Often times, when direction is lost- one can find themselves in disbelief on how the situation could get this bad in the first place.
In life, we are led to believe that everything should work out the way it should. But, what happens when obstacles that are out of our control, launch themselves into the situation? What do we do to navigate the risks, the complexity, and truthfully- the uncomfortable atmosphere it creates for ourselves?
Personally, I have been in life situations that I have walked into; or difficult situations decided to grace me with their presence unknowingly. Often times, as the plot thickens, we just keep getting deeper and deeper into things- and we can no longer see the light of day.
Direction can be lost in both personal and professional life. It is not uncommon to have parts of your life in both of these categories- a little askew due to outside sources trying to take you down in metaphorically different ways.
Personal Life
Before I dive deep into making you start self-reflecting on your own life- I will share a little bit of my past life that threw me off a bit; and how I pushed through.
I was a freshman in college. Only one month in. I got a call that messed with my Thursday morning. One of my brother’s was on the line telling me tragic news that our biological father had passed away. I remember the week following that call. I remember the weeks following that week, once I returned to campus. Even though I had teammates and friends there for me, I felt alone. I wanted to stay hidden under my blankets in my dark room because there- I did not have to do a damn thing. Hiding does not prove anything though. I had to resurface and that is when I hyper-focused on getting through the semester. That semester, I had both Astrology and Statistics on my course load. So, my go-getter self knew I had to not feel for a bit to get by. I lost my direction for a bit. But, where direction can be lost, there are always people or things to help you redirect yourself.
Your turn! Gosh, just sounded like one of those kid shows that you want to kill the TV while the show is playing. Anyway, below are some questions to pose to yourself.
- What in your life is pulling you off course? Making you feel uncomfortable, and even a bit unsure?
- What are small changes that you can make today to help pull you back on course?
- What are ways in the past that you have handled less than ideal situations in your personal life? Even if you were a train wreck-reflect on it and know to be proud of yourself for getting through it.
Work Life
The day that you turn from the innocent newbie, to having to deal with drama that is not yours to deal with- is the day you lose your direction in your current job. Sometimes, it is completely out of your control.
The fact that many fail to come to terms with- is how situations are handled. Are they half-a**ed and pushed under the rug? Or, are they truly sat down- told that this is not how they are going to behave, and reprimanded?
I have much interest in how organizations handle sensitive matters. How they win and how they fail at what goal they are trying to achieve, is a tone on how they are going to deal with future matters.
A leader without a solid grasp on understanding their employees, and honestly just understanding the bigger picture of the organization they are running, will rot itself from the inside out. They either limp along, or become ticking time bombs. There can only be so many revitalizations before the bad seeds, run the good ones away.
Having a diverse background that is mainly business-centered, has personally allowed me to see different aspects of organizations. All experiences have taught me a lot about myself as a business woman and what is acceptable and what is not.
From how to manage people, how to treat customers, knowing that I am an honest salesperson who prefers not to prey on people, even knowing how important it is to see each department for who they are- are all examples that I have learned.
One of my greatest business tips that I have learned is knowing how to communicate with different types of people within an organization. I absolutely love project management and learning the lingo to communicate with different teams. Below are the successful and unsuccessful ways to accomplish this tip.
Successful: Two coworkers from differing teams are discussing who dropped the ball with a customer. One coworker says, “The customer called me to talk about their concerns about not hearing back from your team. I do know that my team had a handoff to your team, was there any lingering questions on which direction to go with the customer? How can we help to get this resolved?”
Unsuccessful: Two coworkers from differing teams are discussing who dropped the ball with a customer. The other coworker replies, “It is not our fault. Your team clearly had no idea what was going on with this project, and passed it to my team to clean up your mess. You all are idiots with no idea on how to accomplish your job.”
It is that obvious on who replied poorly?
Although I have never managed people personally, long-term. I do know how to treat someone with dignity and respect. Keep your boundaries as a professional, but as a manager- your job is to make their life- easier. As a manager, your skills should be more experienced as the ones you lead, but get this, you don’t automatically earn their respect. Respect your employees by knowing their skillset. Ask them for their opinion- and mean it. Active listen to them. Ask them what you can do to make their lives easier. You earn the title, “Manager,” by first showing your employee’s respect. Of course, it is not as easy as it may sound, but above all, if you are managing people- be a person that people would actually want to follow- not kick out the door.
Treating customers with respect is essential to any business. It is business 101 that I think sometimes, it is easy to forget. Do not let yourself get walked on, but set the understanding that you are their person to go to when the customer needs to be put back into the right direction.
As mentioned above: I enjoy cross-communicating with different departments. I am sure we have all had the experiences where we either feel vilified or empowered by other departments. The best advice I can give on this topic from own experiences: do not act like a know-it-all. They do not fully understand your job, and you do not fully understand their job. Active listen and compromise. If you can do neither, learn quickly, because that is one of the main issues I have seen when direction is lost. People will not communicate well, or they will communicate- but only want their way to be right.
Losing direction is not hard. What is hard, is pulling yourself back on your intended plan. Although I have covered quite a bit in this blog, remember one thing if that is all you chose to take from this blog.
That one thing: you are in control of your direction. Sometimes life may have a detour, but never let another control the way you want to move forward. Never accept less than you deserve. Stay ready and willing to accept the challenges ahead- and navigate your life in the direction you please.
Danae Decker 