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7 Toxic Attitudes That Can Harm Your Career

September 10, 2010 RSS Feed Print

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Michael Wade

There are certain attitudes that you will not find among successful employees. These attitudes resemble illnesses and if left unchecked, can destroy careers. Here are some of the most common:

1. “If they promote me, I’ll show them how capable I am.” This person has the process exactly reversed. Capability needs to be demonstrated in order to secure the promotion. This means doing far more than the basics of the job. It requires extraordinary performance and loads of initiative.

[See 15 Ways Good Bosses Keep Their Best Employees.]

2. “I won’t turn down any requests because I want to have a reputation as a can-do person.” This is more controversial. I know of some consultants who recommend this approach. Unfortunately, there are some projects that will consume too much time and will seriously inhibit the successful performance of other, more important projects. A person who overpromises and then underperforms is unlikely to succeed. The successful person knows his or her limitations and carefully explains the choice of priorities. You succeed both by the projects you take on and the ones you avoid.

3. “I’m going to stick with this until I make it a success.” Persistence is admirable, but it can become foolish. The persistent person needs to learn when to drop projects that have become a drain of resources and time.

[See How to Ruin Your Work Reputation Slowly.]

4. “I’m a turn-around artist.” That may be the case and there's no doubt that such skills can be sorely needed. Turn-around artists should recognize, however, that they have short shelf lives. Eventually, management will want to put this wizard into another hot spot. If the turn-around artist wants to stay put, new skills will have to be acquired and new expectations negotiated.

5. “I don’t need people skills. I’m in a technical position.” If the lack of people skills is not noticeable, the techie may be safe. If it becomes an issue, a very harsh lesson may be coming.

6. “I’m a perfectionist.” That's all well and good, but the perfectionist had better be able to meet deadlines. As Ronald Reagan quipped about his B-movie career, “They didn’t want it good. They wanted it Thursday.”

[Find more job advice at U.S. News Careers.]

7. “I don’t have time to schmooze.” Finding some would be wise. Isolation from others keeps out important information and reduces influence. It can be amazing how much can be accomplished today because time was taken for a cup of coffee with another manager six months ago.

Michael Wade writes Execupundit.com, an eclectic combination of management advice, observations, and links. A partner with the Phoenix firm of Sanders Wade Rodarte Consulting Inc., he has advised private and public-sector organizations for more than 30 years.

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AC,
I completely agree with your observations.
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
Michael

Michael Wade of AZ 8:41PM September 11, 2010

This is a great article with some simple, yet meaty food for thought.
But, I must say I struggle with some of the remarks you provide for #1. "Demonstrating capability" does not necessarily secure promotion. There are quite a few people I've seen who clearly deserved promotion, but due to many factors - some beyond their control - they cannot get promoted. I'm not talking about excuses for lack of execution, I'm talking about the corporate culture, a lack of defined promotion/career paths, a professionally jealous boss, etc. that could all be playing a part.
When I was a new secretary at a large company, I volunteered for extra projects, took on new responsibilities often, and frequently went above and beyond my core job duties - and delivered high quality results on time every time. My hope was to eventually work my way up to a Project Admin/Coordinator type position. However, when the time came for my review, I found out the hard way that those types of promotions simply didn't exist for that role. In this particular company, once a secretary, always a secretary (that limitation has since changed).
The moral of the story is, before you beat yourself up trying to "prove yourself", and then wondering why you are never promoted, make sure promotion is possible. It may not be. Ideally, you find this out before accepting the position in the first place...
However, for people who are already "there" and are executing #1's advice to the letter, yet are still stagnant should schedule a meeting with their boss to talk about career path opportunities. Don't wait around for the once-a-year review cycle, because then it will be too late. If they know in advance you want to move up, they can do any required pre-work on their side (and possibly schedule you for training, if needed) before your next review comes up.

AC of OH 1:03PM September 10, 2010