.
Originally posted on The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
There is more in common between a consultant and employee than you may think. I have worked in both roles, and I think I wear my consultant hat more often as an employee. Consultants have a sense of boundaries that helps one focus on work and think beyond assigned tasks to create visions and consider new ideas.
In consulting you are working for your clients; as an employee, you work for your manager. Believe it or not, he is looking to you for similar advice that a client would be seeking from a consultant. And by thinking like a consultant, you look at work in a different way that will help you see the larger value of what you contribute and not trip you up in details like how exactly your idea is implemented.
How do you do this?
1. Change your role to be a problem solver
As a consultant, I’m often asked by prospects: “What can you do for me? How can you solve my problem?” Then I ask him questions to understand his challenge so I recommend a solution.
Many times, your manager is thinking the same thing: “How can you solve my problem?”
Your manager may assign you a task, but that may not be the right task to solve a specific problem. There may be something that he’s simply not considering at that moment, making that task irrelevant. And of course, you can do better than that.
You sometimes need to expand your role to be a problem solver to help everyone win. Some ways to do that:
Listening. By listening to what someone is saying, you are also listening to what he isn’t saying. By repeating back to someone what you heard (and indicate what you didn’t hear and ask questions about that), you may inspire him or her to see the situation differently.
Provide another perspective. Add an option to a deliverable. Complete additional research. Take that extra step to expand someone’s view of a situation.
Paint a vision. Sometimes, people need to see what the future could be. Define that future and create a plan to show how to get there. If anything, it will start a conversation that will eventually solve the problem.
Go outside your comfort zone. Try working on something new that will help your manager or client and get you a new skillset in the process. Sure, it may take time for learning, but they will appreciate your efforts to pitch-in and find a solution. (And you get a new skillset in the end.)
By being more concerned about your role and what you do or don’t do, you limit yourself – and your manager. You need to generalize your own role a little to be a problem solver in addition to your title.
2. Just because your idea isn’t used as is doesn’t mean you didn’t contribute
Often as a consultant, my clients would ask me to come up with a list of options to solve a problem – including benefits and challenges. During a review of the list, the client would sometimes create his or her own options, inspired by my list (and sometimes choose their own instead).
Same with my manager – she often would ask me to create a list of options, and sometimes she would use one of the options on my list; sometimes she wouldn’t. Either way, her choice didn’t mean that I didn’t contribute to the final decision.
You have to let go of ownership when you are a consultant or an employee. Keep in mind, most decisions are made by consensus, and to get to the best decision you need a number of perspectives. Your recommendation isn’t always the best – it may need tweaks, adjustments, or didn’t take into account a whole series of work processes, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t contribute. Most likely, you influenced someone to think about a problem in a different way, and without that– the final solution never may have been suggested.
3. You don’t own your work projects
Every contract I signed as a consultant included a clause that the client owns any work I do for them.
The same is true for employees. If you read most employee agreements, the company owns any intellectual property created for it.
As a consultant, I would often design an approach and be almost indifferent to how it was implemented. Sure I cared, but I figured there were a number of people involved in making the changes and there were probably factors that needed to be addressed that I never considered. I would assume that the changes were for the greater good of the product and the company.
As an employee, there were times I’d work on a project and my manager and I had strong opposing feelings about a particular issue. In all cases, I needed to take a step back to try to understand her perspective. She could have known something I don’t know about the market or the company’s strategy, or had an insight into the business that I didn’t have. I needed to let go and include her perspective somehow into the solution.
You need to remember that if the company owns the work, then they own the decision of what happens to it – and you can’t get attached to the outcome of a project, as a consultant or as an employee.
If you start treating your manager like a client, you will notice that you maintain perspective and more easily see your worth and contributions. Over time, you’ll notice that you don’t sweat the small stuff, like implementation details, and you are more focused on creating a vision and promoting ideas. You will care more about the company’s vision and strategy, and talk more openly with your manager about her vision, her goals for the year, and how you can help her achieve them.
And that’s where you want to take your career anyway, right?
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
