I’m going to be completely transparent here. This article is a product of an exercise I did with my mentor not too long ago. I was tasked to come up with my work timeline. It really took me back to a time where I was young and extremely naive of the world around me. I reflected on the struggles that I faced during that time and was hit with so many emotions. It was extremely humbling to look at how far I had come and how much more I have to go. If you are in a corporate setting whose population are mostly females, then you know some of the problems that you face. As a nurse, I was fortunate enough to go through it during my youthful employment days, so now I can write about it. Please take note: there is no age to when these problems or personal traits resolve. These are only a few as there is always a number that go unnoticed or are not listed in this blog post. 1. Their Egos Are High I don’t know if this is due to ya’ll social media blowing up with likes or what. But this is getting ridiculous. Lady, we know you are cute. We know that as a young female aged 17-33 you are in your prime. However, that does not give you the right to look down upon others. Most females around this age tend to look at those who struggle as unsuccessful, undetermined, or just plain lazy. Their standards may be really high and they are closed off to other individual’s perspectives. How can we overcome this in the workplace? In a highly competitive corporate setting- yes looks are important. Confidence is one trait of an admirable leader. Even those leaders who do not know what the next move will be or what the results of a corporate downsizing may spell out, are confident. However, overconfidence can backfire tremendously on those who fail to see the importance of humility. Your task is to remain humble while maintaining confidence. Those who are overconfident may smother yours or even belittle you to make you think that you are less important than they are. Therefore avoidance is the best option for you. 2. They Are Envied This may well be the most dangerous thing that one might come into contact with. The reason for this is simple. Out of envy grows passive aggressive behavior. You may not see another female’s devastating blows to your success because they disguise their envy in a way that seems almost as though they are admiring you. She may in turn take the information gathered from you and use it to her advantage, ruining your reputation. This further hinders your success. How can we overcome this in the workplace? For this type of female, there are many ways to deal with this. First, you do have an option of avoidance. If the female is so toxic that it is better to avoid them, then, so be it. Second, and most importantly, you may want to keep her close. There is nothing wrong with having her close by to monitor her movements instead of avoiding her all together. You will need to tread lightly though. If you shine a little too much, it may aggravate her envy towards you. Now you have to start from square one. 3. They Are Not Taken Seriously This can be one of the most frustrating things that you may face as a young intelligent female. Unfortunately, you are not alone. I wish I could say that this is not true but it happens more often in more places then I would like to mention. However, this does not mean that you should feel disheartened by the going rate of it. How can we overcome this in the workplace? Building relationships in the workplace that are deep and rich is the best way to be heard. You should definitely put effort and time in fostering relationships with those who have worked in the same office for years. They have been there long enough to know the job, and can help you learn more about your role. The second (and probably most valuable) thing you should invest in is learning the job, and learning it well. This will help you a lot when bringing concerns to your supervisor or manager. They will value your knowledge and expertise on the subject on hand. Managers do not know the grunt work of how day to day operations run. They rely on those around them to help them manage their teams. If you make yourself useful and resourceful, the rewards will be staggering. 4. They Think They Are Always Right This one tho. This one is definitely a form of getting in your own way. As a young, brilliant, beautiful woman, you cannot think that you know everything there is to know about the job that you are working. The simple reason is because there is always something more to learn. By thinking that you are always right, you close yourself off from different opportunities for growth. In your youth, you always will have the opportunity to grow. How can we overcome this in the workplace? You need to understand several things in order to grow as a successful business person: You do not know everything, hardly anyone does. Things will not always go as planned, therefore it is best to learn how to be resourceful. Have a fallback plan and not a scapegoat. Admit when you are wrong so you can grow from it. 5. They Do Not Know How To Bounce Back When things go wrong (and they always do go wrong), young people in general do not know how to bounce back from the failure. This one is a hard one to touch on because there are some middle aged adults who have a hard time with this one as well. We tend to wallow in our self pity, cry about how life is unfair, and fall back into our own bad habits that comfort us. This is no good. Babygirl- we have all had our stories in which thing just did not turn out right. This does not mean that we get angry and give up on something that has the potential of turning our life around. If that was the case, I would not have had a successful nursing career. How can we overcome this in the workplace? The answer to this is simple, resilience. We have to build it, learn from it, and grow it within ourselves. Life is really hard. And having resilience in some way or form can really be a high quality attribute. Make sure you have a support system. If you think you don’t have a support system, think again. You are here, reading this article, supporting me. That means, you have me supporting you. Reach out in any one of my social media platforms to vent, cry, or just talk things out. You can always email me your story and I may answer them here on this blog. 6. They Do Not Want To Commit to Things Commitment seems to be losing less popularity in young folks. Not to sound like a grandmother or anything, but if you do not commit, you cannot grow anything with strong roots. How can we overcome this in the workplace? Commit yourself in more ways than one. Commit to your success, your goals and dreams. Ultimately the universe will respond to your committed strides to gain the success of your dreams. You have to believe that you are strong enough to face a highly competitive work environment with your integrity intact. If you don’t, you will fall victim to the less than attractive attributes of those who you work with. Those ugly emotions and tactics might bleed into you. You may, in turn, continue to change into someone that you may not recognize in the mirror. Competitive environments are really hard to work in. A lot of young people fall out of these workplaces and turn to making their own living. However, please make note that nothing that is worth high value is easy. You want a highly valued relationships? You have to put in the time and effort to attain and keep that relationship. You want a highly valued career? You need to go through storms of egos, frustrations, email compositions, meetings, and all the other things I cannot think of at this time to achieve it. I am here to help.
