How to turn opposition into opportunity at work

“Turn your opposition into opportunity”.

I was listening to a sermon by one of my absolute favorite pastors in the world, Pastor T.D. Jakes, and this phrase he used single-handedly changed my perspective on the whole concept of opposition, especially at work.

How many times do we feel “stuck” because someone, whether it’s the boss, the boss’ boss, or even a colleague, is a source of opposition for us? How many times do we feel unmotivated, defeated, and unsure of ourselves, because someone or even a set of seemingly unfortunate circumstances, puts a wall smack down in the middle of our career path?

The boss just decides they no longer like us, and starts taking away opportunities and promotions from us.

A colleague decides they have to undermine you in order for him/her to advance at your expense.

All hell’s breaking loose at home, and you can’t concentrate to get the job done at work.

It could be anything really. Or maybe you’re just not as passionate about what you’re doing, and every slight mistake you’re making is being pinned to you to bring you down.

We all face opposition at work from time to time. For some of us, it may be a daily thing. You may be walking in the office with your armor on every day, ready to go for battle on that quarterly report, or that year-end project. And many a times, it can wreak havoc on our personal lives, seeping into our relationships and family life.

What do you do when opposition strikes at work, and you still have to make a paycheck and show up every day? Do you just lift your hands to the sky, pack up and give up? Do you stay and blindly strike back, at the expense of ruining your health and relationships in and outside of work?

When I heard Pastor T.D. Jakes talk about turning opposition into opportunity, it took me back to all those times at work, when I personally either left because I thought I couldn’t deal. Or stayed and waged a blind fight against anything and everything, failing to recognize the real problem or solve it for that matter.

Yet, if we take a moment to stop and think about what this opposition really means in our careers, and actually devise ways to leverage it instead of falling prey to it, we may just turn the whole thing to our advantage. Opposition is neither bad nor good, it’s like change, it just is and opportunity to look around and at what you’re doing, and re-position yourself in a better way:

Opposition is a sign that you may be doing something right.

Yes, even when it seems all your boss can see are your mistakes. Or the office gossip has you looking like the department’s villain. Because work is a lot like life, in that if you’re not doing anything barely noticeable, you’re not very likely to be noticed, or opposed for that matter.

So instead of taking the opposition as a sign that your career has come to a screeching halt, or that you’re doing something terribly bad, take it as a sign that you may be doing something right. That in the middle of the muddy waters of work, there may actually be gems you can use to propel yourself forward.

Opposition points you to something you must learn.

Every time I’ve faced opposition, I’ve had something to learn. In every seed of opposition, there’s a nugget of wisdom to be extracted, squeezed and actually turned into your competitive advantage.

What type of criticism are you facing? Is your performance being blamed? Play the detective, and gather all the arguments making up your opposition, and sit down with the whole thing for a while. What can you learn from it? What’s the hidden message behind it?

Even better, go straight to your opposition, and ask what they think you can do better. It may be going to the boss who constantly belittles you, and ask them for constructive feedback. Or the colleague who spreads rumors about you, and seek their opinion.

In all cases, there’s always something you must learn for yourself. For me, it meant developing my own perseverance and self-confidence in the faith of obstacles. What is it for you?

Opposition is a fuel to Excellence.

There’s no better time to go for the gold then when you have a wall of opposition stand before you. It may seem counter-intuitive, but using the fuel of frustration and dissatisfaction created by the feeling of constantly being opposed, can actually work wonders in your performance.

Every time you face opposition, turn the resulting lack of motivation and defeated attitude into fuel. Fuel to do more, to do better, to close up every gap in your performance and attitude that could be shot at.

And whatever you do, take a few minutes to wallow into your temporary frustration, buy the shoes, and keep going…