#19 Pinpoint Professional Uncertainty

Feeling uncertain at work is a big source of anxiety and stress. In order to take steps towards making the situation better, it's important to first determine what the core cause of uncertainty really is. In this episode, I share how I tackle pinpointing what the causes of uncertainty are so that it is possible to start taking steps forward. 

If you like the episode and want to hear more episodes like this one, please make sure to rate and subscribe to the podcast. And if you would like to be informed as episodes become available, make sure to sign up at www.anitabelitz.com/contact. 

Transcript

NEED TO RECHECK!!!

Hi! This is Anita Belitz from the Wise Women’s Workplace Podcast. In today’s episode I want to speak to you about how to handle uncertainty at work!  

Backstory (Desires internal and external)

Through most of my career I have experienced uncertainty. All of us probably have – regardless of where you work, you may have experienced uncertainty due to external factors coming from things like market upheavals – like a financial crisis or a worldwide health crisis - or maybe your company was in the news for all the wrong reasons! Or maybe it’s closer to home – like if you are involved with a start-up and sources of revenue have been cyclical. Maybe it’s very personal to you – like you’re questioning yourself on how long you can put up with a tyrannical boss, difficult colleagues, if this is the right job for you, or wanting to spend more time with your kids or doing something else. Regardless of the source of the problem, uncertainty can be very hard to deal with as it seems to follow us around all the time – making you worried or anxious, making the office environment very heavy or unpleasant, and maybe making you want to avoid going to work at all.

Like I said, I have had to deal with uncertainty at various points in my career.  And in my own experience, it was actually a lot easier for me to deal with big concerns like going through a merger or focusing on refinancing than it was to deal with more personal issues like a difficult boss, insincere colleagues, or wondering when I would need to deliver bad news to my team. While the bigger issues could impact the future of the whole organization and my career, the more personal issues actually weighed more heavily on me.

Uncertainty can show up in many ways. For some people it is dread of going to work. For others, it may show up as a knotted stomach when they know they are going to have to speak to their boss or a mean colleague. Or for you, maybe it’s a numbing of the mind – feeling completely disconnected from what you are doing and you are just going through the motions to get yourself through their workday.  However it is showing up, uncertainty is definitely a signal to you that there is something that can be adjusted to help you feel better at work.

And if you want to feel better at work, it’s important to get to the heart of what’s causing the uncertainty. Sometimes the drivers are mixed together and it’s hard to identify the core driver initially. But it’s like when you go to the doctor – first you have to evaluate the symptoms, determine the cause, and then you have to treat the source of the problem.  Doing things out of order or skipping steps can lead to a false sense of improving the situation but will eventually bring you back to the initial problems coming out again.

So, in this episode, I will share with you how you can get to the heart of the uncertainty. It’s a method that I call “inside, outside, and all around” that I use in my coaching. I find this a useful way to start evaluating where the uncertainty is coming from so that you can figure out what is causing you to feel uncertain and to take actions to remedy the problem.    

So, let’s get started:

1) (How you feel as an individual in your work place)First let’s think about inside: Inside is what I consider has to do with mind-set and emotions. It is really mostly what is happening in a given moment inside of our heads.  Inside is often triggered by outside and all-around, that we’ll get to in a minute. But you can really recognize inside as it is something that happens inside of you. You may have heard the expression “you can’t control what happens, but you can decide how to react to what happens.” I love this saying as it has such an important lesson. We often focus our attention on what happens and aren’t very intentional about how we decide to react. If we aren’t careful, our emotions can get the better of us and we can get into a mindset that doesn’t serve us well. 

2) (Work context – boss, office setting, colleagues, commuting etc) Then we can think about outside: Outside is how I describe what is happening immediately around us. It is our everyday physical environment and the everday interactions that we have with

3) (Am I contributing to the life that I want to have) Finally we can consider all-around: All-around is the bigger picture. It’s the big life questions and concerns. Right now as we face the uncertainty of a worldwide health pandemic and it’s impact as things are unfolding, there is so much certainty. We get conflicting information and instructions from our leaders about what to do. We see the impace of   

So when you are considering where the source of your uncertainty truly lies, you can start with evaluating these three areas and checking in with yourself on what feels like the biggest issue. If alarm bells are going off when you are thinking about going back into the office, try to get very specific about what is happening for you. Are you seeing images of your boss in a bad mood, feeling anxious about taking public transportation with others, looking forward to getting back to a normal routine but feeling like you don’t even know what that is anymore?  Start with what is giving you the biggest warning signals but be open to shifting your attention if you feel that there are consistently other issues coming to your attention. The sooner you can pinpoint what is causing the problem, the sooner you can start dealing with the uncertainty and can start to feel better.

