Is your job in jeopardy or are you simply in denial?
Of course your job is in jeopardy. It always is. A ‘sure thing’ rarely exists. It doesn’t matter if you’re an entrepreneur, a president or a receptionist… nothing is certain. So how do you manage this uncertainty with your career? Likely there’s some form of defence mechanism that is working for you or against you. I recently read an article by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. who listed 15 different defence mechanisms we gravitate towards. Here’s a few that I see on a regular basis with my clients:
Denial is the most primitive response mechanism because we learn it in childhood. The avoidance technique of dealing with areas of one’s life that are painful or hard to admit can be a natural response that happens in a sneaky way subconsciously.
Reaction Formation is seen bountifully in the corporate world these days. Grohol explains it as”… it is the converting of unwanted or dangerous thoughts, feelings or impulses into their opposites. For instance, a woman who is very angry with her boss and would like to quit her job may instead be overly kind and generous toward her boss and express a desire to keep working there forever. She is incapable of expressing the negative emotions of anger and unhappiness with her job, and instead becomes overly kind to publicly demonstrate her lack of anger and unhappiness.” Sound familiar?
Assertiveness is a helpful defence mechanism whereby individuals can strike a balance between speaking up, expressing opinions, listening and being fully aware of their surroundings in a positive light.
What if…. we stopped being in defence mode and took more positive action to prepare ourselves? Think of it as a baseball game: are you in the bleachers, watching your life and your career unfold in front of you and you’re just a spectator? Or are you in the field, a little closer to the action, waiting for something to happen in your career, so you can react? Or are you fully engaged… are up to bat, digging your toes in the dirt, taking practice swings and watching for that perfect opportunity to progress yourself to the next area of your life? Want to learn how to step up your game, one step at a time, so that you can be more prepared for a future of uncertainty? Why not check out our Career Trajectory Program?
