Is your Inexperience Shutting you down?

Ever had to go through the humiliation of being cut in the middle of your presentation because someone thought what you have prepared isn’t worth listening to?

It has happened to me. My work has been denied by people who are more polished, more senior and more experienced than me. The moment I get that rejection, it used to just suck out all the happiness from me. But as my work experience is growing, I’ve learnt to dust off the rejection and move forward. I try to look beyond people, explore their emotions and find out ways where I could’ve done better.

Not surprisingly, in today’s environment people like to shun others, especially juniors. This behaviour is a typical case of I-am-better-than-you syndrome. Just yesterday, I met a friend who called me in tears after attending a meeting with higher management. After spending days curiously anticipating meeting her bosses, the experience wasn’t like how she’d imagined. Noting that she has just joined the company six months back, most executives ignored her in the conversations, leaving her disheartened and thinking if it is the place she should be at?

I was shocked at the extent to they turned away their backs on her and made her feel low for being too inexperienced. Yes, as youngsters we will take our time to reach to a level where you are, and sometimes we need to learn to accept rejection of industry veterans, even when it seems like the only purpose of the latter is to thwart bubbling of new ideas. But a fine line needs to be drawn between perceptions and behaviours.