The Power of Moving On for Your Wellbeing

Hello and welcome to the Travelling Introvert. And today I want to talk about that thing that happens. Have you ever left a job because it didn't fit with the way that you work best? And I know, I know it is easier said than done because we all need to work to earn money. But not every workplace is built to support different working styles. And so I want to tell you very briefly a short story about a friend of mine who landed a job they were excited about, ticked most of the boxes, good pay, promising team, interesting work, fairly good company, worked from home to a degree, then didn't work from home quite as much. So within weeks, things started to feel a little off. So one of the things that my friend does to help them work and maintain focus is to use headphones over the ear, big headphones at work, partly because of adhd, partly because of sensory sensitivity, and partly because it just works. And so they weren't isolating themselves, they were using it to stay regulated and productive.

However, of course, there was a co worker who took issue with it, and instead of having a conversation with my friend and asking, hey, so why are you wearing the headphones? And the person said, well, yeah, because it helps me process and think and all that fun stuff. They went straight to a manager. So a meeting was held, but there was no clear resolution, no acknowledgement, also no support, just tension, ambiguity and a lot of silence. So that really stuck with my friend. So they got to work quietly and professionally, with a growing sense that they deserved better. They updated their LinkedIn, they reached out to their network, they updated their resume, and they went and researched companies, research managers within the companies, researched the culture, and within six months, they left that organization because they were offered a new job, more money, a promotion. Yes, they had to commute and be in the office, but this was a culture that was okay because headphones were just headphones. It wasn't a sign of not being a team player.

You know what? The photo they sent of me on their first day, it was them smiling and wearing their headphones at work and thriving. So here's the thing. Finding a workplace that works for you can be done. It does take time, it does take effort, but it sometimes takes that grit, that determination of, I know this isn't going to work out. Not going to waste my time sort of trying to defend myself, Let me find a better path, a better way. And so this is the damage that happens with muddy communication and unclear norms and managers just not knowing how to deal with things or how to have those conversations. Managers should name and normalize differences instead of just having this awkward weird situation where one person is telling on another and it wasn't like the person wasn't doing their job, they got exemplary KPIs and all that fun stuff. So these are signs that it's, you know, just not the right environment.

Now there is a cost if you try and tough it out for too long. Maybe you can do it for three months, for six months, maybe even a year and hope that other person moves on. But at the end of the day, if you see what's happening and that person isn't moving on and, and no one else is calling them on their bs, then you need to start exploring better aligned roles without burnout. And so you need those cultural clues when you in an organization or you interview from an organization or doing those exploratory conversations, thinking about what works for you and asking questions that help frame that and get information. You, you can talk about your needs without oversharing but have these cultural clues to look for because you don't need to fit into a rigid mold. You deserve to work somewhere that works with you, not just this is the way we do it, this is the way it's always been done and anything else is wrong. So ask those questions in interviews. Ask those questions when you reach out to recruiters and therefore recruiters will better know what you're looking for, be able to bring better roles to you.

So thank you for listening. This is Janice at the Career Introvert helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of your week.