Believe What You See: Michele Badie

"Do you see what I see?" is a question that I often ask when speaking with professionals about the trajectory of their careers. The imposter syndrome tends to sometimes sneak into the self-talk that occurs when strategizing career moves and minimize the list of accomplishments that many professionals worked hard to attain. In those moments, believing what you see within yourself from the earned wins and lessons based on your work performance and professional development can be a deal-breaker.

Real Beauty Sketches is a short film on self-perception produced by Dove films. In less than seven minutes, the film delivers a powerful truth of how women describe themselves based on their perceived mirror image versus how another woman describes them through sketches completed by an FBI-trained forensic artist. One of my takeaways from the film is that women can sometimes have a harsh perception of themselves that can limit them seeing the beauty that they radiate. The emotion and mindset of recognizing how beautiful we are can simulate how we view our career contributions and the value that we deposit into our workplaces.

A quote by Marianne Williamson, author, spiritual leader, politician, and activist, came to mind after watching the short film. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Self-perception should sit at the top of our list when determining our career moves and the permissions that only we can issue to ourselves to evolve to our professional best. How we perceive ourselves impact the pace of manifesting the resources and connecting to the right people that will help us experience the professional roles of our choosing. Take a moment to recall the emotions and takeaways from past moments of doubt, differing opinions, career reboots that successfully transformed into a frequency of empowerment, growth, and confirmation that you are capable of conquering the perceived impossible to the full extent of your belief in your abilities to do so.

Like beauty, we believe what we see in the mirror just the same when it comes to our careers. Similar to the ladies in the Dove Real Beauty Sketches, how we choose to describe ourselves and our professional experience on resumes, networking up with leadership and across with industry peers, and during interviews matters. How we see ourselves shows up when reviewing career opportunities that we perceive we qualify for. According to LinkedIn's 2019 Gender Insights Report, research shows that in order to apply for a job, women feel they need to meet 100% of the criteria while men usually apply after meeting about 60%. The good news is that when women do apply to a job, they are 16% more likely than men to get hired. In fact, if the role is more senior than their current position, that number goes up to 18%.

During meditation, consider placing focus on the self-perception statements below about your career. Identify your professional contributions that have added value to the workplace.

Are you proud of your work performance? Do you view it as an accomplishment? Do you recognize your professional development efforts as growth and time well spent? Is there good or developmental feedback that has been a challenge for you to process and acknowledge?

Determine the root cause. Remember, you don't have to agree with the feedback. If the baseline of the constructive responses is reoccurring and repeatedly reveals itself in different ways, pay attention.

How do you talk to yourself when you perceive that you’re winning or when you do not meet your goals? Harshly or an attagirl tone of analyzing and regrouping?

Challenge yourself to believe in your skills and abilities during the ebbs and flows of your career and life. Our self-perception is a game-changer that can lead us to or away from career opportunities.