Why Getting Ahead at Work has Nothing to do with Doing a "Good Job”

Okay fine, it does have something to do with doing a good job, but not in the way you think.

Here’s what I mean...think about the easiest and hardest things you have to learn to be good at your job.

For most of us, the easiest things are the everyday tasks necessary that generally keep the train moving forward, like how to write an email, organize meetings, process information, create schedules, analyze information and planning. Say you’ve got a job that requires some creativity, like a copywriter, the easiest things you have to do are the core task of your job, like writing copy. When we do these things competently, we do a “good job” at work.

But, what if you want to do better than a “good job.”

Now think about the hardest things about work. For most of us, it is speaking in front of people, building or contributing to a functioning team, communication, prioritizing, time management, and making decisions.

The reason this second list of things is harder than the first is because they require either relationship with others, or a deeper level of self-awareness and focus. This list is also the list of things that if done well will get you ahead at work, move you into leadership positions and get you promoted.

For example, let’s look at presenting and communication/team building, both of which require relationship with others. Let’s say you get nervous public speaking because you fear that the people you’re presenting to will think you’re stupid. If the thought that others might think you’re stupid exists within you, how might it be showing up in other places, like when you’re working with your team? It might show up as either the need to prove that your ideas are always validated or as overly self-conscious about your ideas, therefore never sharing your point of view or opinions with the group.

If you have a group of people who either constantly need validation OR feel too scared to speak up, how well would guess the team is functioning? Probably not as great as it could.

In order to do this harder list of functions well, we have to understand ourselves and un-cover our habits, so we can act from a place of response rather than pre-programmed reaction. When we’re doing this regularly, we don’t get so “affected” by what happens at work, and can detach our value from our work outcomes. And this allows us to access a deeper well of energy, so that work becomes easier, and so does our whole life. This is why mindset work and self-reflection is so important for succeeding at work and why I believe it’s essential to becoming a leader.

These are the kinds of things I explore with my clients in my 1:1 6 month program to help women become leaders at work without burning out.

Tell me below the hardest thing about your job!