Which ‘Glass Ceiling’ Are You Trapped Under?

What is holding you back from doing your job better? Can the concept of a glass ceiling also exist in our own minds?

My journey as a performance consultant requires me to deal with people in the corporate world. In order for me to deliver effective training solutions, learning and interventions, I have to understand the client’s needs and expectations.

One of the recurring themes I work on is performance improvement. From the several hundreds of conversations I have had with colleagues and clients in the past, my interactions indicate ninety percent of people eventually reveal that there is always something holding them back from doing their job better, from getting a big raise or bagging their next promotion. And these people are always looking for a ‘quick fix’ to this problem.

I pulled out a short list of words that can be attributed to the concept of the ‘glass ceiling’:

Barrier, unacknowledged, invisible, unbreakable. The common thread that links all these attributes together is “limitations”. And so, should we go ahead and smash the ‘glass ceiling’?

Smashing glass can be dangerous. Removal needs to be done one pane at a time. We need to start with small, comfortable steps to identify our individual limitations. Many of these limitations are stemmed from our own lack of self-belief. Other limitations are harboured by dysfunctional thoughts we have chosen to believe about ourselves.

Once we recognize these limitations and begin to take small steps to remove them—we will become more creative and innovative.

Many of us need to go the way of awaken–acknowledge–action.

Image via Pexels

First published at author’s blog

Cheryl Patel

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