Perform at such a high level that their candidacy cannot be denied.There may be no greater challenge in business than getting promoted. For every factor you can control (such as your skills and attitude), there are at least two that you can’t (such as the economy and your organization’s infrastructure). In this era of streamlined organizations, companies have been flattened and downsized so that there are fewer middle-management positions for twenty-somethings to be promoted into. Also, a “do more with less” mentality often translates into increases in responsibilities without additional compensation or acknowledgment. This scenario is changing baby boomer retirement, but it might not be fast enough for you.
For some, a job in the business world is just a pit stop on the way to a career in another field—such as entertainment. These individuals might define success as a check that pays for their true passion rather than a promotion that moves them to the next level. Unfortunately, there are many more twenty-somethings struggling to build careers where they are, and, as such, competition for promotion opportunities has become so intense that doing all of the right things might not necessarily get you the recognition you deserve.
If you’re in the latter category, giving up is not an option. You have no choice but to ensure your promotability. If you don’t move ahead now while you’re young and unencumbered, you may never manage it at all. Instead, you could end up stuck at or near the bottom rung with bosses who are younger and less experienced than you. Also, your resume will look suspicious to potential new employers.
The good news is that you are much more likely to be promoted in your 20s, because, as a newbie, the whole world is open to you, and you have nowhere to go but up. Everything I’ve discussed in this book so far—from setting and achieving goals to maintaining strong communication and interpersonal skills—will better your chances of landing a promotion. In this chapter, I’ll drill down a little deeper into strategies that will help you grab hold of that ever-elusive brass ring. I’ll talk about how to troubleshoot an antipromotion situation, and how to cope when your quest for reward and recognition takes an unfavorable turn.
Every time I sit down for a review with my boss, I feel like a deer caught in the headlights. Talking about myself makes me incredibly uncomfortable, so I can go the whole hour without saying a word. My boss will ramble on and on, and I’ll just sit there and nod dumbly like an idiot. When he’s done, he’ll push the review in front of me and ask me to sign it. I’ll do it, no questions asked, but as soon as I leave the room, I’ll think of 20 things I should have gotten off my chest before signing that paper. By then, though, it’s too late.
Debbie, 23, Texas
Most people roll their eyes when it comes time for performance reviews. This is because the review is, by nature, an uncomfortable and contrived process. In most organizations, reviews happen once or twice a year, and, during this time, every employee is forced to sit in a room with his boss and talk turkey about how he’s progressed and how he’s screwed up. Performance review documentation is notorious for being generic and vague, complete with ratings that are totally subjective and impossible to measure. Unfortunately, many reviews also take place in a vacuum: the items discussed are often not mentioned again until the next review.
Twenty-somethings may perceive reviews as yet another bureaucratic exercise that wastes valuable time and need not be taken seriously. However, despite a new emphasis on real-time feedback, the traditional performance review is still the only door to promotion inside much of the business world, so you must take advantage of it if you want to get ahead.
If you don’t care about your review, no one else will. The worst thing you can do for your career is to go through the process passively. Whether your review cycle takes place annually or semiannually, your preparation should typically start weeks before. Think of your review as an opportunity to sell your manager on your value to the company. If you’ve mapped out clear career goals (see Chapter 4), and you and your boss have discussed them on an ongoing basis, you’ll have a great head start. Look at your last review, including the goals and/or action steps outlined last time around, and gather facts to support how you’ve progressed in each area. Brainstorm concrete examples that illustrate outstanding performance, and practice communicating them so they’re on the tip of your tongue. Then make a list of all the things you would like to cover in the review meeting, independent of your manager’s agenda. Your objectives will probably include soliciting feedback on your progress, identifying new goals and growth opportunities, and hammering out a long-term promotion plan. This last item is particularly important. Although you can’t reasonably expect to be promoted after every review, you should at least leave with an understanding of where your current responsibilities are leading.
