Staying Positive Amidst Corporate Changes
Maren Perry was recently asked to speak on this topic by New York Women in Communications. Here are the seven hints she recommended that night:
- Get a Life. Don’t make work everything or where you get all your value from. Make sure your life is rich and full outside work so things that happen at work don’t rock your whole world or your whole sense of self. Develop hobbies, have a family, travel, be with friends, exercise – find all the things that make you feel alive and loved so work isn’t the be all and end all.
- It’s not about you. Really. Most people are not even thinking about you. When people react in a harsh way or say something inappropriate, you need to not take it personally. Imagine you are in a protective shielded bubble, where you can see out, but when people say things that are negative or would normally get to you, they don’t – those things bounce right off the clear shield. Just because they say it in your direction doesn’t mean you have to take it to heart.
- Stop speaking French when they speak German. That new person you have to deal with may not be your favorite – but if you learn to speak to them in their language, things will go better for you and they can hear you better and you are more likely to get what you want. I have a client who loves to tell stories about the way things got to be how they are. Her new boss likes bullet points that cut to the heart of the matter. Her learning to speak in her new boss’s language means she’s more likely to get her point across and get what she wants.
- No gossip! Not even a little. Nothing feeds a swirling politically charged office like gossip. It’s not constructive. Create a zero tolerance for gossip – don’t do it, don’t be around it, don’t encourage or tolerate it. Walk away, change the subject, tell people directly you don’t find it productive.
- Find an outlet for your emotion. If there’s a lot of change going on, chances are you have feelings about it and it may not be productive to let everyone know what those are. So find a place to let them out: the punching bag, a pillow, a journal, a friendly ear. Emotions just want to be expressed, so find a place to let them out that’s constructive. Then you can deal with work situations more calmly and objectively, without that baggage.
- Find something you love about work. What do you love at work? That one co-worker? Your part of the new project? Your office décor? Your company’s mission? Embrace and enjoy those things. Grow them.
- It’s always your choice. You are not a victim of the office, or of life. You always have options. Some may be more appealing to you than others, but you always have them. You can choose to be happy or not. You can choose to stay there or not. If you find yourself complaining, ask yourself where you’ve been unwilling to choose something different.
If you’re in a tumultuous work situation and could use some additional support, contact us for information on Executive Coaching.
Just like this topic was requested by an event we spoke at, you can request a tailored speaking topic for your office. Recent leadership-based topics include Time Management, Turning Complainers into Allies, Networking, From Management to Leadership.