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Imagine this. You are at a meeting with all of your colleagues. You have some really great ideas on a problem that the team has been facing. You present your idea, however, it is quickly shut down by a colleague who is then backed by the manager. It felt as though the idea was not even taken into consideration. No one asked for further details. No one’s curiosity peaked.
A few months later the idea, YOUR idea is brought up by that same colleague that shut it down. Once again, the manager backs her and the idea is implemented. Everyone sings praises of the great job your colleague did in thinking up this idea. All the time, you sit there completely frustrated, angry, and sadden at how this happened. When a situation like the one just explained happens, usually there is office politics at work. Literally, the politics behind the scene are working extra hard. Most of us have experienced a similar situation. Often, we have left feeling defeated, and anxious towards the next encounter with that colleague. This is why understanding office politics is so important to our career growth with any organization. What is Office Politics? The term office politics refers to the relationships individuals have with each other and with people who have positions of power. A broad scope of things come into play when discussing office politics. Relationships are built off communications, emotional attachments, and the amount of time taken to build the relationship. Persons who understand that relationships are essential to professional growth take the time to engage with one another. Especially those who hold power. Most people ignore those who hold less power and turn all their attention to those who can advance them in the workplace to a new promotion, or a better paying position. In their minds, those who hold less power are not worth spending time on. Why is Office Politics Even a Thing? As you can imagine, office politics do hold some benefits. When situations occur where you missed a deadline, or you made a mistake on an important project, the relationships that you have worked hard for often can help you. Provided that you do not abuse the precious gift of forgiveness. Make no mistake, if you continue to abuse the forgiveness that your boss or manager has given you, their patience will soon wear down to nothing. You will no longer be able to count on that person to back you when you are in need of help. In the example above we see how both office politics can be positive and negative. The colleague used her influence over her manager to turn down your idea and then later pitched it as her own. This is an example of how others will react to you when you have something valuable that they do not. It is especially true when faced with the potential of outdoing others in front of those who you can potentially win to your side, and can give you a boost in your career path. Make no mistake, you should tread lightly around those who continuously show signs of passive aggressive behavior. These individuals are the most dangerous in the workplace. Can You Avoid Office Politics? The short answer is yes. You can shut yourself off from interacting with others in order to maintain your position. However, it will cost you your professional growth. Isolation is one of the worst things you can do in a professional setting. This will make you an easy target for becoming a scapegoat. Because you are not connected, there will be no one to support you should the situation arise in which you are blamed for something that was not your fault. Although it may provide comfort at the time, you should never make this a permanent option. Obtaining and maintaining relationships at work is key to any type of success. Even individuals who work for themselves understand how important it is to maintain relationships with vendors, business associates, colleagues, and other organizations. I do not want to promote the use of individuals here. People should not be viewed as a means to an end. In business, we should view relationships as a baby that needs to be fed, nurtured, and cared for. The way you conduct yourself in a professional setting has long term effects. People have long memories and will remember the slight from 3 months ago. How to deal… In order to continue to live through harsh political climates at work, you will need to:
About a year ago, I was researching this topic. I found that most blogs encourage their readers to leave a toxic work environment. While this can be an option taken into consideration, there are also circumstances in which a person may wish to stay. Because of this, I commend those who are currently struggling through negativity at work.
Has there been a time that you felt completely hopeless at work?
Is there a time where you watched office politics unfold? Was it positive or negative? Comment below to share your experiences. |
AuthorYaritza Ellison has been an nurse since 2010. She has been essential to the healing process of many and seeks to continue to do so. Her passion for mental health and self help literature has lead her to launch justyari.org, where she aspires to coach young ladies navigating through work-life balance. Categories
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