When it comes time for the actual review, make sure your boss gives it to you. This may sound ridiculous, but you’d be surprised how many organizations will allow managers to get away with skipping the review process entirely. After all, bosses are busy, and employee reviews are not on the top of their list of priorities. Remember, though, that it’s your right to request a timely appraisal. During the meeting itself, maintain a good balance between listening to what your manager has to say and playing an active role in the conversation. Just because your boss offers constructive criticism doesn’t mean you won’t get a promotion or a raise, so keep your defensiveness to a minimum. Even though a casual chitchat session might be more comfortable and fun than a serious conversation about your career aspirations, insist on getting through your objectives for the meeting. To paraphrase career author Harry Chambers, your performance review is your best—if not your only—opportunity to get a clear understanding of how you are perceived and what you need to do to ensure your future success.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions about your boss’s feedback, and make sure you read over your written review carefully before signing it. Once the cycle is complete, your manager might be perfectly happy to forget about your performance for the next five or 11 months. Don’t let her. Be proactive about setting up regular meetings to review your progress, address potential problems, and incorporate new responsibilities and priorities into the master plan. If you keep the lines of communication open, nothing that comes up in your next review will be a surprise. Who knows, maybe you’ll even look forward to it!
One more thing before we leave the topic of performance feedback. As we move further into the twenty-first century, some organizations are placing less emphasis on semi-annual or annual reviews and more emphasis on just-in-time, electronic feedback that’s given by a variety of managers over the course of individual assignments. Be vigilant about collecting and responding to this type of feedback. It could very well help you move ahead sooner rather than later.
If you are going to ask your boss for a raise, make sure you have a good reason—needing the money doesn’t count! Your organization doesn’t care if you are drowning in student loans, can’t make your rent, or have to finance a wedding this year. As with everything else in the business world, the money you get paid is all about the value you add to the company. Before you sit down with your manager, you’ll want to be prepared with a list of contributions that have positively impacted the bottom line. As you’re putting together your case, be hard on yourself. Look at the situation from your organization’s point of view. Have you honestly acquired such valuable skills, performed at such a high level, and exceeded expectations to such a degree that your organization should shell out more assets to keep you?
You also have to look at the big picture. Check out compensation surveys such as the National Compensation Survey by the U.S. Department of Labor (bls.gov/ncs) or Websites such as Salary.com or Payscale.com to determine how your salary stacks up to what other local twenty-somethings in your position are making. Don’t forget to take into account other financial incentives you may receive from your company, including bonuses, stock options, insurance packages, 401(k) contributions, and tuition reimbursement.
Of course, you also have to get real and evaluate your request in the context of the current economic conditions, your company’s financial status, and internal policies regarding raises. Also, some organizations have grades, or fixed salary ranges, that prevent managers from increasing compensation beyond the amount predetermined by your level or title. Still others may place the authority to decide matters of compensation in the hands of a few individuals—and your boss may not be one of them. You’ll save yourself a lot of agita if you find out about such things ahead of time.
When is a good time to ask for a raise? Coming off a strong performance review in which your boss acknowledged your accomplishments is a good bet, because he will probably be expecting you to broach the subject of money. If you have just taken on a new role or your management has raised the bar for your performance, it is perfectly legitimate to ask for an appointment to discuss “compensation commensurate with new responsibilities.”
When scheduling the meeting, pick a time when your boss’s stress level and workload are as manageable as possible, and tell him what you want to talk about so that he’s prepared. An informal setting such as lunch often works best, because it allows you to relate to your manager on a personal level. Before you meet face to face, decide on a number that you’d be satisfied with, and think about how you’ll respond if you don’t get it. You also may want to practice your tone on a family member or friend prior to the meeting, because there is a fine line separating the assertive/sincere and arrogant/entitled approaches.
Now, on to the big conversation itself. If you’re underpaid and you know it, refrain from bitching. Acting bitter or angry will only put your manager on the defensive. Instead, remain calm, positive, and professional. Tell your boss how much you enjoy working for the company. Talk about your performance in a factual manner and provide concrete examples of how you add value to the organization. When it comes time to broach the topic, use the word compensation rather than raise or money. In the event that your boss declines your raise, don’t close your ears to the rest of the discussion. He may be willing to offer you other perks instead, such as extra vacation time, flexible hours, or a nice dinner with your significant other on the company. These concessions may not be as valuable as cold cash, but they can come in handy for a twenty-something struggling to afford the good life outside of work.
