Whether you are running for President, a promotion or are a finalist for a new job, how you choose to show up and take the win will determine how well you are equipped to do the job. It’s not so much about your credentials, your experience or whom you know that will determine whether you win or lose. How you project who you are and what you stand for will seal the deal in your efforts to take the top prize. You are your words and your actions. There is no taking it back once you put it out there. Choose carefully otherwise it will haunt you your entire career.
How you win depends on how well you stay true to your platform, your mission and your goals. It means not speaking out of turn, respecting your allies and adversaries and being humble about your position. But when you are compromised because of your gender, your race, your sexual orientation or any other protected class you are in essence in a free fall with nowhere to land. In a sad commentary on the state of affairs, we no longer have to worry about leaning in but whether we will even be allowed to participate in the same conversation, meeting or path to the top.
Fighting the good fight no longer means, raising the bar to a higher standard. It no longer implies when “They go low, you go high.” What do you need to do to ensure you get heard no matter what your position or point of view? Whether you lost out as a job finalist, or on a promotion or as President of the free world, how you move forward after the fall will depend on who you are as a person not what gender, color, orientation, religion you are wrapped in. Being fearful because there are no other options will surely make it hard to figure out your next right move.
When you are in free fall you can do a few things including hoping for a soft landing or waiting to hear the sound of breaking bone. How you choose your reaction to falling back will determine whether you ultimately survive the fall or not. You may feel like you can’t get up, move up or find the door. But falling back does not mean you can’t move forward. The path may be slow, longer, harder but so long as you remain clear and focused on your direction and choose your steps carefully, you will get to the finish line-one way or another.
Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel
