I was almost fired from my job for likeability reasons. I was never that uber likeable girl. Not in high school, maybe a little more-so in college, but definitely not at my job. When it comes to work, I was a pitbull, not in the cute cuddly way. In the aggressive, do it my way kind of thing. I’m sharing this with you, so you maybe shift your approach a bit when you are dealing with colleagues. Here’s what happened and what I learned.
Why I was almost fired for not being likeable
I was really f-ing good at my job, but also really young in a corporate environment with no mentors to help me weather the storm or finesse my style. I was raw and didn’t play well in the sandbox with others – very only-childy don’t you think? It wasn’t until my job was threatened over miscommunications and aggressive tone that made me stop and rethink everything, so I did and here’s what happened:
Over communicate
I cannot stress this enough. WAY over communicate how you are feeling, your expectations, how you work best. All of it! When I did this, I started to see empathy from my colleagues and things were more fluid.
People like to buy from people they like
HUGE lesson here. I’ve learned this more while owning my own business than working from one. I’ve seen that the business owners, who exercise kindness towards one another and support for other businesses thrive the most. Makes sense, but I’ve also seen several businesses be more catty about it.
You don’t have to be bffs
But you do need to have mutual respect for one another’s work and time. When this is lost, everything is off. You do have to learn how to coexist professionally as you will be happier.
Get off email
Oh hi passive-aggressive emails that I was so guilty of writing! Not helpful and no one likes receiving that shit. I moved all hard conversations a quick jump on the phone, because human connection matters.
When I look back at that time, I can see everything with so much more clarity. Being good at what you do DOESN’T MATTER if everyone doesn’t like working with or for you. Now more than ever, I’ve taken what I’ve learned and applied it to my own business. I’m constantly thinking of the boss I would want and embodying exactly that. It’s important.
I’m also not suggesting to not push boundaries – I was successful, because I pushed boundaries – it’s all in the how.
Ask me anything and as always, thank you for supporting me!
P
xoo