We’ve all been there, at some point or another, in our careers…That point when you’re not too sure where your career’s going…When you doubt yourself and your professional abilities. to the point of considering dropping everything and backpacking through the Himalayas (except you haven’t owned a backpack since 8th grade and the kids are sure as hell not coming for the ride walk)…That point when you just need to raise your head up, lift those shoulders, and reclaim your power at work…

When I was in between jobs, changing industries and not exactly trusting in myself, I remember telling myself over and over: “You got this, you can do this, you need to get your power back!” And thats also what I talk about in the “TCS Guide to Taking Back Control of Your Career“, my e-book on reclaiming your power at work

Whether it’s after a layoff, or struggling through a particularly challenging project at work, or facing annoying issues at work, feeling powerless at work isn’t exactly the best. The danger is that for some of us, it starts with a temporary feeling and ends seeping into every facet of our career. Before you know it, you’re dragging yourself to and fro work, going through the motions day in and day out, and doing the absolute exact job for decades. Dreary enough?

Here are 7 ways to get out of that temporary funk and reclaim your power at work:

Work on your mindset first

It’s a mindset thing first and foremost! The first place we lose our confidence, and hence our power, is in our minds. For women at work, evidence has been strongly suggesting women are way less self-assured then men. While there’s no doubt women’s competence seeing how companies employing women outperform those who don’t, the confidence gap is undeniable.

Work on your mindset first, to eliminate any tendency to see yourself as unworthy of success. The less mental barriers, the more power you’ll regain over your career. In my new e-book, the “TCS Guide to Taking Back Control of Your Career”, I borrow one of Southwest Airlines’c ore values and call this mindset power the “warrior spirit”!

Prep Time!

“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”: the saying still holds very much truth to it. In a highly evolving, complex and volatile work environment, its becoming increasingly necessary to be prepared. Taking even a small amount of time to prepare sets you apart from your competition and makes you stand out. Think of it as bootcamp to prepare you for outstanding results in your career!

Manage Your Rocks!

Stephen Covey used a great analogy to make us think about managing our time more effectively. By illustrating that we should prioritize our tasks (put the big rocks in the jar first), he demonstrated as early as the ’80s how important it is manage our time. And even most importantly, how important it is to set our own priorities, based on what’s truly important to us…

Work Smarter

Working all the time and not making time for fun, rest, or relaxation, can rob us of our power at work (and in life). Is it any surprise that so many of us caught in the rat race end up feeling disempowered and disengaged in our careers?

In my e-book, I talk about how through my own career, I’ve come to believe less in work-life balance (or any balance at all really), and more in the concept of ironing out our priorities and making peace with the fact that while we CAN have it all, we just can’t have it all at the same time(thanks Oprah)!

Position Yourself!

Taking your career back is also about positioning yourself at work. It’s about being visible, and making the right moves in your career. In the TCS Guide to Reclaiming Your Power at Work, I discuss how it takes a village to build your career!

Dare to be visible, and to surround yourself with the right influences, mentors and guides in your career!

Refill your confidence mug

One of the biggest assumptions among women at work is that there’s “not enough room for all of us.” There are so few women in top career positions that every time any of us gets close to accomplishing a milestone, it seems others are robbed of the same opportunity.

Learn to refill your confidence mug constantly, and to see more opportunities where there seems to be scarcity!

Don’t ditch your emotions, but use them wisely instead.

“Emotional” is a word that’s gotten a bad rap with professional women for the longest time. You can’t show emotion at work! If you’re a woman at work, your emotions may overtake you and reflect badly on your performance. It’s not until the concept of “Emotional Intelligence” or EQ became popular that the corporate world started paying more attention to emotions at work, especially as it relates to gender differences…

Yet our emotions are also our guides, as I explain in my e-book. They’re the barometers that help us assess whether we’re going in the right direction or not. Don’t ditch your emotions, but instead use them wisely as an asset at work.

 

How do you reclaim your power at work? Share your insights with us…

PS: For more on taking back control of your career, get a copy of my e-book now available on Amazon!

 

To Your Success,

The Corporate Sis.