The day I hit the glass ceiling

I still remember the day I hit the glass ceiling.

Thump. There I was, sitting in an empty meeting room, tears streaming down my face. I felt helpless and alone. It was the day that changed my life forever.

I hadn’t planned on it.

But then again, life doesn’t always go to plan.

To me, that is what resilience is. No matter what life throws at us, we decide how we handle it.

 “The capacity to recover quickly from difficulty and toughness”

Sometimes it is easier said than done. It was hard. For over a decade I had given my best to that company. It was a part of who I was, and separating was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.

No matter what life throws at us, we have a choice.

These were the choices I made.

I chose to be flexible

I decided to use this opportunity to reassess my career. It was during that time I connected with who I am. Not the position title, not the company, not the job but who I am. I learnt to look outside the box and reimage what I could be.

I chose to focus on who I am

What are my strengths? When am I the most creative? What do I love to do? What am I passionate about? What is my purpose? How can I find opportunities to do what I do best, every day?

These were the questions that I kept asking myself. Knowing who I am, helped me build my resilience.

I chose to look at the bigger picture

Life is a journey, not a 100-meter sprint. I know how hard it can be, especially when you are animist of it. But know this, your career is more than one job. I chose to focus on the positives, and look at the bigger picture.

These three choices helped me build my resilience. It’s been over a year now, and I’m so thankful that I went through this. It’s because of this experience that I have found who I am and what I can do.

Resilience is something that you can develop. No matter what life throws at us, we have a choice.

This has been Angie Paskevicius’ philosophy. Over her 30-year career, she has risen over challenges and personal setbacks. This has been the foundation of her leadership. She is the CEO of Holyoake a leading not for profit providing drug and alcohol rehabilitation services. Angie was awarded WA Telstra Business Women of the Year 2015 and is a finalist in 2017 West Australian of the Year.

I’m so honoured that Angie will be sharing her personal story at our next Accelerator Breakfast for our Perth network. Join us as she shares her story of resilience and how that has shaped her views on leadership.