Are You Striving Or Settling During Covid-19?

HIRING MANAGERS BE LIKE 👆🏾

Is anyone hiring or promoting?

From this side of the Zoom, hearing from scores of women in the past couple of weeks, I make habitual contact with the inhabitants of 2 different planets:

1. Work It World
Here, women are going for their next level jobs even if they're employed at great companies. Of course they're aware there's a pandemic and a LOT more competition for the roles they're seeking but they're also confident that they have much to offer, that if they can convey theirs story compellingly and connect with the right people, eventually the next best step to their upward trajectory will present itself.

2. Bitch Planet
It's an uncertain environment here. There's complaints that jobs are limited, hiring managers won't return calls, more qualified candidates are going for the same roles so maybe it's best to go for the low hanging fruit, something safe, just to get through this. If employed, there's a perceived hiring freeze so maybe best to do your job, be grateful for what you have and not to rock the boat.

Of course, I'm being hyperbolic. We each have our intergalactic passports issued from both wandering stars. What flag we wave can often depend on if we have  a great 1 on 1 with our supervisor or catch the wrong tweet announcing the newest unemployment stat at the wrong time.

This April 2020 Employment report was blowing up my group texts…

The question is: which planet do you mostly call home these days?

When it comes to your professional prospects during COVID-19, are you settling or striving?
The answer is crucial to both predicting and understanding your actions during this time.

Beliefs drive behavior. So whatever you think is possible for you during this time is going to play out in how you approach your career through this transition. And because we like to think we're right all the time, we tend to drive toward outcomes that validate our beliefs.

Notice how if you believe you & your mom always end up in a fight you somehow find yourself in exactly that position, even on Mother's Day??

So, if the Work It Worlder believes:

• "Yes, there's a crisis but business, like a money hungry shark, moves ever forward"

• "That means companies will be hiring."

• "Though there will be more competition, I can't let that stop me from trying."

So their actions might be:

• Working on their resumes & LinkedIn

• Networking for the near and longer term

• Finding projects (within their company or on their own) that give them the experience they need to strive for the bigger job and build the brand they want to be known for

• Accessing resources to support their career trajectory

Meanwhile, on Bitch Planet...

Listen. I mean no glibness.

This has naturally been an utter shock to every last one of us and shaken the very foundation of every aspect of our reality. But the more it becomes apparent that a return to the "normal" we'd gotten used to is years away (if it ever returns), the more pressing it becomes for your leadership future (and the good of planet Earth because, seriously, who's going to make this place better? Dudes??)

So let's collectively check ourselves. Fear and despair are very real, but when it comes to moving up--

the longer you hang out on Bitch Planet,

the harder it becomes to leave.

Your Next Moves
If you find yourself taking up permanent residency on Bitch Planet, try this:

Bitch away
I'm a big believer in keeping it real. If you're in a rut, say so. Write it out, ask yourself to name all the negative beliefs floating around your mind. Ask yourself why they're there. Why you believe what you believe. Vent your little heart out on the page.

Choose what's next
You can believe any story you want to believe so choose ones that serve you. Now that you've drained the swamp, name 3 new beliefs you *want* to have about upleveling your job, then look for evidence of THAT. If you want to get promoted in the next 6 months, remember how you've done it before or that you have a good advocate in your manager or all the other things you have going for you.

Ask yourself each day: On a scale of 1-10, I am all in on my desire to _________ [be that next level leader].

If you're anything less than a 10, interrogate the crap out of why and move through it. Repeat to yourself all the reasons why your efforts will work until you're at a 10, then start executing from a place of confidence 😁