Self-devaluation: the silent scourge of success during restructure
‘Ping’
You receive a group email inviting you to the conference room at 3pm. Your colleagues enthusiastically speculate about what it’s all about – ‘maybe it’s the new pension plan’,
‘doubt it, more likely the boss is retiring’.
3pm arrives and you make the journey with your team in a proud display of unity. As you get to the conference room, you hear the discordant tones of miserable conversation ascending the dull hum of an overhead projector. A senior manager greets you with a smile that appears to be causing genuine pain. You take a seat, look up and see a PowerPoint presentation titled: Restructure.
Jobs are at risk – your job is at risk and following the ‘consultation’, the anxiety sets in. Nervous about an uncertain future, overwhelmed at having to write an application, and just plain terrified about the prospect of an internal interview, you start the ‘process’.
Sound familiar?
I don’t think I can do that
Having worked with many groups being 'processed' in this way, I’ve observed one crucial cause of disengagement and anxiety that’s regularly overlooked by organisations, HR departments and individuals themselves: Self-devaluation.
Self-devaluation occurs when the internal current of negative emotion becomes so strong that it interferes with our very concept of self. It starts with questions. Questions about ourselves, doubting things that we were previously confident about. Things like, our capability, our skills and whether we have what it takes to succeed. All this doubt, at a time when we are forced to consider our situation, our ambitions and perhaps most importantly our options. Options like:
‘Which roles do I apply for?’
‘Do I leave?’
‘Is now the right time to start that vegan café I’ve always dreamed about?!’
These are important questions and finding the right answer can affect the rest of our lives. But, if we’ve begun to psychologically devalue ourselves our ability to make good decisions is crippled by doubt, fear and even self-distrust.
‘But…. I’m only good at this.’
‘But……if I leave, why would anyone want to employee me?’
‘But…. I couldn’t possibly do that’
Emotional reversal
Work usually provides positivity for our overall self-concept. Being good at our work is comforting, knowing what we’re doing creates confidence and self-esteem. But these positive emotions are fragile and are easily reversed when we ruminate on a future where we no longer do these things. Our psychological landscape of ‘self’, that only last week was brimming with feelings of worth and appreciation, has been shattered and replaced with new feelings of self-doubt and apprehension.
When in this psychological cage, the chances of engaging effectively with the restructure process, let alone being successful come the end of it, are virtually none. We may put on a brave face and speak proud words but when in a state of self-devaluation what we’re really communicating is:
‘I don’t believe I can do this.’
Yes, I can
Sadly, this paralytic mind set is often left to spread during these most difficult of workplace circumstances. It’s even more sad when we realise that recapturing self-esteem and a positive self-concept can be achieved relatively easily. There are many ways to turn the tide, here are two to get you started.
1. Atomise your tasks - to address the fear that our skills are only relevant to our current role.
List your core activities in your job. Then one by one break them down into smaller skills by asking how do I do that? What do I have to be good at to deliver this task? This turns a list of isolated tasks into a list of valuable and transferable skills.
2. Define your priorities – to gain clear perspective and good decision making.
Reflect on the most important things in your life. Identify and articulate your priorities and goals but also the things that are expendable. Despite this setback, with support, you can reignite your ambitions with more focus and rigour than ever before.
Left alone,the effects of self-devaluation can be devastating for the individual and the organisation. But, with the right support, self-devaluation can be turned into meaningful self-esteem, a powerful self-concept and an optimistic view of the future.
We may even realise that, ‘yes, I can do that.’