There were countless lessons that I learned throughout my career. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many of those lessons to heart and more often than not, a career that had a promising start was frequently derailed by my thick-pigheadedness. And you know that old adage, ‘one step forward and two steps backward’ – yep, that was me. More often than not, I failed to manage my career development the right way.
I don’t know if my career would have ended better or worse than it did, but I do know, that had I used my common sense and recognized the signs along the way, I could have been a better employee – and more importantly, a better person. Here were a few of my career roadblocks.
I Allowed My Ego to Get In the Way of My Career Development
My first job out of college was with a major consumer goods company that gave me the very best in training. The company manufactured sold some of America’s most respected brands. My managers and colleagues often reminded everyone that we worked for the best of the best. I allowed that to go to my head. The job didn’t last because they offered me a position that wasn’t consistent with my family’s goals.
But in subsequent jobs, I allowed the fact that I worked for such a blue chip company to go to my head. I rationalized that I had paid my dues and had earned better than the positions that were being offered. Instead of humbling myself and taking those jobs and positions that were placed in front of me, I complained that I was being essentially asked to start over. Don’t let ego get into your head. Prove your worth at every step along the way.
Performance Appraisals, Yeah, They’re Important to Your Career Development
Instead of seeing my performance appraisals as learning opportunities, I saw many of them as nothing more than undo criticism from my manager. Maybe some were, I don’t know, but I do know that most of them weren’t. Had I listened and incorporated the constructive feedback into my performance I do believe that I would have been much more successful in many of my work endeavors. Learn from your performance appraisals and incorporate that knowledge into your daily activities.
The Mentorship Thing is Real
I eschewed finding a mentor because, quite frankly, I allowed my fear of rejection to get into the way. In companies and organizations, there are many good people that are open to becoming mentors. All I needed to do was to approach one. But I didn’t. I felt I could manage my career development on my own, without the help of others. And that was a huge mistake. Don’t be like me, find a great mentor.
I Became My Own Conductor
I tried to manage my career myself. More often than not, my strategies to move upward, came from bad advice. Sometimes, I knew the advice wasn’t very good, yet I incorporated it anyways. My ‘grab the bull by the horn’ and ‘hard charging style’ turned off many managers and those willing to help me along the way. I’m sure they felt that if I wanted to go it alone, then have at it. Don’t do that with your career. Embrace those who are willing to help you and leverage all the great resources that companies provide to help you become better in your job and a more productive contributor.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to manage your career. I’ve presented just a few things that I did to create roadblocks in my roadmap of success. There are many resources available today that you can use to make sure that you don’t make some of the same mistakes that I made. Remember, the more you learn, the more you earn.
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