One of the insights that my clients find most liberating is that work can be a traumatic environment.
You may have heard of ‘Moral Injury’ which has been studied in military but also healthcare settings. Whether you talk about stress, trauma, burnout or moral injury, it’s a difference in degree rather than kind.
In other words, the negative impact of events at work is the result of dissonance or mismatch between perceived and expected reality – or between what you think should be happening and what is actually happening, as Tony Robbins puts it.
This includes:
a mismatch between your potential and the opportunities available
a mismatch between your needs and what you receive
a mismatch between your values and organisational drivers
a mismatch between the physical/psychological safety you expect and the physical/psychological violence you experience.
In this sense, trauma at work can be prevented, reduced or transformed by being aware of the mismatch and knowing that there is nothing wrong with you. By extension, a desire for career change can simply be a healthy, adaptive response to this mismatch.
Notice how your feelings shift and what becomes possible for you as a result of this reframe.
Have a great week,
Amina
p.s. My 1:1 coaching roster is fully booked at the moment. I hope to offer two Leaders Circles this Spring, one online and one in person. Announcements to follow soon.
