09/23/2024

How to Stop Feeling Embarrassed at Work

These three strategies can help if it’s impacting your professional life

Imagine this: You’re working for a new company and for the first few weeks, you listen a lot and don't say much to anyone. Then, at an all-hands meeting, you are asked to say a few words. You start out with a short joke, and it immediately falls flat. You feel your cheeks flush and stare at the floor in embarrassment, and ultimately find it hard to continue speaking.

What you experience in that moment is one of the several inter-related negative emotions that people experience after doing something wrong. These are: shame, guilt and embarrassment. Shame and guilt are stronger emotions than embarrassment, and generally involve actions that have a strong moral component. Embarrassment is usually experienced as a result of public situations. It reflects a feeling that you are being judged negatively.

Even though it feels bad in the moment, there can be a lot of value in embarrassment. Success at work is affected by how well you do your job; it's also influenced by what other people think of you. An emotion that makes you more sensitive to the reactions other people have can help you to be aware of things you have done that may have lowered your standing in the group. So, if you do something every once in a while that leads to embarrassment, that's healthy.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.