Calming The Corporate Chaos
Corporate dreams are marketed tactfully well for all, to take a calculated plunge, at least once. But what can’t be calculated is their smooth existence through it all.
In spite of the rigorous pre-training and the real case study hooplas taught in the management schools, the most well-oriented minds also tend to cease at a point of deafening deadlines, cruel work assessments, marginalised appraisals or sophisticated golden handshakes. That was after all, never the promise of a seemingly well packaged and safe career, earlier on.
This unpredictability has become an intrinsic part of the corporate culture and has a dynamism comparable to a livestock market, at times. Hence likewise, chaos remains the best state of order when it comes to leading a steady corporate life and its adaptability or the optimum preparation for its unannounced challenges is a must.
Since we are groomed to be mentally equalising job with stability, any kind of shake-up causes stress, anxiety, insecurity and nervousness hazards. The point is how much can one absorb this unexpected disorientation and for how long? And is there anything one can do to co-create assimilative aplomb or restore the slipping order in one’s personal capacity?
There have been times during my therapy sessions when the clients have confessed lack of trust, daily energy depletion and conscious absence of sensitivity to handle the ever-growing delusional drama at work.
This cult life has a lot to offer to all those who are willing to let this anxiety pass by and take a perspective of any given situation from a distance. If you don’t, then what may happen could be a couple of these sticky situations, along with a few thoughtful solutions, worth pondering over:
1) Growth getting hindered in spite of constant efforts: Take a step back to analyse your contribution to the result-oriented chain of work. If the employer is using your services for a job where you are just up to the required expectations, there is a strong chance of you lagging behind. Resurrect from the present, your work style needs an instant revision.
2) Stronger peer group: Accelerate your competitive advantage if you are always insecure about being left behind at group/ team tasks. Towards the end, it will be as rewarding as any other work done in an individual capacity, provided you get noticed as a bright spark. In other words, acquire additional skills.
3) Keep your human side alive: Losing touch with what’s most basic can be expected in such compelling situations. But giving a breather to yourself and considering others plea at work can also keep you grounded and your anxiety under check.
4) There is nothing personal about it: Restrict your imagination while experiencing the innate drama at work. A few things are always created to get one’s way through, it is not for real. Getting trapped in this juxtaposed situation may hinder your representation and expose your weaker side to the others. ‘Keep at bay’ is the best mantra.
5) The existential zen work space: Not getting into unnecessary gossip can save you a lot of ordeals. Let your focus stay at one place, the maximum amount of time. Strategies are born out of a quiet & sane mind, unrest can create blunders. Plan your work hours well to finish in time and leave.
6) Teams are designated by the employer: Group(ism) has de-moulded a lot of careers. It cannot be misunderstood as teamwork. Staying focused in your favoured group conversations and getting influenced by their mixed and confusing ideologies gives way to random perceptions and several other associated instabilities. Lean in towards elevating your individual personality and making sure it gets noticed at appropriate platforms.
Your sharpness at work is best governed by your individual mapping of the situation. As our personal lives, there are always enough signs before you fall into a sticky one. Corporate life is not simple, one would understand that, but to demystify its everyday notches is a different skill work. Experience is definitely the key but being overconfident diffuses it adversely.
When I am working with the clients to help them restore their lost energy and step out of a situation, the thought is always to work towards the golden mean. While their objectives remain attainable keeping hindrances at bay, their focus and drive must also start blending in constructively.
There can’t be rules for something which is ever changing, but the comforting constant is that there are only humans at the helm. If we understand them and their objectives well, we can easily walk through the corporate world with a big, winning roar. Of course, the big fat pay packages will make all this effort worthwhile.
