When there are rumours of redundancies and jobs being at risk, don’t flake. Hold fast to your value.
Right now rumours like these send you into a spin.
You assume your promotion is in jeopardy.
It feels like everything is slipping through your fingers
There’s no way they’ll promote me now, you say
It’s normal to fear the worst when job cuts are threatened.
It makes total sense to feel vulnerable and exposed when you’re the only one
But assuming you’re on your way out and your promotion prospects are dead in the water, doesn’t protect you, it exposes you.
The biggest threat to your promotion isn’t the news there are jobs at risk
It’s you reacting to this news.
I’ll say that again.
The biggest threat to your promotion isn’t that there are jobs at risk.
It’s how you react to hearing there are jobs at risk –
You shrink
You turn inward and start to withdraw
You get stuck in your own head in meetings and stop speaking up
You second guess your decisions
You start spending extra time perfecting your work, way past the deadline (telling yourself it’s worth it, you have to hold yourself to a higher standard)
But perfectionism, second guessing and making yourself small don’t save your career.
They jeopardise it.
They make you less productive
Less effective
It becomes harder for others to see you and very difficult for them to value you
So everything you’re doing to avoid the risk, makes you more vulnerable to the risk.
Here’s the fix:
When you’re going for promotion and you hear rumours of jobs at risk, don’t flake. Hold fast to your value.
You must hold fast to your value!
In other words, remember who you are and get to work.
Not only does this calm you and ground you, it motivates you.
So instead of shrinking and over thinking, you take up space and contribute
You prioritise deadlines
You double down on billing
You seek more and better ways to build your business case for promotion
This calm, grounded, motivated version of you operates on a completely different level. Not because you’re trying to. Because when you stop overworking and overthinking, this is who you are
So valuable they can’t ignore you.
Too valuable for them to lose you
So valuable they have to promote you.
The next time you hear rumours of job losses, don’t flake. Hold fast to your value.
Enrolment for the new Be The First Membership is coming. If you’re a black lawyer and your instinct is to assume the worst and question your value, join us. Watch this space for details.
