This woman shares her perspective on negative co-workers, baggage and perfection. Her philosophy of not letting your energy get bogged down has given her the drive to navigate the corporate world and get to a place where she calls the shots — leading, managing and creating solutions.
On being on the receiving end of “office politics”…
“As you get older you can recognize an emotional reaction from a normal reaction, debate or critique. If you can separate out ego, you can let it go and react differently. It’s not personal. It has to do with how that person feels about himself or herself…not about you. Your energy is better spent elsewhere. It’s not worth the fight. For me, the whole point of working is to do what you love. If your energy is bogged down with infighting, how can you do what’s good for the customer or yourself?
On baggage….
“You can accrue baggage very quickly. It takes much much longer to rid yourself of it than it does to acquire it. It’s like the old saying that if you say one bad thing to someone you love, you have to say three good things to make up for it.”
On perfection…
“Your perfectionism may go unnoticed. There is no perfect. It’s in the eye of the beholder. For example, if you know your boss is always going to feel the need to rework a deck no matter how much effort you put into it, don’t take it personally. Don’t take it to mean they don’t respect you. And don’t challenge yourself to get it so perfect they won’t re-write it because you will only get hurt. There is no perfect deck. Try not to over-think it and let it use up your energy.”
“You can accrue baggage very quickly. It takes much much longer to rid yourself of it than it does to acquire it. It’s like the old saying that if you say one bad thing to someone you love, you have to say 3 good things to make up for it.”
-40-something, strategic consultant, director at global agency
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