
01 Nov Rejection Sucks. Avoid it Next Time.
You just got the call.
The promotion you pursued, the job you applied for, the audition you worked so hard to prepare for…you didn’t get it and that sucks. It hurts and feels like a personal rejection. Because we’re so busy taking it personally, we might miss the lessons that come from failing.
First of all, let go of the notion that it’s all about you. That’s hard to do when it was your head on the plate, but not choosing you was likely the product of all kinds of factors that had nothing to do with you. The parts that did have to do with you are the only ones you can control, and having some insight into where you fell short is incredibly helpful. If you have any opportunity to get feedback on what worked and didn’t, take it! We learn much more from our failures than we do from our successes, and how we recover from those failures is the truly telling piece.
Working with thousands of clients over the years, there is a common thread that runs through failure, and it’s the communication piece.
- You asked for too much money? That’s practical, but it’s also how you positioned and justified the number.
- Your experience didn’t quite line up with the requirements of the project or position? Maybe you didn’t draw on the examples that were a perfect fit because you forced yourself into a script that “works for all occasions”. Like marketing to everyone means marketing to no one, sticking to one account or version of your story for all audiences and occasions will fail, and you with it.
- You focused on tasks, responsibilities and titles so they never got a chance to know who you are, what you stand for and what matters. We do business with people we like, people we perceive as being like us, and people we believe we can trust.
Fixing some of those super common problems is pretty straightforward and you don’t have to commit to an endless relationship that costs you loads of money. I’m prepared to guarantee that if I can’t come up with a strategic solution to what ails ya after our first session together, you don’t have to pay me a dime.