Well, facts are facts, and in the workplace, most of us can agree with them, like it or not. But our view of these facts and reality can get pretty skewed when filtered through our hopes, fears, frustrations, and all the emotions we carry around. If no one can take an honest look at their surroundings, their role in it, and the impact of their actions or inactions, how can we ever agree on what’s really going on?
THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS DERIVED FROM THE INPUT OF SEVERAL IMPERFECT SYSTEMS.
01
IMPERFECT SYSTEM: EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Academic and educational institutions are among the first places in a person's development that allow for a standardized comparison of cognitive and, later, professional skill sets on an individual level. However, the education system, designed for a broad audience, often fails to acknowledge, foster, and nurture different types of intelligence. This oversight can erode a person’s self-confidence from an early age and prevent them from exploring their potential and strengths in a healthy and sustainable manner. The opposite is also likely to happen, high grades are not always a guarantee for a successful career they are an indication and a piece of ones track record, which is not equally relevant for all career tracks.
02
IMPERFECT SYSTEM: FAMILY & FRIENDS
Friends and family serve primarily as a support system and sometimes as a safety net. However, due to the inherent bias in these relationships, they can't always be considered objective, even in the best-case scenario when a healthy and mature relationship is present. In a less ideal scenario, competitive relationships with siblings and friends can significantly influence feedback and, consequently, one's perception of their abilities, potentially leading to long-term negative effects.
03
IMPERFECT SYSTEM: SELF-CRITISISM
Striking a perfect balance between self-preservation on one side and self-criticism or the ability to derive constructive criticism from a generally negative feedback requires years of experience and character maturity tested in both nurturing and less then friendly environments. Also left unchecked self-critisim is the shortest way to self destruction or at the minimum a very unhappy and stressful career journey. However when balanced it is a tool with enormous potential to speed up one's development and the best part is you are not dependent on any one but yourself to identify areas of improvement and act on them..
04
IMPERFECT SYSTEM: THE WORK PLACE
The work environment is an ecosystem where different players often find themselves at odds. Competition is inherent in any private organization due to its finite resources. Authentic leadership can mitigate this and foster a culture of team spirit and collaboration, but it will always be constrained by the organization's resource and growth limitations . The workplace is an arena of clashing realities, which are difficult to compare due to varying metrics that one applies to measure himself up e.g. IQ, commitment, personal influence, or trust. While annual evaluation cycles and KPIs are intended to provide structure, they are susceptible to bias and also are a lot more focused on measuring tangible goals while overlooking a lot of outcomes of soft skills applications
THE ANSWER
The long rode to safeguarding your own reality of perceptions, while allowing room for their evolution demands quite a few things:
1. A HEALTHY SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
2. A DIVERSE TRACK RECORD OF FAILURES AND SUCCESSES, BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE ONE'S COMFORT ZONE
3. A BALANCED APPROACH TO INTROSPECTION AND EXTERNAL AWARENESS, WITH MEASURED SELF-CRITICISM
4. THE PRESENCE OF TRUSTED MENTORS AND ROLE MODELS