More Answers... (06/15/25 Newsletter): Learning & Choices

The "More Answers..." Newsletter

Hi Everyone,

Here's your Sunday Evening "More Answers..." to get a friendly boost from me to setup your work week!

Remember to sign up for the newsletter for bonus material!! (https://www.askchrista.com/newsletter/) 

Choices, choices, choices...

Last week's two episodes included tips about making brave choices,including the ones we all have to make in situations where we may feel, at best, confused about how to respond or, at worst, intimidated no matter which response we make.

Episode 15 was about giving feedback to habitually defensive team members and Episode 16 was about managing a boss who chronically interrupts his employee in front of their team.

After years of helping different companies work better, what I've come to know is this: working better starts with how we treat each other in the workplace, and we always have choices.

Christa, if the economy isn't good, we don't have many choices to move on from a toxic work environment, do we?

This is true if you believe your only choice is to find a new employer AND you're in a niche market where not a lot of companies may hire for your

skills AND you're at an executive level where not a lot of companies are hiring at your level...

But you still have choices.

And managing difficult situations at work isn't always about finding a new job. That should be a last resort (though I understand sometimes it's the first resort, and yes, I've been there!!).

We all know how daunting and stressful it can be to find a new job, and as I tell everyone: it's always better to walk TO your next job than run FROM your current job, especially if you want to open up your choices.

But I've reported to quite a few nightmare bosses myself-- while being the provider of my family-- and I'm here to say: even when it feels like you don't have a lot of choices because you have to pay the bills and have health care and dental benefits, you DO have choices beyond having to find employment elsewhere or while you seek employment elsewhere.

No matter what, learning is always a choice, and can be liberating...

If you find yourself in a toxic work environment, take time to ratchet back on the pace of work and redirect your time to developing yourself. Even the worst bosses can't easily argue a "no" if you pitch your interest in developing yourself, and often it could mean redirecting 10% of your work week to a 3-month development cycle.

Of course, you have to be earnest and savvy: the development should be related to how you might increase the performance of the team, the department, and/or the organization; the development should be related to your current or future job based on a job track; and the development should be within the bounds of Learning & Development policies and/or budget so that it's fair across your team.

But your choice to develop yourself can and will have profound effects on how manageable a bad situation is at work:

• You gain some intellectual refreshment, overall;
• You move into a new environment during the development, usually offsite at a different place with different people and a different energy;
• You gain perspective by working with non-coworkers over the course(perhaps 3-5 days);
• You actually DO get to develop and fill in some gaps that will make you a stronger and better employee; AND...
• Networking, networking, networking...

All of those are effects of development, and highly suitable to break up the inertia of working in what feels like a toxic environment.

"But, Christa, my organization doesn't offer ANY budget for learning and development..."

I understand how this feels. I think we all do. I've worked in more companies turning around than growing, where bonuses were paused, 401K matches were halted, and things got to the bare minimums as we recovered, rebuilt,and kept a business running. There was no budget, but I still requested time for independent study to pursue learning for four hours a week without going off the clock.

As a PMP®, I'm required to keep up with Continuing Education Units, so if you have a professional affiliation, seek what development your membership provides. If you are not, consider joining one. They usually have an affordable annual fee, and if it's in the interest of your company, they may pay for it (most are at or under $500/year). Professional affiliations often provide a variety of development opportunities.

If it's still a "no," then fine-- seek out free resources (see below for a list), and refresh yourself with learning.

You ALWAYS have choices.

Focus Your Learning on Essential Business Skills...

No, not finance. Essential business skills have to do with getting the best out of yourself and others with a healthy perspective, solid skills, and lots of practice:

• negotiations
• conflict management
• listening
• giving and receiving feedback
• managing interpersonal dynamics in a team

Sharpening up and learning about THESE skills will empower you, equip you with daily tools, give you language and means to manage through your day, take the stress and strain off of figuring it out on your own, and make you an ace to work with.

BOOSTER FOR YOUR WEEK!!!  FREE, LEGIT LEARNING RESOURCES! (you're welcome)

edX:

edX. (n.d.). Enroll in online courses with certificates | edX.https://www.edx.org/courses?q=free+online+courses

Harvard:

Catalog of courses. (n.d.). Harvard University.https://pll.harvard.edu/catalog/free

MIT:

MIT OpenCourseWare. (n.d.). MIT OpenCourseWare. https://ocw.mit.edu/

MOOC (part of edX):

Mooc.org. (n.d.). MOOC.org | Massive Open Online courses | An EDX site.https://www.mooc.org/

Stanford:

Veena. (2022, December 7). Free online courses | Stanford online. StanfordOnline. https://online.stanford.edu/free-courses

The Open University:

Open learning. (n.d.). Open Learning. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses

And of course YouTube has a wealth of resources available, too.

(Don't forget: if you have a business challenge or workplace issue-- Ask Christa!)