7 Bad Habits That
Will Severely Jeopardize Your Career in Business
Most employees find it easy to recognize
leadership, or lack of it, in others. Yet they often are oblivious to the same
traits in themselves. It's time to take a hard look in the mirror.
Are you a
career-minded business professional waiting impatiently for that appointment to
a leadership position, so you can begin demonstrating
your real leadership ability?
In reality,
you are already being evaluated for leadership by the habits and attributes you
demonstrate today--so now is the time to sharpen your focus and behavior, not
later. There are negative behaviors that can override even the best
initiatives.
Leadership is
not about how well you give orders in the role of boss--it's much more about what you do than what
you say.
In that context, here is a list of things
from my experience that you need to stop doing now to qualify as a leader.
1. Playing the blame game
Blaming something or someone for any failure,
however slight, is a sure way to get you branded as a non-leader.
Everyone makes mistakes, so accepting
responsibility and learning from the consequences rather than denying
culpability is what separates winners from losers in the longer term.
2. Publicly stressing out and worrying out
loud
Team members expect leaders to calm their
worries, not to create or amplify them. At best, worries expressed by others
come across as excuses for possible later failures.
Every leader has qualms and fears. The best
ones verbalize only their own positive ideas, so they can move ahead to
overcome their challenges.
3. Highlighting the negatives of others or
the company
Leadership is all about highlighting
positives, rather than punishing negatives among team members. People who speak
critically of co-workers, friends, and customers are positioning them as
scapegoats for later failure.
Good leaders seek private discussions for
negative feedback.
4. Coming across as being too busy to help
others
Real leaders always find time to be
accessible and listen to others. They make genuine offers to help.
Being "too busy" or overwhelmed is
the most common excuse for leadership failure. Your skills in prioritizing,
managing time, and delegating are the antidote to the busy perception.
5. Using multitasking as an excuse for
mediocrity
In every job position, the leader is the one
you count on to demonstrate integrity and quality, no matter how many
distractions or related tasks he or she is managing.
Mediocrity is a disease that will quickly
infect others, and can ultimately bring down your whole company.
6. Procrastinating and keeping your work area
unorganized
If it looks to others like you're out of
control in your present assignment, you'll never be considered for a leadership
position or more responsibility. Doing things haphazardly and procrastinating
is likely to cause errors and hinder productivity.
Co-workers are always looking for more
positive role models.
7. Failing to communicate regularly and
effectively
If you find yourself with a thousand emails
in your inbox, or if you regularly don't bother to follow up or call people
back, it's unlikely that anyone will consider you for a leadership position.
Communication must be consistent, timely, and
efficient in all media types--whether written, oral, or texted.
Some of these behaviors slip out of all of us
in extreme environments. The challenge is not to let them become habitual, and
to exhibit more good habits than bad ones.
Otherwise, the people around you will see
only your bad habits and not your accomplishments. Your reputation and morale
will suffer, your opportunities for promotions will decrease, and your
productivity will suffer.
Leadership habits and attributes don't happen
as part of a promotion, or automatically appear after years of work. The best
habits are learned by proactively taking small steps forward every day,
learning from failures, and highlighting the strengths you already have.
You can
improve them over time, and suddenly find yourself an "overnight success."
By Martin
Zwilling
http://www.inc.com/martin-zwilling/7-bad-habits-that-will-severely-jeopardize-your-career-in-business.html?cid=nl029week46day14
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