Learnings from my career
I have had an interesting journey in my career thus far. I mean, if I can still find something to blog about each week, then stories are plenty. This week I wanted to focus on some of the things I’ve learned in my career and how I try to implement it. If you’re new to the industry, maybe they might help (or maybe you already excel at it). Maybe you’re in the same boat as me and are just looking for some encouragement; then I hope this helps.
Throughout my career, I’ve had this innate need to say yes to everything. In my mind, I had myself convinced that the minute I say no, I won’t be useful. It is not something anyone had said to me or set an expectation of. I guess it’s a case of the stories we tell ourselves. As my responsibilities grew, leading to a bigger workload, I still struggled to say no. I’m not sure what I was trying to prove, but I just knew that if someone asked me something, the only answer they were getting from me was yes. All the yeses finally caught up to me, and I was truly burnt out.
The lesson here for me was to learn to set boundaries. It’s okay to say no. There is nothing I need to prove, that won’t already come out through the work that I am doing. It is important to set the boundary so that you’re not always the go to person. It’s probably controversial to word it in this way, but it is important to share.
The second learning, and probably another crucial learning is to trust your instinct. This is quite broad in the sense that I’m writing. It could be trusting that you’ve done the prep work before heading onsite at an event. Or it could be trusting in your abilities and experience and knowing that no matter what comes your way, you have the tools to find solutions if necessary. It’s being brave in knowing that if you’re chasing something, you have done the research or are continuing to do the research until you feel like you’re ready to take that leap of faith and go all in. I’ve been chasing the dream of working mainstream concerts and putting my festival together for a long time now. Yet sometimes, when I talk to a promoter or someone who is ‘from the industry’, I can sometimes panic and think that I don’t have the knowledge. Yet, when I’m in a calmer environment and talking to people who are working onsite with me, I explain things clearly as the day. So, every time I feel nervous or intimidated, I remind myself that I do know what I’m doing.
A key lesson that I’ve learned in developing my leadership skills is acknowledging that I might not know everything. Yes, this is a weird juxtaposition from what I’ve just talked about. But oftentimes I’ve noticed leaders make decisions or instruct staff to do something, only for it to backfire. It is okay to not know everything. It is okay if someone else has more knowledge on a specific thing than I do. We all live and we learn.
These are some of the lessons that I’ve learned along the way. What are your lessons?
Until next time,
Mili
