How to Initiate Positive Change in Your Career and Workplace

Even when you work at a place you love—but especially when you don’t—there are opportunities to make positive changes in your own life and for your coworkers. Here are a few best practices to help you be happy and successful, recognize your unique strengths, combat imposter syndrome, and celebrate diversity on a daily basis.

Explore the science of happiness

Have you ever thought that if you made more money, or were more successful, you’d be happier? Shawn Achor, positive psychologist and author of The Happiness Advantage, has spent his career focusing on the connection between happiness and success–a topic he first became interested in after attending Harvard Divinity School. While counseling students as an officer at Harvard, he found that no matter how happy students were for getting into an Ivy League school, two weeks later their thoughts weren’t focused on the privilege of being there. Instead, they were fixated on the competition and workload. Sound a bit like your own experience with that new job you took or that dream project you joined? 

Be your own inspiration 

Valorie Kondos Field is a classically trained ballet dancer who served as a choreographer for the UCLA women’s gymnastics team. Because of the success she had in this position over seven years, she was promoted to head coach, despite having no prior gymnastics experience. 

Initially, Val wasn’t sure how to be a successful gymnastics coach, since her background was in dance. She looked to renowned coaches like Bobby Knight and Mike Krzyzewski as examples of effective leadership. She attempted to emulate them closely but the team performed worse than in previous years. In fact, it placed last in the NCAA Championships. But failure led her to realize that there is more than one way to be successful. She asked herself, “Why be a second-rate Bobby Knight when I can be a first-rate Val?” Then she proceeded to build a team of coaches that had the strengths she didn’t possess. In doing so, she realized she could become a great coach and a great leader even if her background didn’t match the textbook example you’d expect to find for someone in her position. 

Val was able to rise from inexperienced newcomer to powerhouse coach while staying true to herself. What makes you unique? How can you harness your strengths to take you to your own next level?

Banish imposter syndrome

Have you ever been hired for or promoted to a position that made you wonder: “What were they thinking? I’m not cut out for this job!”? On paper, you fit the qualifications to a tee, but there was still a gut feeling of self-doubt that you couldn’t shake. This feeling has a name: imposter syndrome.

Most of us have experienced imposter syndrome at some point in our working lives. But have no fear, there are ways to overcome feeling like an imposter. 

Phil McKinney, former CTO of Hewlett-Packard, says to “share your secret.” Reach out to someone in your network that you trust and share why you think you’re an imposter. They may have had a similar experience and be able to offer creative solutions to problems you haven’t considered. 

Encouraging others can also be helpful. When you see someone whose skills you admire, acknowledge that person. It’s likely they’re also having those same feelings of self-doubt. These conversations allow us to empathize with one another and to hold each other accountable.

Embrace diversity daily

When thinking about how to celebrate and embrace diversity in the workplace, many companies go with a one-off approach—like a single Instagram post on a diversity-themed holiday or sponsoring an event like the Women’s March—without a previous connection to the issues or following up. Although these are great issues to support, identities shouldn’t just be celebrated at specific times. It’s important to focus on how to have an ongoing celebration of the diverse people who work in your organization.