Ariane Hunter, a speaker, author and career equity expert, wrote a piece last month on LinkedIn that we think offers valuable insight on communicating your own needs in the workplace.. She asks the question: What is self-advocacy and why do so many of us as Black women struggle to effectively communicate our needs at work?
Last year, Hunter found herself in a situation where her company was returning to the office, but knowing she did her best work at home and wanting the flexibility that it allowed her, she knew this was not going to work for her. While the reasons may be different, this is a situation many survivors have faced during the shifting work landscape of the last few years. Cancer and Careers often says the only definite no is to the question not asked, turns out Hunter’s mother thinks so too as she shares “As my mother says, You don't ask, you don't get. No truer words have been spoken.” She spoke up and successfully negotiated a full-time remote position.
Hunter goes on to say, “When it comes to advocating for yourself, it starts with knowing yourself. This includes knowing what you need to do your best work, knowing your limits, your boundaries and most importantly protecting your energy against toxicity at all costs.”
Cancer and Careers knows how hard it can be to set boundaries and advocate for yourself, but it may be necessary when navigating work after a diagnosis. You may need to ask for a reasonable accommodation to make a modification to the way your job is currently done. You may need to shift a long-standing meeting to accommodate an important doctor appointment or treatment. You may need to utilize the swivel to shift conversations away from your cancer recovery to stay focused on the task at hand. All of these are forms of self-advocacy that may feel uncomfortable because you’re not used to putting yourself or your needs first in the workplace.
“For so long, many of us have been taught to shrink and take up as little space as possible,” Hunter said. “We have been conditioned to adjust to the needs of the world first rather than center our own. When we suppress our needs it sends the message that your needs don’t matter.”
The article also includes a video interview with Hunter and career coach Letisha Bereola where they discuss the need to preserve energy. Hunter says, “For a lot of us, especially as black women…it feels like we are armoring to go into a battlefield, which is our workplace for the day. ‘Should I speak up in this scenario?’ ‘Do I address every microaggression that I encounter?’” Ultimately, she advises to ask the question, “How much is that worth your energy in that moment?” This will help you asses whether the thing bothering you at work is worth the energy to try to change it. She is honest that sometimes the best thing you can do for your mental health is just brush it off and save your energy for something that matters more. Asking yourself these questions is a tool you can use to determine whether it’s worth the potential conflict or reaction.
Read Hunter’s full article here.
Finally, we are thrilled to have Ariane Hunter as a speaker in our Balancing Work & Cancer webinar series later this year. You can register for her session Marketing Yourself: Job Search and Beyond, and the other remaining sessions—including the two-part Communicating Effectively—for the year, by clicking here.