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Most women face the fear of judgment and being stereotyped at work. From simple things like asking for flexi-timings to talking about promotions and increments, women feel ‘fear-zoned’. Shaina Lulla, who is currently Head of Human Resources, Munich Re (India), shares her personal past experiences on how she became fearless at work.
She was afraid of heights, but she was much more afraid of never flying. ~ Atticus
What lies on the other side of fear ? Excitement, happiness, joy, thrill – it’s all there waiting for you IF you are willing to just live through and push past the fear inside.
I am sharing a personal experience of an incident that changed my professional life, that helped me push past fear and which showed me what lies on the other side if you are brave enough to ask for it ! A few years ago, I went through some transitions in my personal life, changed jobs and changed houses. I also fell physically ill and was weak for a large part of the year, having had two major illnesses, one fracture and an increased commute time to work of 2.5 hours a day (that’s Mumbai traffic for you!).
After evaluating my options, I decided that remote working would give my body a chance to heal and recuperate while I could continue working and doing a job that I loved.
However, I deliberated asking for remote working for several months as all kinds of doubts played out in my head:
But mostly, I didn’t ask for the fear of this request being rejected. I continued battling with the day to day commute and health issues over being brave and having a voice to ask what felt right for me.
With my own doubts playing up and festering inside my head, I stagnated in this state of indecision and inaction.
Shortly after, I was nominated to be part of a High Potential Program across the Region and had the privilege to work with an executive coach for 6 months as part of my development plan. Hours of discussion and motivation from my coach led me to finally ask for a Remote Working option 2 days a week.
When I now look back at that turning point, I dread to think how much time I wasted not acting in the best interests of my own mind and body.
I did get the remote working option granted.
I went on to successfully complete my High Potential Program.
I went on to be considered for an International Assignment a year later.
I went on to study and get certified as a Coach, being inspired how my Coach helped me make this one change – embrace my fear, acknowledge and accept it but also learn how to grow past it.
Are you looking to make a transition or shift something in your life that you believe will benefit you but are too scared to do it? Fear compromises our ability to process our thoughts rationally and we tend to stick to our current patterns and avoid change as that protects us from the painful feeling of fear. Being habitual in nature is very comfortable and it is easy to get stuck in our everyday patterns.
We are likely to encounter challenges in the workplace and there could be several reasons for our fear and anxiety:
We fear we don’t have the experience
We fear the additional responsibility that change will bring
We fear loss of our position or role
We fear being judged for our choices
We fear trusting our inner voice
But most of all, what we fear is the unknown
Here are a few simple suggestions that will help you step out of the fear zone and motivate you to take action:
New beginnings can be challenging – they can however also encourage you to go further than you ever imagined. Don’t let fear dictate your choice but let the rainbow of opportunities on the other side of fear, be your driving force.
Every time you are stuck, think about these 2 questions:
How is not dealing with your fear negatively impacting you ?
What will you gain by overcoming this fear ?
This article is a part of #ThoughtMatters – a thought leadership series at Women’s Web. The views expressed in the article are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization.
Image collage via Pexels
Shaina is a Postgraduate from Warwick Business School and an Erickson Certified Coach. She has 16 years of HR experience and her core expertise lies in establishing HR functions and institutionalizing HR processes and best read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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