Do work situations cause you to freeze?
Sometimes the workplace environment can undergo fundamental shifts that leave you feeling isolated and without confidence. The contributions that once made you valuable are now questioned and challenged and you find yourself afraid to act and contribute fully. You second guess yourself and miss the key moments to influence, thereby creating a vicious cycle. Here are 5 tips that have helped me in such situations.
1. Embrace the growth experience. Whilst this all feels very uncomfortable, the root cause is almost certainly an important skill gap. If you successfully identify, acknowledge and conquer that gap you will be lauded for your ability to grow and more importantly you will gain the confidence to overcome this and similar challenges in the future.
2. Find a trusted confidant and advisor. We all need a safe place to talk and uncover fresh perspectives, insights and approaches to the problem. My experience is that it is best to find mentors who understand the context but don’t have direct access to the situation and players.
3. Invest in those who have your back when you are not in the room. In professional life we typically have some control over our work remit. Identify allies with influence and find ways to work closer to them. Similarly, when your gut is telling you to avoid specific individuals, listen to it and find ways to reduce mutual exposure.
4. Be patient. Quick decisions are often poor ones. Don’t rush to quit or take another role. Assess the situation and determine if it is something that you can navigate successfully or is it a fundamental shift that does not align with your values and interests?
5. Be decisive. Once you have taken time to assess the situation and identified the right action, whether it’s small changes or big, don’t procrastinate. We all tend to avoid change, but we owe it to ourselves to work in environments where we thrive.
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