In a future episode I will offer some ways to deal with the uncertainty. It’s important to recognize we can’t control everything that is happening around us but we can certainly decide how to react and that will influence the outcome. And while it often feels like our emotions are in control of us, we can actually be deliberate about taking control of how much we let those emotions influence our behavior and stop us from taking constructive steps to feeling better.

If you would like to be informed as new episodes become available don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast. And if you want to be kept in the loop with other information that can help you, make sure to sign up at www.anitabelitz.com/contact and I will update you about opportunities which will help you in your career which I only make available to my wise women!

As always, if you really want a career and life which makes you happy, please be very mindful of what you are doing and take deliberate action every day. Make sure you are always looking after yourself, including in your career. And don’t just survive, take steps to thrive!

I look forward to speaking to you again soon. Until next time, may you be healthy, wealthy, and wise!

My first big uncertainty came when I had been in my job for some time already and had to do with circumstances beyond my control. We were on the verge of a merger and this led me to question what would happen with my career’s future in the organization. I knew there was at least another key player in the other organization involved and I just couldn’t see how it was all going to work out. I felt like there could be too many cooks in the kitchen, if you see what I mean. I stressed over this a lot but mostly kept it to myself. I trusted my boss completely and felt he would make sure I was well positioned going forward, but the director of the organization that we were merging with was older and more specialized than me. I felt I really couldn’t compete when it came to experience. And so, I eventually decided the best was to go to the source: I approached my boss and asked him what message I should share with staff about changes going forward and asked how to reassure them. He was surprised by the question – I saw he had assumed we all trusted it would be ok. This gave me the opportunity to tell him that even I was wondering what the plans were and he explained to me what he had in mind. And he stuck to his word because that was the kind of boss that he was. And even if your boss isn’t that kind of a person, their answer should give you some insight and it will signal to your boss that this is a growing concern with staff – both of which are important things and much better than staying in the dark.

Share your concern with a trusted superior.

My second big uncertainty came from working with a particularly unpleasant colleague who was consistently trying to undermine our department.

Adjust your mindset to see the bigger picture.

My third big uncertainty came from me realizing that my job and I were no longer the right fit. fdgfd

Do some work to find out what your next move should be. We change over time and this requires visiting this question from time to time.

So, to recap:

1) If the problem is external to your organization or your department and you are feeling uncertain, speak to a trusted and informed colleague or superior. They will often be able to reassure you if you need to be worried or not yet.

2) If the problem is with a colleague, try to take a step back and see the bigger picture. Most of the time it isn’t personal. You can go back to episode ::: to hear more on that.

3) If the problem is your’s – as in you are unhappy and you can’t figure out why, it’s time to do some soul searching and think about what is your best next step. This is one problem which certainly won’t work itself out on its own and the sooner you take steps to make the situation better, the better off you will be. 

Working from home can really bring value-added to your work situation, but know that it does require some adjusting. And if you want your employer to feel as good about it as you do, make sure to plan out how you are going to go about making adaptations to how you carry out your work and your interactions with others. Finally, know that your personal life and professional life will be rubbing shoulders, and this will require clear boundary-setting like never before! But in the end, it is all manageable

If you would like to be informed as new episodes become available don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast. And if you want to be kept in the loop with other information that can help you, make sure to sign up at www.anitabelitz.com/contact and I will update you about opportunities which will help you in your career which I only make available to my wise women!

As always, if you really want a career and life which makes you happy, please be very mindful of what you are doing and take deliberate actions. Make sure you are always looking after yourself, including in your career. And don’t just survive, take steps to thrive!

I look forward to speaking to you again soon. Until next time, may you be healthy, wealthy, and wise!