Category Archives: Coaching

Respect and credibility are 2 critical hidden badges that each of us carry in our workplace.  Both are earned through actions and accomplishments along with how we conduct ourselves.  What happens when you work for a manager who is well-regarded and has high credibility?  For those of us who have had such experience will know that it is a positive experience.  Conversely, working for or with a manager who has credibility issues is hard.  It is hard because it is fighting an invisible barrier and it makes working with people and teams more challenging.

What can you do if you are in that situation?  Here are some tips for you:

1. Focus on your credibility. Focus on building your credibility.  Deliver on your commitments and be a professional.  You are responsible for building your own credibility.  Credibility is built over time through hard work, commitment and accomplishments.  Therefore, you are in control of what you are to achieve.
2. Keep your words and actions professional. Be a professional.  Don’t succumb to gossiping or bad mouthing your manager or peers.  Be self-aware and ensure that you focus on your role, responsibilities and results.
3. Seek out mentors to help you grow. Seeking out mentors will ensure that you have an objective outside to give you perspective and help your developmental needs.  Your focus should be how can you continually grow and learn to be better at your role and enhance your skills.  All these actions will help you to build your credibility.
4. Stay optimistic and positive. One of the typical symptom that will appear in the group is low team morale.  Be the difference.  Be the light that shines optimism and keep working on what you are responsible for.
5. Help your manager. You would expect your manager to help you but in this situation, helping your manager to be successful might be needed.  When the team is successful, it builds credibility for all.  It is a symbiotic relationship, everyone needs everyone to play their part for the whole to be successful.

Observing from a distance President Trump makes me feel sorry for the people that are working for him.  How hard it must be to do their job when they serve a leader who has very little credibility.  However, we don’t have to look too far to see in our workplaces, that we have managers who also suffer from credibility issues.  Instead of being helpless or raise our hands in defeat, let’s look for ways that we can still be successful.

What makes personal credibility important?

• Power of Influence: Influence is a powerful skill to possess.  A person of influence can achieve a great deal.  Negotiations proceed smoother.  Convincing another person to participate or taken up task requires less time and effort.
• Trustworthiness: When a person has credibility, that person is perceived as trustworthy.  For most, a great character to have or perceive to have is integrity.  When there is trust, there is mutual respect and working together is easy.  When that breaks down, it is hard as there is too much uncertainty and second guessing.  Focusing on what you need to do and watching your back make for work extremely challenging.
• Authority: Direct or indirect authority makes working with people easier.  When you have authority whether it is in a subject matter or as part of the hierarchy, you are able to in some situation control the situation.

When you are in that situation, you will need to decide what is the path that you are going to take.  Are you going to make the situation better or make it worse?

Ask yourself:

• What is my attitude towards my manager?
• What is my attitude towards the work that I do?
• What am I saying or doing that could contribute to making the situation better or worse?
• How can I stay focus on the job?
• What can I do towards developing my credibility? Am I delivering the outcomes or results that I have committed to?
• How am I taking accountability for my actions or am I blaming others?
• What are my choices?
• What do I want to achieve or learn from this?

Working in any organisation, there will be a mix bag of managers and colleagues.  Most of the time we can’t choose who the people we work for and with will be.  The ability to manage and work with people will be key to your success.  You will need to decide what part you will play on top of your official role.  Will you be the catalyst of positive change or not?

Admittedly, there are times, no amount of positivity will help a situation, it is then, the need to find another opportunity.  But before then, focus on the learnings and skills building that this journey will take you through.

Have you ever noticed how some people are simply happy and calm through any situation while some are not?  Which camp do you fall into?  Are you the happy camper or the “I-am-happy-when-i-am-miserable” category?

I like to think that all of us want to be happy and content.  Truth be told we can’t be happy all the time but at least most of the time. Have you wondered why some people are just happy?  In fact, they rather annoy you with their happiness.  What makes a person happy?  What does happiness consist off?  What will contribute to happiness?  What does not contribute to happiness?

When it comes down to it, happiness is a personal choice.  It is made up of sub-conscious decisions that we make.  Some might call it personality or attitude.  Small decisions or practices over time makes a habit.  Habit over time becomes an automatic action.  How we choose to respond to a situation will determine the outcome of either finding a silver lining or just more misery.

Let’s explore the top 5 areas that robs you of your happiness.

1. Being upset about the small stuff: Every little thing that does not go your way gets you all upset.  When things or people don’t go your way, it upsets you.  It takes you days or even weeks to get over it.  Imagine the amount of time that you have wasted being upset instead of being happy.  Every time you are upset simply means that you are stealing your “happy time”.  We all know the importance of time, hence why would you waste time to be upset?  Don’t sweat the small stuff.  It is true.  Don’t waste your time and energy.  Decide to move forward and choose to find the silver lining and be thankful.  Be thankful and grateful is the first step in being happy.  Some days, I have just thankful to be physically fit and healthy.  When there is nothing else to be grateful for, there is still your life to be thankful for.  What is the alternative?
2. Caring what other people think of you: The most dangerous happiness stealer is the expectations of others. It is important that we care about and for people.  It is however not important what other people think of you.  Why is that?  In the end, the only person that must meet up to your expectation is you.  You cannot truly know what someone else is thinking much less what they are thinking about you.  Humans are in general self-absorb which generally means that we think more about ourselves than others.  Therefore, when someone is thinking or talking about you, it usually means that they are avoiding making the improvements on themselves.  When one finger points at another, remember there are three other fingers pointing back at you.
3. Fear of stepping out: Fear stops you from doing what you should do.  Fear stops you from feeling happy.  There are some people who are afraid of being happy as they fear that something bad will happen.  They feel that they are not entitled to happiness.  That is clearly not true.  Each of us has the power to choose to be happy.  Don’t let fear rob you from your happiness.
4. Control: The need to control people and situations are around you will just drive you mental.  If you can’t even control yourself, what hope is there to control others.  Let go of the need to control and you will find that just letting people be who they are, accepting people for their beauty and flaws will go so much better.
5. Perfection: Perfection does not exist.  Waiting for perfect before you can be happy is a sure way to be unhappy.  Perfection robs you of all forms of happiness.  How can someone be happy living in this imperfect world?  Well, it’s simple, just accept that perfect does not exist.  Take everything and everyone that comes by your way as a blessing and a journey of discovery and growth.

Happiness exist in how you respond with thankfulness and gratitude.  At the heart of happiness is gratitude.  When we are thankful, you will appreciate every thing small or big as a gift.  We take so many things for granted.  For example, clean water, how precious is that?  Are we thankful that we have clean water to drink?  There are millions of people who do not have clean water.  What about the air we breathe?  Just being able to breathe is to be grateful for.  Don’t always focus on the “big” things and believe that those will bring about happiness.  It is the small stuff that without it, the big stuff won’t exist.  I have a gratitude journal and some days I don’t have anything to write until I realise that just being healthy is a point to be thankful for.

The 3 simple keys to happiness:

• Be Grateful and Not take people or things for granted.
• Be who God made you to be and NOT someone else.
• Be a giver and not a taker.

Happiness is a choice and a decision that we make.  Don’t allow the “happiness robbers” to steal your happiness without a fight.