I got 5 promotions in 10 years working for two of the largest Fortune 500 companies. I can proudly say I not only survived but thrived in corporate America.
But my American dream did not happen overnight. Here are 5 limiting beliefs I had to ditch to take back control of my career, and thrive as an immigrant, woman of color in corporate America:
When I first started my career as a field engineer working on offshore oil rigs, I constantly felt the urge to work 200% harder than my colleagues for fear of looking weak or inadequate. But this is a recipe for burnout. When I ditched the need to prove myself and embraced the positive feedback that clearly suggested my opinion mattered, I was able to ditch imposter syndrome and quickly progress in my career.
You don’t need to work harder to prove your worth. If you are at the table, know that you have already proved your worth!
English is not my native language. In the beginning years of my career, I constantly feared sounding stupid if I mispronounced a word or didn’t articulate my thoughts well. This prevented me from speaking up in meetings. But when I finally decided to be vocal in meetings, I realized that people cared less about my accent and more about my work and insights.
Don’t let language hold you back. This literally kills confidence and careers.
For far too long in my career, I believed that I need to constantly be doing to be relevant for my company. Because if I am not relevant, I will lose my job and would need to go home packing. But when you are constantly doing, you are not thinking strategically, and if you are not thinking strategically, you can become irrelevant very quickly.
Shift from the Doers mode to your Zone of Genius. And have a plan B in place, especially if you are on visa, because ultimately, the company is not your family.
When I was growing Pinkcareers on the side of my full time, I often hesitated from posting freely on LinkedIn for fear of judgment from my colleagues and management. This cost me atleast two years of personal brand building and equivalent growth for my company. Only when I started becoming active on LinkedIn, I realized how several immigrant POC have built their personal brands while working for the top brands in the world and leveraged that to accelerate their careers.
Don’t let detractors scare you into playing small. Build your personal brand in a responsible way, and leverage it to scale to greater heights in your career.
It is well-researched that women apply for jobs when they meet 100% of the qualifications and men apply to jobs when they only meet 60% of the requirements. I bought into this limiting belief until a mentor told me “you are more ready than you think.” Not only did this limiting belief hurt my confidence, I left 1000s of dollars on the table by hesitating to ask for more.
Get a mentor, enlist a confidant, or hire a coach and ditch the belief that you need to be 100% ready before asking for the salary raise or promotion.
Empty space, drag to resize
What limiting beliefs are holding you back in creating the career of your dreams?
Empty space, drag to resize
Ready to ditch limiting beliefs and use proven strategies to create a career you've been dreaming of?
