I recently had the pleasure of presenting at a Leadership Luncheon being put on by a local young professionals networking group. My presentation covered my career story, which centers around being your authentic self and how to navigate challenging situations in the workplace.
Throughout my entire career, I have dealt with harassment and belittlement and from these experiences I’ve learned that you can lean in to who you really are if you work hard, keep your head focused on the goal and speak up for yourself. The latter can be scary; we are conditioned to follow orders and avoid “rocking the boat” in the workplace, but the reality is, sometimes that’s just what it needs.
If you work hard, contribute your best and always show up, you should not have to deal with harassment or bullying in your place of business. Below are some quick tips for how to own your authentic self and live your best career-life:
- Have confidence in what you do – It’s OK to own what makes you special.
- Know your skills – Figure out what you love to do and become really good at it.
- Work your ass off – If you want to be able to influence you need to show people you are a hard worker. You cannot expect reward for mediocrity.
- Speak up – See something unethical happening? Say something. Yes, this is terrifying, but it is the only way we will see change in the workplace.
- Set boundaries – After you’ve shown what you can do, set reasonable boundaries. Work does not own you, but you do have to contribute at a high level to earn respect. Figure out your balance and work with those around you to ensure everyone’s work/life boundaries are being respected.
- Leave a bad thing behind – Doesn’t feel right? Then it’s not for you. If you know if your gut is not the right job or company for you, it will most likely just get worse the longer you stay. It’s scary to make the leap, but when you open yourself up to positive change, the world is your oyster.
When in doubt, follow what your gut tells you. Remember to work hard, find joy in what you do and be your authentic self; whatever that may look like.
This is a contributed blog post by Meghan Rothschild. Meghan is the President of Chik Media with over 18 years experience in Marketing and Public Relations. She has been a public speaker for over 17 years, specializing in topics such as social media, marketing strategy, public relations, melanoma survivorship, and living with endometriosis. She was featured in one of 2011’s most shared YouTube videos called Dear 16 Year Old Me, and a national campaign for the American Academy of Dermatology. Her work in skin cancer awareness landed her an award from Cosmopolitan Magazine alongside Kristen Bell and David Wright.
Interested in submitting a contributed piece? Fill out our contact form.