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Zenica Chatman is a life coach with a professional background in journalism and communications. While working as a communication strategist in what she initially excitedly thought of as her dream job, Zenica became the victim of workplace bullying by her manager. She felt like she was really crushing it at work, and yet her manager found ways to make even her strengths seem like a bad thing. She was continually put down and told that she was the weakest team member regardless of her attempts to make improvements. Looking back at her performance evaluations and skills assessments, Zenica soon realized that there was no factual basis for any of the bullying she received about her job performance. After doing some research, Zenica learned that 30% of American workers report being the victim of workplace bullying. 

 

“The new job did not heal me from the trauma that I experienced in the old job. That same person who didn't have any confidence, who was taking an hour to send simple emails, she went right on into that next job. And so there was a lot of inner work that I had to do in order to get back to the person that's talking to you today,” shares Zenica Chatman, life coach. If you are being bullied at work, you are at a higher risk of burnout. Between working harder to try to stay ahead of the criticism, stress over being talked down to, and the fear surrounding the possibility of needing to change jobs, there are a lot of factors that tend to pile up and cause burnout. Workplace bullying destroys confidence and often does not have a satisfying resolution from the company. It is important to learn how to move forward and heal from workplace bullying in order to succeed at your next job. 

 

Workplace bullying is unfortunately a common experience, even with remote workers. Bullies often convince you to believe lies about yourself, so it is important to stay clear on the facts. Tune into today’s episode of FRIED. The Burnout Podcast for a conversation with Zenica Chatman about how to recover from workplace bullying, so that it does not lead to burnout. 

 

Quotes

· “I was in an environment where even my strengths now are being used against me.” (8:07-8:11 | Zenica)

· “That was the summer that George Floyd was murdered. And so it sparked this whole conversation in the workplace about diversity, equity, and inclusion. And I was in all of these different social media groups and on all these different chats, and I was hearing the stories of other women of color, mostly black women, who were having identical situations to me. And that was very scary to me, that these women that I didn't know in different states in different industries, we're all describing exactly the same scenario. And that just prompted me to say, is this a thing? Is workplace bullying a thing? Is that real, did I make that up? And come to find out, no, I didn't make it up. Actually, 30% of American workers report being bullied.” (8:42-9:32 | Zenica) 

· “I think particularly when you're a woman in the workplace, and when you're a person of color, you know when you're being mistreated, but we all will start to lie to ourselves because we don't want to be that person. We don't want to be that person of color that says, ‘I think I'm being discriminated against,’ for whatever reason.” (14:39-14:56 | Zenica)

· “The new job did not heal me from the trauma that I experienced in the old job. That same person who didn't have any confidence, who was taking an hour to send simple emails, she went right on into that next job. And so there was a lot of inner work that I had to do in order to get back to the person that's talking to you today.” (24:05-24:29 | Zenica) 

· “Once I saw on that StrengthsFinder that what they said was not true in black and white. They said I wasn't a good communicator, but my actual assessment says that I was. Went back through old assessments, communication was always at the top and never, ever, ever not been a great communicator. And I started to say, what other lies did they try to put in your spirit that are not true? And so I started to peel back all the lies and I got very clear about what was true.” (29:49-30:18 | Zenica)

· “Those environments have a way of making you believe things about yourself that are not true. So what's the lie that your environment has tried to put on you that is absolutely not true? And then replace it with the actual truth.” (30:53-31:07 | Zenica)

· “Usually, HR is not going to help you. So you have to learn how to validate the experience for yourself so that you can move forward without resolution from the company.” (31:56-32:09 | Zenica)

· “Why am I going to kill myself for a job that if I die tomorrow, they won't even trouble themselves to call my mother and send her a card? Because now I have clarity on what is important to me, and I don't feel like I'm sacrificing anything when I set boundaries for myself.” (56:10-56:37 | Zenica)

 

Links

 

https://cuely.ai/FRIED

 

https://bearaby.com

 

Connect with Zenica Chatman:

Website: https://www.zenicachatman.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/z_chatman/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenapministry/?hl=en

XOXO,

C

 

If you know that it’s time to actually DO something about the burnout cycle you’ve been in for too long - book your free consult today: bit.ly/callcait

 

https://friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/quiz

 

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm