Let’s face it…

The world is a hectic place…

And we are all bombarded with millions of different pieces of data every minute.

To make sense of the world…

We all make snap judgments quickly so that we can free up some headspace to process the next million data points heading our way.

So, what does that mean for you?

What that means, is that people (your boss, your clients, your peers) are making judgments and arriving at decisions about you very quickly too…

Which, at times, can be extremely helpful…

Especially if those all-or-nothing labels run along these lines:

“She’s a natural leader.”

“She’s a team player.”

“She’s an exceptional critical thinker.”

“She’s top 10% talent.”

“She’s adding tonnes of commercial value.”

In instances like these, the labelling works massively in your favour…

Because labels are all-encompassing…

Meaning, the single label can have a wide reaching positive impact on how you are perceived generally.

The world truly becomes your oyster!

 

 

But, what if those labels are restricting you?

What if those labels are restricting you somehow…

Or are downright negative instead?

I regularly have clients seek out my help because they feel they are not being perceived as they would like to be.

They feel pigeonholed…

Deeply limited…

Stuck…

And, as a consequence, are often struggling with confidence concerns too.

So…

What if you are being limited by the ‘labels’ that key decision makers are applying to you?

What might those labels look like?

 

 

Well…

Here are some common examples I hear in my coaching practice to get the ball rolling…

See if any of these rings true for you:

“She’s operational only, not strategic.”

“She’s not leadership material.”

“She shows little ambition.”

Can you see how the all-or-nothing nature of labels can be so restrictive and damaging?

As well as limiting the scope of your career trajectory…

Labels can also be applied in a behavioural way.

In other words, your boss might have observed a specific behaviour in you and that critical observation now forms their entire perception of you:

“She’s a blocker of ideas; she shuts people down.”

“She’s didactic, non-inclusive.”

“She’s too difficult to deal with.”

Labels diminish you to the label… and little beyond it.

And it can make it difficult, once that judgment has been made, for your boss to perceive all the other qualities you (do) offer.

 

 

So how can you change unhelpful perceptions of you?

Well…

Changing perceptions (and their resultant labels) is actually easier than you think.

#1

Your first step is to become consciously aware of what your boss’ limiting perception actually could be…

(If you haven’t identified that just yet, loop back round to the top of this article and get brutally honest about how you think you’re currently being perceived).

#2

Decide how happy (out of 10) you are about your boss having that perception of you.

#3

If it’s bothering you enough and you feel like it’s holding you back…

Take action.

Doing nothing will change nothing.

So get some support.

Get some help.

I’m always blown away by the shift in available opportunities that occurs for my clients once they address the issues like these that are holding them back.

Often making small changes… can have HUGE positive impacts!

Rebecca x

P.P.S. If you’re ambitious and want more from your career, download our most popular resource right here to your inbox: The 7 Habits of Female Execs Who Get Promoted !