Despite your best efforts, you may not get the compensation you’ve earned. This is not an unusual scenario for twenty-somethings. Sometimes, the only way to get a serious pay increase is to switch jobs (see Chapter 10). But if you are not willing or ready to do this, try and swallow your negativity at not getting a raise for the time being, ask your boss what you need to do in order to receive an increase, and find out if it’s possible to revisit this issue in a few months. Do not give an ultimatum unless you are prepared to walk out the door right then and there. Remember, even if you have another job offer in hand that pays more, you cannot assume that your current manager will make a counteroffer.
Your boss may tell you that he would like to give you a raise, but his hands are tied. If this is the case, ask him if the two of you can schedule a meeting with the higher-up responsible for the decision. Do not go over his head without his knowledge, and make sure he is kept in the loop on all matters concerning your compensation.
Raise discussions are never easy for either party, and if your boss is the passive-aggressive type, he may tell you what you want to hear simply to get you out of his office. Make sure that you follow up appropriately on any vocal promises he makes, and, if possible, secure an effective date for your increase. The issue is not closed until you see the change in your paycheck.
I wasn’t in with the right people at my company, so the good work that I did was constantly overlooked by the higher-ups. I watched kids five or six years younger than me getting all these high-profile assignments, and I started to get burned up about it. So I decided to try a different strategy. I love playing racquetball, so I signed up for the company tournament and just “happened” to get paired with a senior exec in my division. We got to know each other a lot during that week, and I dropped in just enough info about work so that this guy knew what I was made of. When one of his employees left the company, I asked him if he was looking for a replacement. He hadn’t thought about it yet, and he didn’t think about it anymore—he hired me!
Mike, 29, New Jersey
In case this wasn’t obvious already, you need to do more than just master the performance review process and leave the rest to chance if you want to get promoted. According to Harry Chambers, author of Getting Promoted: Real Strategies for Advancing Your Career, factors that affect promotion include:
1. Yourself (your skills, your abilities, and your willingness to do what you need to do in order to get ahead).
2. Your visibility in the organization and people’s perceptions of you.
3. Opportunities within the organization to move up the ladder.
Intentionally moving your career in the right direction means successfully controlling Factor #1, influencing Factor #2, and assessing Factor #3. Chambers suggests that people who want to be promoted do the following:
Perform at such a high level that their candidacy cannot be denied.
Demonstrate informal leadership before formal authority is attained.
Keep themselves free of baggage and political skirmishes.
Position themselves as agents of change who are willing to support current company policies, while also embracing future opportunities.
Seek to expand their influence and challenges by broadening the scope of their responsibilities.
Develop and support the people they work with by driving processes forward.
In case you haven’t believed me when I’ve gone on and on about the importance of the professional persona and everything that goes with it…
According to a 2012 study from the Center for Talent Innovation, 268 senior executives cited executive presence, or being perceived as leadership material, as an essential component to getting ahead. In fact, executive presence accounted for, on average, 25 percent of what it takes to get promoted. The three areas that comprise executive presence are:
Gravitas: The ability to project confidence, poise under pressure, and decisiveness. Sixty-seven percent of senior executives surveyed cited gravitas as the core characteristic of executive presence.
Communication: Includes excellent speaking skills, assertiveness, and the ability to read an audience or situation. Twenty-eight percent of surveyed executives felt that good communication telegraphs that you’re leadership material.
Appearance: How you look and dress does affect your executive presence, but it’s not as critical as the first two factors.
Sounding educated is critical if you want to ascend to the next level. Nearly 60 percent of executives felt that unprofessional, uninformed speech detracts from executive presence. And finally, you will enhance your executive presence and your chances at promotion if you hone your global competence, or the ability to understand how business is done in different countries and how to work effectively with culturally diverse teams.
When you receive feedback on your executive presence, listen and take it seriously. If the comments aren’t universally positive, don’t get offended. Recognize that the person is only trying to help you and that your promotability will be enhanced in the long run. No one is perfect, but the most successful leaders learn as they go along.
