Blog Post: Career CPR – Steps to take before your job is DOA

You openly disparaged a co-worker in the past, and now he's been promoted and is your boss. He's well aware of your feelings, since you’ve shared them with almost anyone who would listen.

You’ve been making the same type of mistakes for years and your boss has always covered for you, believing you were a company superstar. Unfortunately, your boss has a new boss, and the new boss doesn’t agree with her assessment of your value.

You shared confidential information with your friends one night at a restaurant. Your customer, sitting at the next table, overhears, and is aghast at your lack of sensitivity.

You use a four-letter word in front of the Board of Directors, after hearing one of them use one.

Your career needs CPR, and quickly. While it’s important to make mistakes and learn from them, some situations don’t provide a second chance. What’s worse? You may not even realize you’ve been sidelined.  With 50% of executives being let go within three years, and 40% of new employees being let go, it’s important that you’re proactive in your employment.

What do you do?

According to Roger Herman, CEO of The Herman Group, 35%-40% of today’s workers are actively looking for another job. And 85% of the nation’s workers expected to be employed by a company different from their current one within 12 months. What’s more, a “substantial portion” of those who will leave their jobs will subsequently leave their new jobs within 6-10 months.

First: Get clear as to what you’ve done, and own it. If you’ve been passed over for the better assignments, realize that it’s no accident! You can’t change what you’re unwilling to own. Pretending it’s their problem, or that you only did what everyone else does, won’t help you. Also remember, the higher up the corporate ladder you climb, the less they are interested in your technical abilities and the more they rely on the quality of your people savvy.

Second: Hire a coach, preferably from outside the company, so that what you share doesn’t come back to bite you in the future. Be sure they have extensive experience working with people who have been in a similar situation, and that they were able to make a positive difference.

It’s critical that you become coachable. Unfortunately, these types of mistakes can get you fired; or worse, you might be sidelined without realizing it or knowing why. You need to now how to correct this before moving on, either within the company or outside of it. Failure to correct it will only ensure you make a same or a similar mistake again.

Recently an up-and-coming executive made a serious mistake. She hired a coach and followed the coach’s advice, and as a result she was rated “very good” on her job performance instead of “poor.” Her boss shared with her that it was due to how well she handled the situation.

Third: Take the coaching and get the relationship(s) resolved. It may or may not help save your job.

In one case, an employee sent an email to a customer. Because he wasn’t sure if the customer received the email, he kept re-sending it over and over again. Unfortunately, he messed up their server and other customers were unable to get their orders sent. Their biggest customer was not willing to forgive this mistake, and his employer had to let him go. Before leaving, he apologized to his employer and the customer, acknowledging that he had made a stupid mistake. He left to find a job better suited to his style. By handling his exit in a professional manner, he was able to avoid a negative reference (don’t burn your bridges if it can be helped).

Fourth: Get clear as to your strengths and weaknesses as an employee or boss. Studies show that 63 percent of the working population hold jobs that are ill-suited to their thinking style, core behavior and occupational interests.

A frustrated mortgage broker just couldn’t understand why he wasn’t closing more deals. When looking at his occupational interests, the key areas needed to be successful were the areas he had the least interest in. He lamented, “but I don’t know how else to make more money.” He did a cost/benefit analysis and saw he was expending high levels of energy that were not comparable to the results he produced. He said, "It’s not worth it, my health and well being are more important." He left, and is now successfully employed in another industry. While he's not making a lot more money, he’s much happier and so is his family. 

Fifth: Find a job that is well suited to you and your temperament. If you’re a creative type, don’t go to work in a bureaucratic environment. If you don’t enjoy technology, even though you have the skills, don’t work for R&D, high-tech or other types of companies that specialize in that field.

Your career or job is where you spend most of your waking hours, and most of the days during your life. Make it a pleasant and rewarding experience by having a career you love, and that offers the challenges you enjoy. When you make a mistake, fess up. Handle it professionally and learn from your error(s). It will help you prepare well for you next opportunity.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2006

Participate in ReWire Your Career, April  30 & May 1 in Austin.  http://www.rewireyourcareer.com

Jeannette Seibly, Principal of SeibCo -- your partner in developing work and career strategies for selection, results and growth, We improve your bottom line!   Contact SeibCo, LLC @ 303.660.6388 or JLSeibly@comcast.net. Author of "Hiring Amazing Employees.