Do You create Self-Imposed Boundaries to Your Professional Story?

Ponder the impact of all the self-imposed boundaries you create and reinforce, professionally. Then, consider how these boundaries impact your professional trajectory and your professional story.

Regardless of how “open to new ideas” you are, you only are as open as the opportunities you create. And, those opportunities include working with, and cross-pollinating your mindset. How? By communicating and collaborating with professionals outside your professional disciplines.

• When you consider the day-in and day-out of daily functional activities, do you prefer to stick to your own kind?
• Are the conversations you have with professionals outside of your discipline awkward or intimidating?
• Do you even have the chance to speak to and work with co-workers in other departments?

To stand out from the crowd, move one millimeter beyond your self-imposed professional boundaries. To get to where you need to go, professionally.

Over time, during your careers as Professionals of Worth, you unconsciously create – and then consciously reinforce – self-posed boundaries to your professional stories.

I observe and experience how boundary-setting plays out in my clients’ work environments. And, additionally, in the impact of internal boundary-setting on how adept my clients are when working with their own clients.

• First, employees stumble in their efforts to communicate with co-workers: across job titles, pay grades, levels of education and generations.
• Next, departmental colleagues do not encourage each other to keep trying to communicate. Rather, departmental colleagues talk about their own professional stories, and failures, in communication and collaboration outside their professional discipline.
• Then, that employee accepts the “departmental norm” as their professional truth. Consequently, when that mindset digs in, their innate creativity and curiosity are stifled by legacy mindset, beliefs and behaviors.
• Finally, there are plenty of professionals in other departments whose mindset, habits and behavior reinforce this “stick to your own kind” boundary-setting.

Over time, the self-fulfilling, self-imposed boundaries on your professional stories are set in stone. Rather than being fluid and temporary steps to get to where you need to go.

Only you can liberate yourself from the self-imposed boundaries on your professional trajectory and professional story. Initially, your new story begins by no longer accepting these boundaries as universal truths for your future story. Instead, your new story continues by reaching out across the organization, to identify professionals in other departments who are equally excited about dissolving their own self-imposed professional boundaries.

Who are your new collaborative partners? Where do they reside in your organization? What are your next steps in discovering each other and impacting your professional stories. So you get to where you need to go, together?

For innovative strategies and tactics to poke holes in department silos and self-imposed boundaries, do not leave “You” up to professional development opportunities provided by your employer. Put You in your own hands, moving forward. Then, take these next steps, today.

• Why expect your employer to read your mind? Take action in planning your next team, corporate or association meeting. Engage me to present one of my Storytelling for STEM Professionals and Left Brain Thinkers speaking programs and workshops . Contact me right now, right here. 
• Download my new checklist and worksheet: Six Professional Development Targets to Hit each Month.
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Babette Ten Haken’s One Millimeter Mindset® Storytelling for STEM Professionals and Left-Brain Thinkers Speaking Programs target purpose-driven professional success. Become more visible, relevant and valuable to your organization. Find out more about Babette’s professional story here. Babette is a member of SME, ASQ, SHRM and the National Speakers Association. Her playbook of communication hacks, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com. Babette’s speaker profile is on the espeakers platform. Contact Babette here.

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