A few final words on promotion: I cannot emphasize enough the importance of relationships in this process. In Chapter 3, I talked about how networking can increase your visibility and establish personal connections that will help you move forward. At this stage in your career, you should be jumping at any opportunity to interact with higher-ups—from attending your company’s social events and sitting in the right place in the cafeteria to volunteering to work on special projects and serving on office committees. In these situations, don’t be afraid to strut your stuff. Just be sure you know what you’re talking about!
It also doesn’t hurt to be assertive in determining your own destiny. Just like asking for a raise, bringing up the topic of promotion with your manager is appropriate and legitimate, provided you’ve earned the right to move to the next level. Rather than accosting your boss in the hall during a moment of extraordinary stress and blurting out, “I want a promotion,” give the matter a great deal of thought before initiating a conversation. Develop a bulletproof case for why you are entitled to advance by making a list of the weekly hours you spend doing tasks inside your job description and the weekly hours you spend doing tasks at the next level. The goal of this little exercise is to show that you are accomplishing much more than you were originally hired to do. If you’re doing the work of more than one full-time employee, note that as well. Then, as you’re talking to your boss, point out that your efficiency saves him money because he only has to pay one person instead of two.
Be prepared to compromise. No matter how valuable you are, chances are your boss is not going to promote you right then and there, so talk in terms of time frames and how you can ensure that you perform at a level that will warrant a promotion in three to six months. Once you and your boss agree on a promotion plan, remember to get it in writing.
At some point in your early career, it’s inevitable that you will be denied advancement. The circumstances vary. Maybe you will ask your manager for a promotion, and she will turn you down outright. Perhaps a higher-level position will open up and one of your colleagues will be slated for it instead of you. It’s also possible that your performance review or promotion plan says you are due for advancement, but your boss thinks you still have some work to do before moving ahead. In any case, being denied a promotion can be disappointing and hurtful. However, it does not mean that your boss doesn’t like you, or that the company doesn’t recognize your contributions. Often, promotion decisions have more to do with the politics of the organization than with you as an individual. It’s vital that you don’t demonstrate your displeasure, because the “powers that be” might be watching to see how you react. Instead, take an honest look at the reasons behind the decision, and work to overcome real and perceived weaknesses so that you can be successful at the next opportunity.
Last year my boss increased the scope of my responsibilities without officially promoting me. My new job required me to interface with clients a lot, so my old title didn’t really fit. One customer even said that my business card confused him. I was fed up, so I took the plunge and changed my title in my email signature and on my business cards. My boss eventually got the hint and promoted me.
Henry, 27, Virginia
It happens all the time: You’re one of the top performers in your department, but for one reason or another, your boss doesn’t promote you. Here are some suggestions for handling some of the more mystifying scenarios.
Your boss keeps giving you new responsibilities, and everyone recognizes that you are operating at a higher level. Maybe your boss doesn’t have the authority to promote you, or maybe she is at the next rung on the ladder so there’s nowhere for you to go. It’s also possible that your boss doesn’t feel a sense of urgency when it comes to your career growth. Talk to your boss frankly about a promotion or compensation appropriate for your new level of responsibility (see “Asking for a Raise” on page X). If that doesn’t work, use the visibility tactics described in Chapter 4 to alert the higher-ups to how well you’re doing. Really stuck? You may have to roll the political dice and go above your boss by asking for a meeting with your department head. Just make sure that you frame the conversation in terms of your career development rather than the promotion you want, and also ensure that you keep your boss informed.
You have mastered all of the responsibilities in your job description. A job well done in the professional world is not like an excellent standardized test score—it doesn’t necessarily predict future success. To get promoted these days, you have to master the skills associated with your current position and, to a great extent, the responsibilities of the next level. In other words, you have to prove that you can add value to a higher-level job before your company will pay you for doing it. If you don’t know what’s involved in taking your skills and responsibilities up a notch, ask someone in your desired position to act as your mentor and allow you to shadow him for a bit. Don’t just observe, though. You’ll learn more quickly by actively participating and trying things on your own. As you grow more confident, start acting as though you’ve already been promoted. If you play your cards right, official recognition will be a natural conclusion.
