All people have at one time in their lives faced rejection. The important thing is to understand the cause of the rejection so that you may work on fixing it.
Is the rejection a reject of lack of requisite skills, qualifications and experience or due to laziness and general poor attitude towards work. Or it is just tribal or a racist rejection?
To turn a rejection into an advantage, focus on the root cause of the rejection. That is why it is important you always seek to meet the person in the company that rejected you to determine why they did so. Most of the time, it could be due to your poor work ethic or bad attitude.
Also read: Addressing the CEO’s dilemma, growing your career
A rejection as an advantage
Yesterday, the legendary Golfer, Tiger Woods won his 5th master’s and the 15th major gold trophy in his career. He last won such a high prized award in 2008. It took him over nine solid years to get back to the top. That is one of the best comebacks in the history of the sport. It is unlikely that any other person in our lifetime will attain such a comeback in the game of Golf. Tiger Woods endured lots of rejection including a tough divorce from his wife.
The media too was not on his side. He endured a lot of pain and bad media coverage. From hero to zero. Tiger Woods did not give up despite losing many of his previous kit sponsors. We learn a lot of insights from Tiger Woods. “Do not let other people’s opinion of you, affect your reality.” He decided to continue practicing and improving his game. He knows everyone wants to be in the company of winners.
Back to you.
Rejected in your career, it is your opportunity to shine. A rejection gives you an opportunity to improve by identifying the main cause. Here is how:
- Continue studying. Go and enroll on a new course. We all need finance, business development, IT skills and networking skills. Enroll on a professional course so that you don’t lag in your skills and knowledge.
- Improve your work ethic. Be the first at the place of work. Interact with your peers and supervisors often. When in doubt, ask your colleagues or your supervisor what to do so that there are no surprises. No one will reject you if you are proactive and keep asking questions
- Avoid being idle. You will easily get rejected if you don’t make yourself felt. Be a champion of something at your place of work. If you have been rejected, make sure you know why. Before you are rejected, speak to HR or Admin office to know which kind of people were rejected in the past and why. Try not to repeat their mistakes. Remember, do not wait to get rejected. Be proactive and become a team member other want to work with.
Rejection and failure is part of life. The secret is never to be rejected twice. That means you take lessons and learn never to repeat them. That is how winners turn rejections into advantages. Otherwise, great people prevent the rejections altogether. That is what makes a successful career.
If the rejection is due to bad attitude and poor housekeeping habits like late coming, lack of attention to details and lots of errors in your work, pay more attention and fix them. Running from one job or hopping jobs is not the panacea as like day follows night, you will continue to be rejected. Fix it once and for all and enjoy career success so that wherever you work, you shine and leave a legacy.
Shine.
