I’ve never worried much about being left out of meetings. I have enough of them on my calendar and I assume people know where to find me when they need me. If I’m left out, they can either bring me up to speed later or maybe it wasn’t relevant to me based on the agenda.
Too many times, I hear people talking about being “out of the loop”. The thing is…there is no loop. It’s about connections and adding value to your network. Doing your job well. The trick is knowing your strengths and asserting them in the appropriate times and places. If you do, it’s relatively safe to assume you’ll be represented even when you are not in the room.
It’s always possible that you are simply not the right fit for the role and that your fear is legitimate. Rather than stress, that’s the time to either close the gaps in your skill set to make yourself more valuable – or to find another role. Either path will take time and patience, so best to get started quickly.
Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash