Feeling insecure, make yourself valuable…

by

In today’s environment where job security is a big concern whether you are in FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google) or a startup or any other tech company. It feels insecure to be in the current situation and nudges us to somehow make ourselves indispensable.

At the same time making ourselves indispensable in an organization might bite back. By making yourself too irreplaceable you could get stuck in the current role and stymie your career development. Which could become scarier.

So what steps you should take?

Focus on what you can control. 

Start with small steps. First, understand your strengths and reevaluate where they can be applied at the individual level, team level, and current organization level. Be frank with yourself and your manager (If you have a supportive one). Maybe volunteer for work which excites you even though it is beneath your grade or level. This will help you build confidence and reduce stress.

Team-first growth mindset.

Instead of trying to make yourself irreplaceable, focus on making yourself a valuable member of your team. In other words, rather than becoming a gatekeeper or the only go-to person for a specific process, search for new opportunities to help everyone. Be proactive about adapting your responsibilities—and adopting new ones—to meet the team’s changing needs and goals. Don’t wait to be asked. You might notice, for example, a leadership gap in certain meetings, or a process tweak that would make everyone’s lives easier. Step up to help fill the void. 

Look for opportunities within the company.

Also, look for opportunities to contribute that take advantage of your unique strengths. Ultimately, your goal is to become an integral member of your team and your company, rather than just a high-performing solo operator. 

If you supplement your role-specific expertise with this team-first growth mindset, you’ll be on your way to your next promotion or at least be safe in the current turmoil.

Practice self-compassion. 

In the end, whatever happens…happens, you keep giving your bests. And be extra gentle with yourself. Reconnect with people you love outside of work. Spend quality time with them to brighten your mood, alleviate tension, and remind yourself how you deserve to be treated.

Sudden Job loss, Embrace Feeling “Torn”

by

Inflection points in our career (like an opportunity or job loss) often evoke feelings of ambivalence: the experience of positive and negative emotions at the same time. Ambivalence can feel uncomfortable, but you can use it to your advantage when faced with a big decision. 

Start by taking time to reflect. Approach your complex feelings with curiosity—not judgment—to identify what you feel and why. You might ask yourself a series of questions to unpack your feelings and jot down some notes. 

Make sure to relieve some pressure—if you can, give yourself a deadline that isn’t in the immediate future and allows you to devote time and energy to listening to your emotions and considering your options. 

Finally, remind yourself that nothing is permanent. Whatever you decide, it’s just “for now.” The beauty of most career decisions is that they’re often reversible, or at least recoverable, and there will always be another chapter to your career down the line.

Do you Micromanage?

by

Micromanaging—being overly prescriptive or following up too much—is a surefire way to demotivate your employees and rob them of learning opportunities. 

Here are a few ways to ensure you’re not being a micromanager.

Set clear expectations on outcomes, not process. 

The next time you assign a task or project, describe the outcome you want—not every step you want the person to take along the way. The goal here is to give them the autonomy and space they need to step up and get the job done.

Give feedback as per the process.

At the start of each new project, discuss when and how you’ll give constructive input. This will allow you to step in and redirect the flow of the project whenever necessary—without being overly involved or catching your team off guard.

Team exposure to management. 

In conversations with your own boss, talk about your team—how you’re helping employees grow, places they’re stepping up and shining, and what your plan is for the long term. This will help you build trust, demonstrate competence, and remove some pressure that leads to micromanaging push from the top management. 

Not Feeling Ambitious?

by

We all think of ourselves as high achievers, but sometimes, it happens that we haven’t been feeling that usual spark of ambition. It might be because of burnout, because of a life-changing event, or a midlife crisis. Is this wrong? Absolutely not! 

But we need to make peace with the desire to tone it down—even if that impulse conflicts with our previous vision of ourselves. Here are a few tactics that can help;

Adopt a flexible mindset.

First, adopt a flexible mindset, and let’s recognize when it’s time to shift to another strategy. This could mean acknowledging that it may be time, after years or decades of grinding hard at work, to reallocate energy toward your health and happiness, family, or hobbies and passions outside of work. 

There are no timelines in Career.

There is no standardized timeline. How does it matter if you have attained your goal in 10 years or 15 years, in long run it does not. Your career is a marathon; give yourself the grace to slow down sometimes, take mental breaks, and pace yourself. 

How to grow yourself.

Finally, figure out what you need in order to grow. Moving forward isn’t always a function of getting a raise, making new professional connections, or building your resume. Sometimes it’s a function of changing things up and exposing yourself to new inputs—whether it’s a month-long trip abroad or a year of stepping back from the grind mentality and focusing on other areas of your life and well-being—that eventually lead to new and different outputs.

