Everyone who works for someone else has to face the fact that some things will fly on a job, and some things won't. As a small business and career coach for over a decade, and someone who has directly hired and supervised over 100 people in my lifetime as a manager (all white collar employees), I've seen great workers and I've seen poor ones.
This series identifies 10 work habits that will sabotage your career.
WORK HABIT #1: Not Being Confident Enough to Act Boldly
THE BEHAVIOR PATTERN:
You will notice this at work by such behaviors as:
THE ROOT CAUSE: "I'm not good enough."
So what causes this tentative, hesitant, tepid approach to work? In a word, the feeling that you are not good enough.
1. You are not good enough to truly succeed:
People who feel this shrink back from taking on major responsibilities, especially those outside their comfort zone.
Some people feel, "if I fly too high, I'll get burned and fall." You may feel good at your set of responsibilities right now, but not about a broader set of responsibilities.
For years in one of our organizations, we've had an administrative employee who is absolutely excellent in his job. Every year we give him a raise, because he is so competent and loyal. But whenever we try to also make him a supervisor, he declines. So we are at a point where we cannot reward his competence and loyalty at any higher rate because he's truly over the ceiling for his job classification.
Why is this? I suspect because he doesn't feel good enough to supervise. He's good at administrative tasks but not people management tasks. Might be true, by the way. But how can he know without trying it?
2: You are not as good as others.
This is a more comparative approach. You look around and see how good others appear to be, how easily they appear to do their jobs, how simple it appears to be to them (notice a pattern here? "Appear"?:-) ).
True Confession: I felt that way for many, many years about one of the professions I am now in. I looked around and just felt that I would never be the powerful public speaker I saw others were. That went on for probably a couple decades until I finally discovered that I got powerful responses from audiences through my own very different style.
SOME CAREER HELP TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE
So if this article describes you in any way, here's some career coaching tips my clients have found helpful:
1. Make AN ACCURATE SELF-ASSESSMENT of your true skills. You may not FEEL comfortable doing something, but are you COMPETENT at least? There is a distinction there!
2. NOTICE when you have these thoughts of not being good enough and then CHALLENGE them. They are not necessarily true.
3. ACT more confidently until you FEEL more confident. Often, our self-limiting behaviors stop us from trying with all our abilities to make something work. Instead, make a habit of actually stepping up to the plate.
4. But...and this is important. Don't over-reach. Don't get a sudden case of bravado and volunteer for a project far above your actual ability (more on that in another article in this series). Learn to take small steps constantly. 100 small steps is far more likely to be successful than trying to take 3 giant steps. Developing your workplace skills, especially the soft skills, takes time.
4. Get a COACH. Coaching saves you time, money, heartache, and needless failure. I AM a coach and I've HAD a coach for most of the last 15 years. Believe me it has been worth every penny. Ok every dollar (coaching isn't cheap).
Developing career skills that promote career success and even career advancement over the long-term has to become a central career goal of yours.
This series identifies 10 work habits that will sabotage your career.
WORK HABIT #1: Not Being Confident Enough to Act Boldly
THE BEHAVIOR PATTERN:
You will notice this at work by such behaviors as:
- Not speaking up in a meeting even when you have something good to contribute;
- Not doing a great (beyond good or even good enough) job even when you DO have the ability to nail that assignment cold (you are unconsciously holding back);
- Not taking the time to actually get yourself organized enough to maximize your performance. So many low-confidence workers allow themselves to skate by, barely having their work lives under control, because they really aren't planning to excel. When you plan to excel, you simply HAVE to have high standards for self-organization because you know too many balls will drop otherwise.
- Coming in late, bringing projects in consistently late, forgetting meetings, dropping balls, and other frustrating (to your manager) behaviors
- Not stepping up to the plate when offered opportunities for cross-training, extra work, new tasks, and other open doors that can lead to the spotlight shining more brightly on your talent;
- Not leading your team with decisive and clear directions. Instead you tend to let them do whatever they can figure out to do or want to do.
- Avoiding eye contact, face-to-face confrontations and problem-solving (texting or emailing when face-to-face is the most appropriate and expected communication strategy).
THE ROOT CAUSE: "I'm not good enough."
So what causes this tentative, hesitant, tepid approach to work? In a word, the feeling that you are not good enough.
1. You are not good enough to truly succeed:
People who feel this shrink back from taking on major responsibilities, especially those outside their comfort zone.
Some people feel, "if I fly too high, I'll get burned and fall." You may feel good at your set of responsibilities right now, but not about a broader set of responsibilities.
For years in one of our organizations, we've had an administrative employee who is absolutely excellent in his job. Every year we give him a raise, because he is so competent and loyal. But whenever we try to also make him a supervisor, he declines. So we are at a point where we cannot reward his competence and loyalty at any higher rate because he's truly over the ceiling for his job classification.
Why is this? I suspect because he doesn't feel good enough to supervise. He's good at administrative tasks but not people management tasks. Might be true, by the way. But how can he know without trying it?
2: You are not as good as others.
This is a more comparative approach. You look around and see how good others appear to be, how easily they appear to do their jobs, how simple it appears to be to them (notice a pattern here? "Appear"?:-) ).
True Confession: I felt that way for many, many years about one of the professions I am now in. I looked around and just felt that I would never be the powerful public speaker I saw others were. That went on for probably a couple decades until I finally discovered that I got powerful responses from audiences through my own very different style.
SOME CAREER HELP TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE
So if this article describes you in any way, here's some career coaching tips my clients have found helpful:
1. Make AN ACCURATE SELF-ASSESSMENT of your true skills. You may not FEEL comfortable doing something, but are you COMPETENT at least? There is a distinction there!
2. NOTICE when you have these thoughts of not being good enough and then CHALLENGE them. They are not necessarily true.
3. ACT more confidently until you FEEL more confident. Often, our self-limiting behaviors stop us from trying with all our abilities to make something work. Instead, make a habit of actually stepping up to the plate.
4. But...and this is important. Don't over-reach. Don't get a sudden case of bravado and volunteer for a project far above your actual ability (more on that in another article in this series). Learn to take small steps constantly. 100 small steps is far more likely to be successful than trying to take 3 giant steps. Developing your workplace skills, especially the soft skills, takes time.
4. Get a COACH. Coaching saves you time, money, heartache, and needless failure. I AM a coach and I've HAD a coach for most of the last 15 years. Believe me it has been worth every penny. Ok every dollar (coaching isn't cheap).
Developing career skills that promote career success and even career advancement over the long-term has to become a central career goal of yours.
Dr. Sheldon Nix, Ph.D., has been a career coach and small business coach for nearly 12 years. Trained in psychology and coaching at several top institutions, he works with professionals and entrepreneurs at various levels to hone their career skills and maximize their potential.
So here's a 5th tip for dealing with the "I'm Not Good Enough to Be Bold" pattern: Get some of the virtual career help and career coaching offered (via video and articles) on our website designed by Dr. Nix and his team of career experts. Go to http://www.change-your-life-forever.com/career-help.html. It can change your life at work.
/ezinearticles.com
By Sheldon Nix
So here's a 5th tip for dealing with the "I'm Not Good Enough to Be Bold" pattern: Get some of the virtual career help and career coaching offered (via video and articles) on our website designed by Dr. Nix and his team of career experts. Go to http://www.change-your-life-forever.com/career-help.html. It can change your life at work.
/ezinearticles.com
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