Common worries in the workplace

By Francis J. Kong (The Philippine Star), May 28, 2017

So you just graduated college and you are now entering your first job. Maybe you have been promoted to a higher position, transferred to a new department or you are now made as a team leader and have never led anyone before in your life. You get the jitters. You are nervous. You do not have the confidence or you worry.

No one is exempted from this. Every person I know feels insecure at different stages in their business or in their career. Worries attack and there are so many common worries you find in the workplace.

Let’s identify a few of them so you would know how to deal with it.

1. You worry you do not understand the work or the situation.

Maybe your boss has given you a briefing. You nod your head in understanding but you really don’t. You have just been promoted. You do not want to give the impression that the office has promoted the wrong person for the job. Or maybe your new division office starts saying things you do not understand. Do not let worry cripple you. The remedy is simple. Just ask.

Asking is not a sign of weakness but pretending to know when you don’t is.

As I constantly reinforce in my own training programs encouraging my participants to ask questions, I would remind them that there are no such thing as stupid questions but only stupid answers so the pressure is upon me.

2. You worry you may say something dumb.

There are two things we desire to achieve every time we are in the company of people: to look presentable and to sound intelligent. If not, then at least to look normal and say something sensible.

Instead of worrying which is a waste of energy anyway, why not channel the same energy to learn more about the situation and apologize should you have said something stupid and then move on.

3. You worry you do not have any idea to contribute.

Imagine your boss is in the room or worst, the CEO and Mancom are there with you during a meeting. You are asked a question or requested to share an idea or an opinion and you freeze because you cannot offer anything of interest to share. So you worry that all the president’s men will now look at you as unprepared or worst… dumb; that you take up space, such in air and does not “add value” to the organization.

Well, good ideas are not forced. They come out when you have seriously studied the subject, read up on it, researched and even if you were not able to contribute that moment; your next break would still come. It’s not really as bad as you think it is.

4. You worry that the person you dislike will steal all the credit from you and you will not be recognized.

The feeling of not being appreciated is so painful that after all the hard work you are ignored. That feeling sinks down to plain bitterness and excruciating when you worry that someone else will be credited with your work especially to the person you do not like.

Here is the remedy. People in your team know and the person who steals the credit will never be trusted. Your grace and demeanor will project your sense of maturity and professionalism so worrying about is a waste of energy.

5. Not getting things done on time.

If you fear that your project will not be done on time, rather than worrying about it just air your concern with your team and discuss how to make things happen so that the deadline can be met.

Worrying about it in advance before it has happened is again a waste of resource and energy and it might add unneeded pressure on the team that would rob them of the motivation to deliver their job well.

6. Worrying about certain things and all other things.

Let me give you a list of what people worry about in the workplace:

You send an email, text or you call your boss and there is no reply. Don’t worry. Your boss is not ignoring you or upset with you, your boss is just busy.

You worry about saying things in the pantry that might have offended someone or some rude things you said about someone else might reach the person’s ear. Apologize. Always remember that once the words depart from your mouth they are no longer yours. You have to be accountable.

7. Worrying about not having anything to worry about.

Worrywarts have created a lifestyle of worrying. Worry becomes their default mode. This is not good. When you overthink and fear about the worst that could happen, then you actually magnify the situation and increase the likelihood of the worst thing you fear would happen, this is called the “Spotlight Effect.”

Some people unwittingly design negative things to happen just to confirm their suspicion.

Robert Frost said: “The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.”

And somebody says: “Worry is interest paid on trouble before it falls due.”

When worry hits me, I pray and say “God I will do my best and You do the rest.” Maybe you have your ways of dealing with it too and unless you do, worry sucks the life out of you.

And the funniest quip I got is from somebody who says: “It pays to worry. Ninety percent of the things I worry about never happen. Worry keeps them away.” Hope you get the point.

(Experience two inspiring days of leadership training with Francis Kong in his highly acclaimed Level Up Leadership this July 5-6 at Makati, Shangri-La Hotel. For registration or inquiries contact April at +63928-559-1798)