The whole idea of the glass ceiling or bottleneck comes from the theory of constraints. So where is the bottleneck that prevents you from growing beyond the level you are currently at? What is that? Where is the glass ceiling?
Eli Goldratt came up with this idea[1]. Imagine you have a factory that bakes loaves of bread. Then you think you're going to increase production because of increased demand. The bottleneck may then initially be that you need more ingredients to make the bread.
How many loaves of bread can the baking machine bake per hour?
So you fill that up and it's going well, but you only have 1 person packing the loaves. Suddenly that person has to do 20 times as much.
Imagine if that packer already didn't have much time for that, then that person won't make it on their own. That's then the bottleneck.
So you hire 5 people and it goes like a tieler.
But where do you put the loaves before they are picked up? So extra closet space.
Who picks them up and when? Always 1 person, but they have to come more often now and so on and so forth.
Then you find out that you don't have enough bakers selling your bread and you need to find more distribution outlets.
The botleneck then is not the machine, or people, but the delivery capabilities. This sounds very simple, but in practice it is still quite complicated to figure out.
Looking at your relationship, work or business, you can create a current reality tree, current reality tree, to see where your troublesome spot is, where your glass ceiling is.
You do this layer by layer, until you find that place where your bottleneck is.
Then you start making a plan on how to solve this.
In a business, relationship or at work, you are the bottleneck yourself. Somewhere you may be thinking something, doing something, acting a certain way that just isn't working so well anymore.
It may have worked well once when you made 5 loaves of bread a day, so to speak, but now with 2,000 loaves, it doesn't work anymore. Now you need different actions and thoughts than back then. Maybe you need to believe different things.
Then we talk about beliefs.
In the early years of my business, I also encountered such a bottleneck. My uncle had said to me, "Ed boy, don't start that now, because you are not an entrepreneur."
In my subconscious, I came to believe that. As a result, I was fighting something somehow. You can keep pushing then, but it won't go by the wayside. In this case, this was my belief.
So then I solved that . It does help with my work that I can do this, because I also help people with it. The next year I had 3 times as much revenue. Now turnover is not necessarily very significant, but for that moment it was a fine indicator.
I went from $30,000 to my first year with $100,000 and it was truly magical. This was in 2010. I don't remember doing different things, but what I do remember is that I started thinking differently.
Now I'm up against one of those glass ceilings again, somewhere there's another bottleneck. But now I'm working with 20 people. That bottleneck can now be with me or with others in the organization. So I have to figure that out now.
Imagine not having a business or such an organization. Then look into your relationships or your work. For example, your job satisfaction. That is also something to pursue.
What should I do more or less of? Can I outsource something or do it at a different time so I go home with more joy.
With relationship, okay, how do you get more relationship joy? Where is the bottleneck there? What am I doing, what am I not doing, what should I do less, what should I do more and why am I not doing it that way yet.
Also, don't get hypnotized by the superficial that you do know, but really dare to peel off that layer about why you do the way you do. Dare to be honest about that, because then you will come up with interesting ideas and surprises, because when you solve that again you will grow tremendously and I grant you that.
Also listen to this podcast:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/195236/2097789-wat-is-nu-jouw-bottleneck?play=true
Glass ceiling as a woman
The glass ceiling is another bottleneck you may encounter. This term is primarily because of the phenomenon that women are less likely to be in top management than men. This is often referred to as the glass ceiling. However, research shows that women can indeed break this ceiling, but some things need to be figured out to do so.
For example, it can be helpful to learn how to cope when men use stereotypes against you. It is helpful to learn how to deal with the "old boys network," which people you choose to learn from and how to balance work and personal life, how to set your personal goals and what style of leadership you want to demonstrate[2].
Surely that's quite a list where you may take a look at your own beliefs about how to deal with this to turn it to your advantage.
Then you have Queen Bee syndrome, and no this is not about Beyoncé (well something I thought at first).
This syndrome has been described since the 1970s. This is about the phenomenon that women in leadership positions are less likely to give other women a promotion because they think they are less committed to work (may have something to do with work-life balance and the thoughts women have about it in relation to other women)[3].
So even if you have a female manager, you can say something about how dedicated you are to work, just to be sure. Just so she doesn't overlook you. Just in case you are not yet standing up for yourself enough precisely because a woman is "above" you.
What is interesting is that many women do not see the glass ceiling in their lives. So they don't feel they suffer from it, but men think women suffer from the glass ceiling[4].
Reflect to break your ceiling
So the way you view yourself and your environment affects how you act and how much success you achieve. Your idea of who you are yourself (like whether or not I'm a real entrepreneur) has a lot of influence on how you function, what you think is expected of you, and what you feel involved with or not[5].
So if you find that you are not moving forward, it may be that your idea of your identity needs to be adjusted so that you can function differently and perhaps become more involved in processes that move you forward instead of processes that keep you where you are now.
In education, it is also indicated that not having an identity of someone learning can cause students to block. That students even begin to block themselves, causing them to stop themselves in their development, personal growth and in what they are learning[6].
So by seeing yourself as a learning person, you can also learn through experiences.
Hypnosis to break your ceiling
Hypnosis can help you change the way you feel about yourself and what you can do in many ways. First, hypnotherapy can help you figure out where your bottleneck or glass ceiling is coming from.
This can be done, for example, by having a Socratic conversation, or something similar, while in hypnosis. Then the why question, or a variation of it, is repeated several times to get to the heart of your problem. The belief that is causing you to get no further than where you are now.
Then you can use a variety of techniques to see where that belief is coming from or how to simply do things differently. Depending on how big or small the problem is, you can use a technique for this.
With regression, for example, you often address issues that bother your life in a somewhat larger way, while the Swish technique can be used to change behaviors, for example.
For example, if you want to eat healthier, the Swish technique can be used.
Want to learn more about how hypnosis can help you break through your glass ceiling? Then come to the free online master class on hypnosis.
Or enroll directly in one of Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' training courses to help yourself or others.
Sources:
[1] https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/01443579810199720/full/html
[2] https://www.buzzsprout.com/195236/2097789-wat-is-nu-jouw-bottleneck?play=true
[3] https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/0144666042037999
[4] http://journals.euser.org/index.php/ejms/article/view/1686
[5] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1354060042000337093
[6] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-26342-3_7
