Evolution and professional development

In the last few years, I have encountered numerous professional attacks – from personal and professional peers. It is mind boggling that someone would take extra steps to belittle others for their own personal gain, but the purpose of this blog was not to expose them, rather to help those that are facing the same challenges.

My boyfriend at the time found my desire to continuously educate myself, not only in my field but in other professions, as unstable and believed me to be a high risk of emasculation. A boss of mine told me to 'forget everything I learned in University because it will never serve a purpose in life'. After all that demeaning banter, I dumped the boyfriend and found myself a better job, with a more supportive leader.

These two instances are completely unrelated, but relevant to this topic.

I learned more about myself, and rejected scorn from those that did not understand my journey to professional development and evolution. To that, I would like to share with you my top three rules to your journey of professional development:

Be authentic

 

Being authentic has variable meanings – to me, it means be undoubtedly true and real, not to others but to myself. So many times we strive to conform to what society believes is acceptable, mostly because we fear rejection and ridicule if we don’t. Authentic means that we don’t obey society’s image and idea of what we are, even if that means we are judged or stereotyped.

It's about being your true to who you are.

Be direct

 

If being direct means that as a woman you will be categorized as a bitch, then so be it. Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with being direct; it means you are confident, but not cocky, about what you want and where you are heading in your career. You don’t allow people to influence you negatively.

Other factors such as being kind to others, and not negatively impacting someone else day or life, must also be considered; be direct, but don't be mean. It's about knowing who you are, not knowing which relationships to tarnish along the way.

Be unapologetic

 

I remember sitting in my superior’s office, explaining to him once again, that the current position I was in was not for me. After countless pleas for transfer, I had no choice but to seek employment with an organization that would see my value as high as I did. I was not sorry for leaving, nor did I have any remorse, I knew my path in life and I was confident that leaving was the first step to a lifetime of success.

Being unapologetic also refers to personal situations as well; however, for the purpose of this blog, I chose to keep it professional.

The path to success is rough, but being true to yourself along that path is the only way to get out of it a much better and happier person.