Why Me? Why Not Me?

🤔 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐌𝐞? 🤷‍♂️ 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐌𝐞?

In your career, you’ll regularly hit moments where your confidence doesn’t match everyone else’s.

🤔 “Why Me?”

 Someone suggests nominating you for an award - and you think, “No way I’m worthy of that!”

🤷‍♂️ “Why Not Me?”

You’re convinced you’re ready for a promotion - so you’re shocked when those involved say you’re not quite there.

In today's #HackingAcademia video, I dive into these two situations, particularly focusing on a few key points:

🛠️ That you won’t always be able to “solve” the situation: nevertheless, how you act is important.

🌐 That you don’t always have the big picture: the person putting you up for something (the Why Me? situation) may know stuff that you don’t; likewise, when knocked back for something you were sure of (the Why Not Me? situation), the individuals involved may know much more of the broader context than you do.

🗣️ The importance of (as calmly as possible in the Why Not Me? situation) explaining that you’re surprised, that you’d been expecting to be suitable because of X, Y, and Z, and asking for feedback as to why they assess the situation differently to you—often this information is best processed later on at leisure, rather than on the spot in the heat of the moment.

🏆 the reassurance that that imposter syndrome / I'm not worthy feeling often exists even after people win the award! It's very normal...

🚫 The need (in the Why Not Me? situation) to avoid outright threats and shouting matches at all costs: these are often near-irretrievable outcomes from which all parties involved will struggle to recover.

🧩 That the “Why Not Me?” situation will sometimes have an overarching reason for the outcome: when going through the individual details it may feel like none of those in isolation is enough reason or you have a response to, but often it’s about the aggregate.

In a professional workplace there will, on occasion, be situations where someone is very clearly being screwed over (talk to an external objective expert for a second opinion if you suspect this is the case): the vast majority of situations though will be less explicit and often more fuzzy.

If you can keep the process as professional as possible, find out as much as possible, explain your viewpoint as clearly and objectively as possible, you'll be in a much better situation to (sometimes) resolve the situation directly, but more generally be better prepared (and better informed, both you and the other parties) for the next time it comes up.

💻 YouTube link: https://youtu.be/4jPXsNYRWms

#careeradvice #confidence #promotion #awards #fellowships #jobs #feedback #criticism #evaluation #judgement #critical #growth #learning #advice #advising #mentoring