You are so good at your job that you’re the only person who can do it justice. It’s easy for a driven twenty-something to get stuck in this trap. If you make yourself irreplaceable, how can the company afford to lose you to a new role? Get out of this one by handpicking a junior member of your team to take your place, either officially or unofficially. Training someone else to do your job as well as you serves two purposes: (1) you’ll convince your boss that your job will be left in good hands, and (2) you’ll show her that you’re management material.
In the last few review cycles, you’ve been promoted like clockwork. Maybe you’ve been lucky so far and were appropriately rewarded for stellar performance. Remember that each time you take on a new position, you start from scratch. Just because you were promoted last year and have a great reputation, does not mean you have the right combination of skill, visibility, and opportunity to succeed at the next level. Harry Chambers reminds us that we are not entitled to anything, and also that dues are never paid in full. Rather, we must campaign for reelection through tangible achievement every day.
Because you’re reading this book, chances are you are the type of person who can’t get promoted soon enough. You probably think you’re ready for the next level right now, and you might be frustrated with your management for failing to recognize this fact. The truth is, though, if people were promoted every time they thought they deserved it, everyone would be a VP by the age of 30. We all have to learn that the world doesn’t work that way. The sooner we do, the happier we’ll be with the way our careers are progressing.
A high school teacher of mine once said, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” In your 20s, you don’t realize that, smart as you are and quickly as you catch on, you don’t have the wisdom or experience to handle the more complicated responsibilities of middle managers in the business world. It took me time to learn this, but bosses who make you wait a year or two to get to the next level are usually doing you a favor. When it comes to promotion, you have to be careful what you wish for. I’ve seen young employees move up and up until they are in way over their heads. The same “lucky” individuals who make you so jealous often fail outright or self-destruct from the stress of avoiding failure.
At the end of the day you have to ask yourself, “What’s the rush?” Of course you want to get to the next level—as well you should. But is your career really going to fall to pieces if it doesn’t happen tomorrow? Because you’ll probably be in the workforce until you’re in your 70s, you have the next 50 years to cope with the anxiety of answering to the big guns, being a slave to your devices, and sitting on top of a team of people who depend on you for their job satisfaction and financial livelihood. Rather than demanding that your career move at the speed of light, why not relax your grip and concentrate on learning everything you can at your current level so that you’ll be better prepared for the next? And while you’re at it, enjoy having zero decision-making power, relatively normal working hours, and the freedom to go to the bathroom without affecting the company’s bottom line. Once you become a high-ranking superstar, you’ll give anything to have these days back.
If you’ve chosen a career in business, you will inevitably experience some type of setback. You’ll be moving along, making great progress, and growing by leaps and bounds every day, and then, suddenly, you’ll be dealt a blow. And whether your pet project is canceled, your performance review is a bust, you get turned down for a promotion, or you’re asked to leave the company, setbacks hurt big-time. You’re demotivated, disillusioned, and pissed as hell. You might not feel like doing anything for a few days except watching E!, munching on Doritos, and wallowing in self-pity. This response is both normal and appropriate, provided it’s short-lived. In his book Emotional Intelligence at Work, Hendrie Weisinger tells us that resiliency, or the ability to bounce back, is what differentiates people who deal with setbacks effectively from those who don’t. Everyone goes through career setbacks, but some people handle them in creative, positive, and rewarding ways, whereas others sulk, become bitter, and give up on their big-picture goals. As you can imagine, the former individuals are happier overall, and they have more successful careers too.
When you’re lying on the ground and your job is stomping all over you, it can be pretty hard to pick yourself up and get moving again. Nevertheless, if you start thinking of yourself as a victim or allow yourself to lapse into prolonged negativity, you won’t be hurting anyone except yourself. Worrying until you get sick, abusing alcohol or drugs, or denying that you’ve reached an impasse won’t help either. The best strategy for making a comeback is to recognize the reality of the situation, acknowledge your feelings, and find a way to cope productively. Here are some tips that have gotten me through my darkest career days.
Remind yourself that, in a month, this will be a memory. When setbacks happen, the tendency is to feel as though your bad luck will last forever. By keeping in mind that the situation is temporary, you’ll be strong enough emotionally to take the necessary steps to overcome your misfortune.
