**Title: Navigating Workplace Challenges: Insights and Advice**
**Introduction:**
In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing corporate landscape, professionals often encounter various challenges in their careers. From navigating the dynamics of office politics to transitioning into retirement, these hurdles can impact individuals on both personal and professional levels. In this article, we will explore the dilemmas faced by professionals and offer expert advice on how to deal with them effectively.
**Section 1: Handling Leadership Doubts**
**Subheading: My boss doesn’t trust me**
Many professionals aspire to progress in their careers and take on new responsibilities. However, receiving validation and trust from one’s manager can be a significant challenge. In this scenario, an individual is seeking a promotion but faces skepticism from their manager. The manager believes the employee is not ready for the role and requires constant training to make important decisions.
**Elizabeth’s advice:**
Elizabeth, a renowned expert, suggests that changing the manager’s perception is impossible, but altering one’s response is within an individual’s control. She advises professionals to follow their independent path while adhering to their manager’s orders as much as possible. Another option is to explore internal or external opportunities if the relationship with the manager becomes untenable.
**Unique insights:**
From a more nuanced perspective, Michael Ska Pinker, a contributing editor for the FT, counselor, and coach, advises engaging in a conversation with the manager to better understand their expectations and to present one’s own ideas. Handling this situation requires assertiveness and diplomacy, as organizational hierarchies often demand compliance from subordinates. It is crucial for professionals to balance their own convictions with the expectations placed upon them.
**Section 2: Transitioning into Retirement**
**Subheading: A cure for post-retirement blues?**
Retirement marks a significant life transition for many individuals. After dedicating years to their careers, retirees often find themselves at a crossroads unsure of how to fill their newfound free time. This section addresses the challenges faced by someone recently retired and seeking short-term goals or purpose.
**Elizabeth’s advice:**
According to Elizabeth, it’s important not to rush into major decisions immediately after retirement. She advises against merely following well-intentioned suggestions and recommends seeking expert advice on transitioning to the next stage of life. Recommending the book “Shifting gears: Creating the life you want after a full run,” Elizabeth emphasizes the need to cope with the profound changes retirement brings and take the necessary time for self-reflection.
**Unique insights:**
Gabriella Braun, a psychoanalytic consultant and author, highlights the emotional aspects of retirement, particularly the sense of emptiness and grief experienced during this transition. She advises acknowledging the wide range of emotions and recognizing that they are a natural part of the process. Understanding the unique challenges of retirement can enable individuals to navigate this period more effectively, incorporating self-care and exploring new opportunities, such as volunteering or pursuing hobbies.
**Section 3: Expert Perspectives: Additional Insights**
**Subheading: Invaluable advice from industry experts**
Aside from Elizabeth’s advice, industry experts offer their perspectives on the discussed challenges, shedding further light on these issues. Their insights provide invaluable guidance for professionals seeking to navigate their careers successfully.
**Michael Ska Pinker:**
As an expert with extensive experience in counseling and coaching, Michael emphasizes the importance of open communication with one’s manager. By discussing the manager’s expectations and expressing one’s own ideas, professionals can foster a more collaborative and supportive working environment. However, Michael also acknowledges that in hierarchical organizations, the final decisions often lie with the boss.
**Gabriella Braun:**
Gabriella delves deeper into the emotional and psychological aspects of retirement. She highlights the challenges retirees face, such as adjusting to change and facing feelings of emptiness. Gabriella advises individuals to be patient with themselves during this transformative period and seek support from professionals specializing in transitions.
**Section 4: Conclusion**
Navigating challenges in the workplace requires resilience, assertiveness, and adaptability. Whether it’s earning trust from a skeptical manager or finding purpose in retirement, professionals can benefit from expert advice and unique insights. By understanding these dilemmas from different perspectives, individuals can make informed decisions and navigate their careers successfully.
**Summary:**
This well-informed and engaging piece provides insights and advice on handling workplace challenges. It addresses two crucial areas, namely trust issues with a manager and navigating the transition into retirement. Expert advice is offered, emphasizing the importance of understanding and managing these challenges effectively. Additional insights from industry experts provide a broader perspective, presenting readers with a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. By incorporating these insights into their professional lives, individuals can enhance their decision-making skills and overcome obstacles in their careers.
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Real readers, real problems: every week on the FT Newsletter Working, Isabel Berwick answers workplace dilemmas with the help of experts. To get Office Therapy delivered to your inbox every week, sign up at www.ft.com/newsletters
My boss doesn’t trust me
The problem: I’m pitching for a new position with increased team responsibilities, but my manager doesn’t think I’m ready for it. To be clear, he is not denying me the role, but he has warned that I will have to change my work style and need constant “training” to make tough decisions. I feel like he’s setting me up for failure because he expects me to do what he does, even if I don’t agree with his reasoning (eg, return to office five days vs. hybrid).
Any challenges to his decisions will be seen in light of (in his opinion) my inability to carry out “difficult requests” from management. Do I have to manage the team the way he expects me to? Or stick to what I think is the right path?
Elizabeth’s advice: It’s not you, it’s him, but as I’ve learned (quite late), you’re incapable of changing other people; all you can change is how you respond to them. So you can avoid this insecure man, follow his orders while following your independent path, as much as possible. Or he may decide to move, internally or otherwise.
michael ska pinkerContributing editor for the FT, as well as counselor and coach, offers more nuanced thoughts: “I suggest asking for a discussion about your boss’s views on where you are and where you should be, so you have a clearer idea of what he needs.” . of you. I also feel that you have your own ideas about where things should go, which are not your boss’s ideas.
“You can try to speak softly to him in your ‘clear the air’ talk. Or you can go. It is an unfortunate fact: the boss is the boss and you are not”.
A cure for post-retirement blues?
The problem: I just retired from an employer I have worked with for almost 40 years. The job was rewarding but very thorough and customer oriented. I was ready to go, but the new reality is strange. I’ll spend the summer relaxing, but what advice can you give me for a short-term objective or goal? The friends seem to think that I should have lots of ideas. [charity committees, travel etc] but i feel empty
Elizabeth’s advice: You are bound to find “rare” things: you are going through a profound change. This is the best advice I received while going through sudden change: Don’t make major decisions while the disruption is still fresh. Also, don’t listen to those suggestions from well-meaning but clueless friends.
In due course, you may want to get some expert advice on your “next step”, perhaps from a coach who specializes in transitions, but an easy first step is to read Shifting gears: Creating the life you want after a full run By Jan Hall and Jon Stokes.
Gabriella Braun, psychoanalytic consultant and author of All we are: Uncovering the hidden truths behind our behavior at work, He adds that retirement is a change that, “unlike other transitions, reminds us of our mortality.” No matter how prepared we are for retirement, it causes anxiety. “You need to adapt, even face loss. Your feeling of emptiness, common in grief, suggests that you are either consciously or unconsciously doing that.”
As Braun sums it up (and this is advice we should all take in times of disruption and transition): “Don’t worry if you’re up and down at times, you’re part of the change. And you are changing your whole way of life. Take your time.”
Do you have a question, problem or dilemma for Office Therapy? Do you think you have better advice for our readers? Email isabel.berwick@ft.com
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