HOW I SUCCEEDED IN THE WORKPLACE JUNGLE

There are moments in my 40-year career as an executive coach, trainer, psychotherapist, and educator when I had the urge to crawl under a table, raise the white flag, or do bodily harm to my collaborators or myself.  I learned that a 24 hour a day preoccupation with the latest “workplace disaster” is enough to drive the sanest person bonkers.  Eventually, I realized that the challenge was taking care of myself while dealing with the craziness of my job. This required finding new ways to work effectively with my co-workers, bosses, and subordinates; many in different work cultures.  A brief example of the sort of thing I’m talking about:

Several years ago I had a position that required that I report to a senior regional manager who was putting a lot of pressure on me to undermine my boss, a director because of his jealousy with my boss’s boss for beating him out for a coveted promotion he felt he deserved.  When I refused he tried to sabotage my work by second guessing my decisions, regularly insulting me and humiliating me at a national division meeting.   I felt like doing battle with him but knew I had nothing to gain and that it would only backfire. I recognized that I couldn’t control what he did. I had to deal with him in a way that would work for me. I took deep rib expanding breaths, plastered on a winning poker face, and at times stapled my mouth so hard that I needed pliers to open it

In the meantime, I continued focusing on doing a good job and forging alliances and maintaining my boss’s support. After a while, I saw that my refusal to engage was working. His game became old and his inappropriate behaviors, not only with me, hurt only himself.  My hair may have taken on a sprinkle of gray but it was worth it to keep a good job. I didn’t notice the color of his hair but he didn’t keep his.

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors learned to survive in their workplace; the jungle and desert.  That’s why we’re here and stuck with this problem.  There may be no actual tigers or snakes in the corporate wilderness, but there are many soul- consuming creatures – twice as deadly.  Just like our ancestors, you can learn some simple rules to survive, succeed, thrive and live in peace with the entire animal kingdom..

Mel’s WorkCoach Rules to Succeed in the Workplace Jungle

• • You can’t determine or erase who or what obstacles you will confront
• • Work obstacles give you a simple choice- fight and learn or feel sorry for yourself and become a victim. PERIOD
• • In the workplace, “ it ain’t personal”,  but it doesn’t mean it hurts any less. It’s important to shift your focus from – counterproductive  resentment to – success-oriented  thinking and action
• You can learn to survive and succeed in any workplace – even yours!  But, you’ll have to work at learning the right strategies that are best for you.

For me, now is the time to give back. I’ve loved my career and learned a ton from the clients, organizations, and companies I’ve worked with over the years. I want to help others through the tough times that sometimes make success so elusive. As a coach, trainer, author and now blogger, I know I can help others move beyond the obstacles and find ways to achieve the success they’ve worked long and hard for and so richly deserve.

Please contact me and to see if I can help you or your organization.

Look me up at www.sandlercoaching.com