It's Not About You

Posted on July 03, 2012 by Jill Huggett, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

It’s not about you.I work with many clients who feel frustrated when they don’t get a results that match how they feel about themselves. For example, you may think you deserved that promotion more than the guy who got it. You have the resume and accomplishments to prove it. You have an advanced degree, you taught the other guy everything he knows, always exceed expectations and yet, you were overlooked for the promotion. It’s beyond frustrating. So how do you deal with it?

You must understand a simple concept:

The corporate world is a very subjective place. It’s filled with opinions and judgments. The key to navigating the corporate world successfully is to understand that perception drives your success. If you really want to be successful, you need to know the perspective of those with whom you are dealing and how you are perceived.

Following are a few ways to understand how you are being perceived:

Ask. Very simple. Ask others “what am I known for; what do others think of me?; why is that the case?"

Observe: what are others getting rewarded for? What is their skill set and how does it compare to mine?

Listen: to the feedback. Digest and understand why people think the way they do about you.

Here are a few ways to influence the perspectives others have of you:

Keep people informed of the work you are doing and the impact it has.
Make sure others know your skill set. Don’t assume they remember your resume, they don’t.

Be more conversational to give people a chance to get to know you better.

Finally, while you may feel that people’s opinions are unjust, it’s the way the corporate world works. Turn things to your favor by influencing perceptions and get people to see the star employee you are!