Here are some common slip-ups and how to avoid them, so you can stay on the fast-track path to career success. Assuming you want to move forward in your career, avoid these common mistakes that could be sabotaging your own progress.
It is alarmingly simple to sabotage your own career. An insensitive comment, your weekend on social media, or a remark in a room full of politically correct colleagues. Any one of these situations can brand you with the scarlet letter of an untrustworthy, unstable, or poor decision-making employee. Knowing the common traps helps you to avoid them.
Here are five ways to single-handedly self-sabotage your career.
- Cross the Boundaries with TMI
Too much information, or TMI, crosses workplace boundaries that should remain off limits. One of the most self-sabotaging ways to impact your career is to offer too much information. This may come in the form of a negative remark about a former boss or a co-worker who made a mistake on an important task. When you display a lack of emotional intelligence by offering too much information about someone else or yourself, your career may suffer the consequence. - Mismanage Social Media
Horror stories abound regarding social media and mistakes that have cost many their jobs. Uploading a photo from a wild weekend could go viral in the office and end up in the wrong hands. Be mindful of pictures you upload to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Avoid ranting about co-workers, your boss, or office problems. Disgruntled posts about colleagues and clients are not an act of vindication, but self-sabotage. - Become Complacent with Your Skillset
When you allow your skills to stagnate you eliminate your ability to bring something fresh to the job. It is important, especially if you want to advance in your career, to keep your skills up-to-date. People with gaps in their ongoing education are not as marketable as those who stay polished. If you plan to move up the ladder, you must keep your industry skills current. - Stalk Your Mentor
While stalking may seem like a strong word, becoming overly aligned with your boss, supervisor, or mentor can be detrimental to your career. It is important to maintain a healthy relationship with your boss, but when relationships are taken to extreme, your career may suffer. To avoid over-alignment diversify your workplace relationships and avoid becoming attached at the hip with those who mentor you. - Hold a Grudge and Declare Office War
Office conflict is inevitable. It is how you handle it that either sabotages your career or makes you a stronger individual. Rather than holding a grudge against the colleague who beat you out of the corner office, congratulate them and vow to yourself to work harder. Too often petty problems arise in the workplace and cause negative situations. No matter how hurt or angry you are, never send off that improper email or get into a verbal attack with anyone at work. It could cost you your reputation and your career.