Recognize that a setback does not make you a total failure. Treat your setback as the isolated incident it is. Regardless of what happened, chances are it’s not going to significantly affect your life one way or the other. And I don’t know any successful people who’ve learned the right way to do things without trying several wrong ways first.
Care for your self-esteem. Your identity and self-worth are too precious to leave in the hands of the volatile business world. Your job does not define who you are. You existed before it, and you will exist after it. In the meantime, rather than focusing on your own inadequacies, remind yourself that you are doing the best you can under the current circumstances.
Reach out to your support systems. During a crisis, it always helps to know you are not alone and that you are justified in feeling the way you do. Instead of withdrawing from the people you care about, make an effort to connect with them and lean on them for support. Your network of friends and family is most critical, but you can receive comfort and insight from spiritual support systems and prayer as well.
Look for humor in the situation. Having a good laugh can counteract the effects of stress and restore your sense of perspective and your ability to think clearly. It’s been proven that when one is happy, the body recovers more quickly from the biological arousal of upsetting emotions. Use whatever humor floats your boat—corny, silly, dry, satirical—as long as it makes you crack a smile.
Be good to your body. Regular exercise and relaxation techniques (such as stretching, meditating, or yoga) are great ways to reduce negativity and get back on track. Eating reasonable portions of healthy foods can also increase your overall well-being while you are recovering from your setback.
Commit yourself to a new project. New goals and projects provide fresh perspective and a sorely needed dose of enthusiasm. You’ll be motivated to work harder, and will probably be too busy to think much about your setback.
Experiencing a setback doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Gail Sheehy, author of Pathfinders, who spent years studying what makes happy people tick, offers this gem of optimism: The earlier we fail at something and our egos crack, the sooner we see that we won’t die from it. We realize that our identities will build, show blemishes, suffer injuries, and repair themselves…again and again. Therefore, the best thing that can happen to most people is to fail a little, early in life. As we age and collect more years of experience working, the things that seem like mountains now will become smaller and smaller until they barely register as blips on the radar screen. Fortunately, this means our setbacks won’t always be so traumatizing.
We have a new CEO, and our entire organization is being overturned as we speak. The worst part is that he’s talking about moving corporate headquarters to another state! I don’t know what I’m going to be doing or where I’m going to be doing it, and the waiting is killing me. I haven’t slept through the night since I found out about this, and I always feel like I’m on the verge of getting sick. I’ve lived in Colorado all my life, and everything I’ve ever known is here. I don’t know what I’ll do if I have to move.
Blair, 26, Colorado
The business world wouldn’t be the fun place it is without the tribal ritual known as the reorganization (a.k.a. re-org). A re-org usually follows when new management takes over or existing management decides to change the way the company does business. What does it potentially mean to you? Oh, nothing much—except a new job, a new boss, new coworkers, and maybe even a new place to live. Re-orgs don’t happen in every company, and they don’t always affect everyone in the organization. Depending on management objectives, one division might be restructured while the rest are left untouched. Some companies, however, make re-org an annual event. Regardless of how the current organization is functioning, they insist that change is good and that it can’t hurt to stir things up a little. Some also see regular re-orgs as an efficient way to shift talent around to best suit the company’s needs.
Human beings are not big fans of change, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the majority of employees don’t like re-orgs. And life being the way it is, re-orgs tend to happen when you’re cruising along in your job and everything is going just swell. They’ll often strike for no discernable reason, and you’ll be left to pick up the pieces of your career. When you’re a driven twenty-something on the move, an unsolicited change in the landscape you’ve learned to navigate can be extremely frustrating. You may feel as though all of your recent achievements are for naught. Realize that re-orgs aren’t personal. Organizations are huge machines, and it’s likely your upper management didn’t consider how the restructuring would affect you individually.
