Day 12:
- Are you seeing the world in terms of black and white, good or bad?
- The world just is! We choose how we see it.
- What could help you to see both sides and the nuances?
- We always have options!
Since I’m writing a book to help introverts with their job search, I’ll give you an example from this area:
When I was doing a workshop on effective job search strategies, a participant with a contemptuous behavior kept interrupting me: “I know all these”, “It doesn’t work”, …
Her employment counselor insisted that she attends this workshop, but she was not really open to seeing if she can learn something new. She came with the perspective “There are no jobs available”, so she closed her mind to any new information.
Her behavior was irritating other participants, so I turned to her curious about the reasons behind her affirmations.
- I tried everything, she said, but there are no jobs in my field.
- What is your field? I asked.
- I work with small children in schools.
(Maybe she had great skills for working with children, but they didn’t show up at all during that workshop. I wondered if that was why she didn’t find any position yet).
- Did you approach directly the schools?
- I’ve approached schools directly since I moved to Toronto, but there are no jobs available. And I really need a job.
- Did you approach ALL schools?
- No, only the public schools.
- Your skills might be useful in other workplaces too, like private schools and kindergartens. Have you tried that?
- Hmmm … I didn’t.
From that point on she changed her attitude: not only in that workshop, but she came to the whole Job Search series of workshops I was facilitating. And soon after … she got a job! Half year later she approached me again, asking for advice since she was planning to shift to another type of position.
How open are you to see the various nuances of a situation?
(I call them perspectives)
~ Gabriela
