How do you cope with Transitions at work?

Women go through many transitions during their working lives. The first job, new jobs, promotions, return after maternity or sick leave, menopause, retirement…as well as organizational changes, and all the changes brought about by Covid including working from home, new hybrid work arrangements, etc. 

All of these times are transitions to be negotiated. Every one of them involves change and challenge. They can be exciting or troubling, but either way, they nearly always involve stress. 

We are required to step up, to cope with increasing responsibility, to juggle more plates in the air; and still expected to stay calm and look good and perform ever more effectively. It can be exhausting! 

“What if I’m not good enough? What if they see right through me and think I’m not right/ready for the job? I won’t know what to say. They won’t listen to me. I’m going to mess up. I don’t have the confidence for this…”  With thoughts like this running through your head, the feelings of nerves, anxiety, fear and dread are common companions. 

It doesn’t have to be so hard. Research (such as from Kelly McGonigal, PhD) indicates that our expectations of an event or situation shape our actual experience of the event. That means that if we believe something is going to be stressful, then we tend to experience it as stressful. If we believe it’s going to be a challenge but we expect we’ll be able to cope; then we tend to experience the same event or situation more positively. 

Change is hard, but it also provides us with the opportunity to grow personally and professionally, and advance our careers. If you want to be able to successfully negotiate transitions with the least amount of stress possible, to achieve your goals both at work and at home, you’ll need support with this process. You’ll need a coach. 

If you’ve never worked with a coach before, you might wonder what we actually do. I like to bring my psychological perspective and experience (23+ years) to my coaching. I work with you on your inner game so that you can be at your best for your outer game. I work with women in leadership (leading your own business or leading within an organization) to empower growth, well-being and meaningful success.  

Some of the areas I may work on with you include facilitating you to:

  • Identify what you want to achieve and where you need to make changes
  • Set your goals and take action steps
  • Get really clear and focused 
  • Recognize your Values and come into alignment
  • Identify your strengths and build confidence
  • Stay accountable so that you continue to make progress
  • Work through the difficulties
  • Become aware of some of your blind-spots
  • Uncover limitations in your thinking that may be holding you back
  • Deal with any stress and difficult emotions you may experience
  • Give you time and space for reflection
  • Advocate for your wellbeing and balance
  • Manage difficult relationships and conflict
  • Help you to gain perspective
  • Generate options, brainstorm, find solutions
  • Improve your communication skills
  • Build stress tolerance and resilience
  • Assess and develop your Emotional Intelligence as a leader

…and generally provide a safe space where you can bring all parts of you, even the parts you generally hide from view; so that you can learn to accept and love who you are, grow in confidence and strength, make decisions that are in alignment with your best self, and go out and lead from an authentic place of inner power. 

Times of change can be the making of us, but without the right support we can instead end up at breaking point. If you’d like to make the most of your potential as a leader; if you’re committed to your own growth and development and want to do your best for your team(s), contact me today to discuss your goals and see if it makes sense to work together.