Are you satisfied with your career success…

by

How do you define your career success, even with all the achievements we rarely pat our backs and say we have done well.

So, why does career success so rarely lead to satisfaction? If you’re prone to dissatisfaction in moments when you expect to finally feel satisfied (after a raise, promotion, or award, for example), you can shift your mindset in three ways to achieve a more sustainable inner peace. 

Stop counting – First and foremost stop counting what you’ve accrued (money, awards, followers, etc.) and start measuring what you’ve contributed (Whose life have you positively impacted? What ideas have you generated?). Lasting joy comes from giving, not taking. 

Comparison to Compassion – Secondly, start by shifting from comparison to compassion. Rather than chiding yourself for what you haven’t achieved, show yourself kindness for the progress you’re making on your own journey. And instead of resenting someone for what they’ve achieved, acknowledge that their success doesn’t come at the expense of yours—they’re on their own journey, and being happy for them won’t cost you anything. 

Contempt to Connection – Finally, shift from contempt to connection. Growing insatiably ambitious, no matter how much money or power you earn along the way, will lead to bitterness and loneliness. Remember to appreciate the relationships in your life—especially the ones that have nothing to do with your career success.

Tell me about a time you failed…

by

One of the most difficult questions in a job interview is: “Tell me about your failure(s)?” If you try to squirm around the question, it will signal negativity at the same time you need to elaborate just the right level of failure. 

Overall there has to be a balance, so how can we prepare for it? Here are some tips.

Start with “we”, not “me”. 

Always start with “we” instead of “me”, since a team failing as a group might seem more relatable (and excusable) than an individual failing because there was consensus behind the decision-making.

Describe a low-consequence event, and keep it brief.

Make sure the incident chosen is a low consequence not catastrophic, and keep it short. Don’t linger on many details.

Don’t be defensive, be thoughtful about the words you use.

Use words like learned, gleaned, grew, and overcame. Avoid defensive or regretful language.

Choose a circumstance, not a mistake.

Don’t draw attention to your character. When did something external not go as planned? When was a strategy ineffective? When did an approach miss the target?

Lastly, Focus on learning.

What the interviewer ultimately wants (and they may even state this explicitly) is not so much your story of failure but what you learned from it and how you turned that insight into a productive approach.

It’s not information overload but filter failure…

by

In today’s world information overload complicates our learning process.

Learning no longer is a linear track but is a multi-track path with complex inflows of knowledge from a wide variety of sources. Also, it’s imperative that we learn at a much faster pace.

With all these, our brain has now an additional function to filter unnecessary and irrelevant information. And to unlearn/learn ensuring we keep the latest knowledge.

Filter and structure to the learning process are most critical, whether it’s thru a mentor, thru a structured course, or thru applying learning to a real-world scenario. 

So next time when you are learning, think about filters first and put structure in place to learn faster and deeper.

Asking for help…

by

Reluctance to ask for help when we need it can keep us bogged down in more work than is necessary—and ultimately lead to burnout. Moreover, it closes a lot of avenues be it job options, alternate careers, and getting more business. 

Whether we are afraid of seeming needy or incompetent or just don’t trust others will help, here are some strategies that can help.

Be open. 

First, let’s be open to ourselves and others that we want to improve in this area. Talk to trusted colleagues informing them that we are working on getting better at asking for help. 

Being upfront will make it easier to actually do it when the time comes. It will also prime them to be more receptive to these requests, reinforcing our help-seeking behavior and reducing reluctance to reach out for support.

Identify and unpack your limiting beliefs. 

Ask yourself: What am I afraid will happen if I ask for help? These fears are likely emotional, not rational. Reflect on what’s underlying them.

Try small experiments. 

Make small behavior changes to see the impact on how you feel and the response you get from others. It can be as simple as asking, “Can I brainstorm with you for five minutes?” or “Would you be willing to take a look at my client proposal and share your feedback with me?”

Action is simple…but is it

by

Action is simple just do it. But is it?

You can go to your desk and study but your mind throws tantrum to avoid it.

You can go running and be fit but the mind complicates it.

You can go talk to people and take their help but it’s laden with your pasts.

You can go, propose and win, but fear of rejection complicates it.

Mind complicates but action is simple.

If the mind wins we avoid action, but if action wins “It’s simple” and we mostly win.

It matters a lot…

by

Small things in life matter the most. 

Daily food, fresh air, sunlight on your face, a number of these everyday things matter the mosts.

We take it for granted, but these are the things we miss when we are in our glorious self barging in life towards what we call success. 

But in the end, this is where we return – Small things, daily things.

So question yourself and you will always find the answer to be – It matters, even if it is sometime late in life.