It’s easy to feel defeated after losing an opportunity for a promotion at work or blowing a client presentation you worked on for weeks. Life is full of disappointments and learning how to bounce back is a crucial step in your career.
“I never will forget the sting of losing a major account especially after months of building a client relationship, only to have the last meeting end with an uncertain note,” recounted a sales rep expecting to leave with a signed contract for more products.
When you talk about disappointment you are in essence talking about handling grief. The loss of your plans, your dreams and expectations are all connected to disappointment. It can be difficult for some to shake disappointment off and pick up the pieces and move forward. The sales rep mentioned they recovered but struggled with the fear of losing another account.
Everyone will encounter regrets at work they are inevitable and the more risks you take in growing your career the more likely you will experience being disappointed. The key is not to avoid disappointments but to learn from them.
One of the most important lessons that disappointment can teach you is setting expectations. When you expect a promotion and lack the experience needed, the lesson is learning how to manage your expectations in a realistic way.
Managing expectations starts with taking a look at yourself and determining how good you are at setting expectations with you career, work relationships and clients. It could be that you are setting yourself up to fail by jumping to conclusions basing the outcome on wishes rather than reality.
If you made a mistake, conduct a mental inventory and be honest in your assessment. What part did you play in a disappointing outcome? What can you do better the next time? What did you learn about yourself in handling the disappointment?
Everybody has had their fair share of setbacks it’s what you do with the disappointments that count. When guest lecturer Daniel Gulati spoke at Parsons School for Design, an interesting topic emerged from his lecture that led to a group discussion about career regrets. The lesson: disappointment can serve as a powerful catalyst for change outweighing the emotional downsides regret often brings.
Here are some ways disappointments can help your career:
• They help you learn how to forgive and move forward.
• They give you patience, the ability to step back and generate a different perspective.
• They help you refocus your efforts – becoming more resilient.
• They help you learn humility, everyone makes mistakes.
• They help you clarify expectations by asking insightful questions.
• They teach you what you can control and when you need to let go.
How have disappointments changed your career?