Re-orgs are tough on everyone involved, and how you conduct yourself in the aftermath says a lot about you as an employee. If you think about it, you have two choices: (1) you can leave the company, or (2) you can stay and add value to the new organization. If you choose the latter option, it’s critical that you are perceived as flexible, capable, and supportive of the company’s direction. When the rug has been pulled out from underneath you and you are thrust into an unfamiliar work situation, it’s tempting to develop a bad attitude and express your displeasure to those around you. If there is ever a time to remember your professional persona, it’s now. Re-orgs mean new faces, lots of first impressions, and extra scrutiny from senior managers watching to see how the staff is adjusting to the changes. Feel yourself slipping? Use the survival strategies I talked about in Chapter 6 (such as banishing the shoulds and taking care of your body) for a boost of positive energy.
If you know a re-org is coming, but you don’t have the details, the best thing you can do is anticipate the change and prepare for it as best as you can. Allow yourself to get used to the idea of a new work situation gradually, and begin to think about new opportunities that could arise as a result of the re-org. Consider how you will deal with the worst-case scenario and create a plan of attack for getting through it. Once that’s done, recognize that the situation is out of your control and forget about it for the time being. Worrying will not increase the likelihood of a favorable outcome. Instead, you’ll most likely drive yourself nuts in the process.
Learning to roll with the punches is especially valuable when it comes to surviving re-orgs. Think about it this way: If you were in a sinking ship a few miles from the shore, would you just sit in the hull and complain? Would you wring your hands in despair and jump over the side? I think not. You would put on a life jacket and swim your heart out!
Benjamin Franklin once said that nothing is certain except death and taxes. We might agree with him on paper, but job uncertainty still scares us, and in the last several years there’s been more than enough of it to go around.
It’s not good for our health either. In 2008, researchers at the University of Michigan found that uncertainty can actually be worse for us than outright bad news. The study followed 3,000 employed people younger than age 60, and divided the subjects between those who were worried about losing their jobs and those who were not so concerned.
Based on participant self-reports, the researchers discovered that people who felt chronically insecure about their jobs experienced poorer health overall and were more depressed than those who had actually lost their jobs or had even faced a serious or life-threatening illnesses!
You can cope productively with general job uncertainty the same way you would cope with an anticipated re-org, including putting out-of-your-control circumstances out of your mind, and creating a plan to manage the worst-case scenario. Here are a few other tips:
Meditate daily. The tried-and-true method is slow, deep breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Doing this as well as trying to relax each part of your body one at a time has been proven to lessen the stress response.
Stay off blogs and message boards. Hypochondriacs are notorious for fueling their anxiety about whether they have a disease by scouring online health sites at all hours of the day and night. There is a psychological principle known as confirmation bias, which claims that people who are already worrying about something will value negative information they find over neutral or positive information. Don’t fall into this trap.
Talk to someone objective. Find a friend or family member who understands your situation and can help you get a realistic grasp of how likely the uncertain event is to occur. Do keep in mind, though, that sometimes too much reassurance from too many people can make anxiety worse.
When I was 26, I was promoted into a position that I was not ready for. I knew I didn’t have enough experience to manage a multinational team of 200, but my supervisor was keen to have me in the role so I didn’t feel I could say no. Besides, how can a brilliant promotion be a bad thing? Well, unfortunately, it can. I was completely lost and failed to meet any of my annual objectives. I would tell my younger self to consider whether the promotion was right for me at that time, and to ask my supervisor for more training so that I could be fully prepared for the role in a year or two.
Hadley, 39, London
Prepare for performance reviews. Objectives for your performance review should include soliciting feedback on your progress, identifying new goals and growth opportunities, and hammering out a long-term promotion plan. Although you can’t reasonably expect to be promoted after every review, you should at least leave with an understanding of where your current responsibilities are leading.
Do your homework before asking for a raise. Be prepared with a list of ways you have contributed to the company that have positively impacted the bottom line. Look at the situation from your organization’s point of view, and then ask yourself if you’ve performed at such a high level that your organization should shell out more assets to keep you.
Be realistic about your career goals. Remember that advancing to a higher level means more responsibility and less freedom. Rather than demanding that your career move at the speed of light, relax your grip and concentrate on learning everything you can at your current level so that you’ll be better prepared for the next.
Learn to cope with setbacks. What differentiates people who deal with setbacks effectively from those who don’t is resiliency, or the ability to bounce back and cope with life’s challenges in creative, positive, and rewarding ways.