Careers (like life) are full of challenges. No matter what stage you’re at, there will always be another mountain to climb. Image: LinkedIn.
May Busch describes the three biggest challenges she faced at different stages of her career and how she devised strategies to overcome them.
Have you ever found yourself thinking: “When will my career be smooth sailing? I’m sick of all these challenges and obstacles.”
I’ve certainly been there, but here’s the truth: Careers (like life) are full of challenges. No matter what stage you’re at, there will always be another mountain to climb. If that feels daunting, reframe it in a way that’s energising for you.
For me, I love to share my hard-won lessons to help people like you succeed faster and more easily. So, I want to share with you three struggles I’ve faced at different stages in my career, and how I overcame them.
As an individual contributor, my greatest challenge was speaking up in meetings. I held back, sat quietly and stayed small because I was worried I might sound stupid or say the wrong thing. I might have been promoted much sooner if I had known then what I know now, which is that sitting silently is equally as damaging as the worst thing that can happen if you stand up and speak out.
The key to getting over my fear was changing my mindset and taking action. I recognised the patterns that were holding me back and made a plan for how to break free. Instead of listening to my doubts, I told myself that when my instinct was to hesitate, I would instead take bold action. When I was feeling like I was not ready for an audience – that was when I would do it in front of one anyway. Finally, when I was afraid I would sound like a fool – that was the time to speak up.
When I became a manager, my greatest challenge was my perfectionism. Up until that point, perfectionism had only helped me. As a team member, I was praised for my attention to detail, diligence, and work ethic. However, as a manager, I was overworking my team and burning through resources by over-preparing. No-one wanted to work for me. It took me four years to change my negative reputation.
To make a change, I first had to acknowledge that it was hurting me, not helping me, and I had to challenge my fears, insecurities, and negative self-talk. So what if it wasn’t perfect? No-one would die, and I more than likely would not be fired.
The best strategy I used to tame my perfectionism was accepting what was ‘’good enough’’ in each situation. For internal meetings, the hand-drawn diagrams were good enough, but for client meetings, I could spend more time on a branded PowerPoint.
Now, as the founder and chief executive of Career Mastery, my greatest challenge became decision-making. I would review and revisit decisions I had already made, instead of just taking action and moving forward. The mental and emotional churn was exhausting.
So I decided to take action to be more decisive and live a happier, easier life. First, I noticed when I was revisiting a decision and took action instead. Then I started to practise being decisive in lower-stakes situations, like ordering food at a restaurant. Finally, I celebrated myself when I made decisions without review, literally high-fiving myself and saying: “Good job, May.”
Now that I’ve shared some of my struggles, I want to hear from you. The more you share, the better I’ll be able to help you overcome obstacles and achieve success.
May Busch’s mission is to help leaders and their organisations achieve their full potential. She works with smart entrepreneurs and top managements to build their businesses. She can be contacted at [email protected]. This article first appeared on May’s blogsite.
