I’ve got a confession: feeling like I’m in control is a lot more comfortable for me than feeling like I can’t determine or influence an outcome.

One of the areas where I feel it the most is thinking about careers and my professional life. Based on what I know of my friends and colleagues, I’m not alone in this feeling.

Careers genuinely have been a place where there is so much out of our hands, and an uncertain economy can make that feel even more obvious.

No matter the macroeconomic context, we can’t influence how organizations change, markets and industries evolve, when leadership transitions, who our teammates are or how they act. We cannot control hiring, firing, and promotional decisions. We can’t even control how others perceive us.

The only thing that is absolutely in our power is how we choose to show up.

(Believe me, I wish I could influence more than that 😆)

In times of uncertainty, change, or just a lot going on, we can center ourselves on two key questions.

1. What is it like to work with me?
2. How am I showing through my actions that I want to be here?

Whether you’re a few weeks into a new job or 30+ years into your career, I believe these two questions can recalibrate you, no matter what you’re facing in your job, industry, or team.

Let’s break them down a little bit.

What’s it like to work with me?

I spend a lot of time talking to entry-level professionals about how getting tasks or projects done is not enough. It’s great if you accomplish what you’ve been asked to do, but the “how” matters just as much. Think about it this way:

• If you complete what you’re asked to, but you make it really challenging or miserable for others involved, they won’t want to work with you again.
• If you promise others things or tell them what they want to hear with no follow-up, they will lose trust in your competence and integrity.
• If you wait until the last minute to complete tasks and then make your priority others’ priority (when it really isn’t), people will feel like you’re not considerate or respectful of their time or capacity.

This question challenges us to think about not only what is on our “to do” list, but the way in which we should approach that.

Getting the job done is literally the bare minimum, and the “how” is where our personal brand is built. How we interact with others and show up consistently in our work builds both our credibility and people’s desire to work with us again.

Here are some traits or skills I look for in people I work with and who I try to be at work:

• Communicates proactively and purposefully
• Follows through & does what they said they will
• Is genuine in building a relationship & doesn’t just want something from me (or doesn’t say what they think others want to hear)
• Takes accountability & admits when making mistakes or impacting others
• Is consistent & reliable
• Embraces humility & cares about the team purpose more than their ego

Taking a step back to analyze how you’ve treated your teammates and stakeholders around you is a helpful tool to ensure that you are showing up in the way that you want to, not just acting out of “autopilot.”

How am I showing through my actions that I want to be here?

This question isn’t about proving loyalty to an employer, sacrificing your boundaries, or pretending everything is great when you don’t feel that way. It’s about asking: while I am choosing to be here, does the way I’m showing up reflect the kind of employee, teammate, and professional I want to be?

To me, “wanting to be here” doesn’t mean loving every part of your job or knowing you want to stay forever. It means that if you’re choosing to occupy this role today, your actions should reflect some level of care for the work, the people depending on you, and the commitments you’ve made.

That’s where our everyday behaviors matter. We can say we’re invested in our team, interested in growing, or ready for more responsibility…but what do our patterns communicate?

Although we can’t guarantee what happens in the future, we can keep coming back to what matters most in this season. What about this work challenges or motivates me? What do I care about contributing to? What commitments have I made to the people around me? What kind of professional do I want to be while I’m here?

When we care about the work, the people depending on us, or the contribution we want to make, that usually becomes visible through our actions.

And if we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes our actions don’t always match our intentions. We may desire to do the very best we can, but we slip in our habits. Maybe we show up late frequently, we communicate only when we absolutely have to, or we seem so busy that no one can actually get ahold of us when they need us. None of that may be our intent, but those patterns still communicate something to the people around us.

We’re not expected to be perfect, and others’ perceptions should not be the only measure of how we’re doing. But there’s still value in gut-checking our patterns once in a while, especially when it comes to how our behavior affects the people around us. We can easily go through the motions or slip into habits that we don’t mean to.

If we don’t take a step back to consider what our patterns are in the workplace or how we’re showing up, we may never realize the message we think we’re sending is very different from the message received by our manager, teammates, and coworkers.

No matter where we work or what we’re doing, how we choose to show up every single day matters. It’s what builds our brand, and more importantly, it’s what builds who we are.

In whatever season you’re in, I hope you spend less time trying to control everything and more energy focusing on what you can directly influence and impact – how you show up, how you treat people, and the kind of professional you’re becoming.