Even if you’re in your dream job, you’re going to hit a few hurdles along the way. Maybe we can all take some professional cues from Taylor Swift. The 25-year-old singer-songwriter knows a thing or two about succeeding in your career. She broke records last month with the biggest-ever album sales week by a female artist.
1. Don’t fear change.
Change is scary and it’s everywhere. Making a transition, changing positions or going through a company re-org can be difficult, but it can also be great for your career. Just ask Swift who recently sparked an outlash from critics when she made the transition from country to pop.
Just months later, her new album had the largest sales week for any album since 2002. She changed industries and broke records and even after record sales hit a new low last August.
“To me, Fearless is not the absence of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, Fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, Fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.”
2. Shake it off.
LinkedIn Pulse is buzzing with posts on how to expertly navigate office politics. This week Ted Jenkin shared, Why Your Coworkers are Talking Behind Your Back, a.k.a. five ways to virtually avoid becoming a target of office gossip, possible? Not really.
The truth is the people who want to talk about you will and it has more to do with them than anything about you. And posts on office politics mean more views because there are politics. Everywhere.
My friend hears rumors swirling through her workplace and never gives them a second thought. Shake It Off has been her personal anthem lately. The lyrics urge listeners to keep on cruising no matter what. Something the songwriter has done again and again in her own career when under fire for the subjects of her tunes.
You can’t control gossip or work climate, but you are in your control of your reaction. And shaking it off and not reacting is almost always the answer. It will also make you more poised, experienced and resilient after every challenge.
Take it a step further and don’t just grow thicker skin, set an example:
“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.”
3. Be true to yourself.
Being true to yourself in your work is a must, that means being you and doing what you’re most passionate about. Swift has bared the most private side of herself in her songs, and she’s received criticism for it, but it’s what built her mass following. And her recent shift shows that people change and move forward; their careers should move with them.
More Than Words 