Maree's Blog

Being Stuck in a Job You Don’t Like Can Be a Bit Like Ground Hog Day.

Details

06 September 2023

It's the same stuff over and over, and you don't look forward to coming to work.

We spend so much time at work, more time than we spend with our family, friends and loved ones. Why stay stuck in a job, doing things you don’t enjoy, with people you don’t like?

When I first started my coaching business almost 20 years ago, I worked with relatively new managers who were unhappy in their jobs. I would focus on what else they could do and what other roles would appeal to them. However, this usually led to resistance and all the reasons in the world why they couldn’t leave.

Often this related to benefits linked to the role they didn’t want to lose, such as: end-of-year bonuses, discounted interest rates for mortgages, long service leave just over the horizon, accrued medical leave, and so on.

It would become more enjoyable if these managers could focus on what they liked about their role.

So now I’m about helping clients discover what they enjoy in their role.

Changing your perspective and learning what you can enjoy about your role is liberating.

Feeling stuck happens when you believe you have no control over your situation. Taking back control reduces this overwhelm and allows you to find ways to enjoy parts of what you do.

Taking back control doesn’t mean doing more and more and becoming even more overwhelmed!

It means understanding what you should be doing at your level of seniority and what your team should be doing.

Get to know your team and step into their shoes. What are they good at, what do they like to do, and how can you help them achieve that?

Level up your communication skills and have open and frank conversations with your team. This gives you a chance to focus on the work you enjoy doing.

I’ve worked with leaders and watched them go from stuck in a role and very unhappy to unstuck and loving what they do.

They now love what they do, and their team loves working together.

Watching overwhelm diminish and thinking change is exciting for everyone.

Becoming unstuck requires new skills. Be prepared to become a learner again. 

I’d love to hear from you. What are the parts of your role that bring you joy?