Be honest, step up and always keep promises
Be honest, step up and always keep promises
Tell the truth. Ask for feedback. Step up with solutions. Deliver what you say you will on time. Tell the truth. Employers don’t like surprises. If you’ve made a mistake, discovered one or know that one is about to be made that can have repercussions beyond your immediate ability to resolve, tell your boss and everyone potentially affected what it is, what could result. And tell them now. Don’t waste time rationalizing, justifying or blaming someone or something beyond your control. Don’t wait and hope the problem will go away (it won’t). Don’t wait and hope that no one will notice (they will). Don’t wait because it’s someone else’s problem. If you did it or you know about it, it’s your problem.
Step up. Tell your boss. It might be an easy fix, it might not be, but give your boss the time and opportunity to take action that can mitigate a messy outcome. Will you get a medal for it? Probably not. Will you have done the right thing? Yes. You either created or uncovered a problem that could cause a bigger problem and you got in front of it and told the people who needed to know. Now go one step further: Put in safeguards to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. Ask for feedback. It’s a common workplace conundrum: You’re not expected to know everything and you are expected to learn what you don’t know. So, how do you know what you don’t know if you don’t know it? While you’re mulling that one over, here’s another puzzler: Not everyone is going to like you, and you need people to like you in order to work with you. If you find yourself caught at the intersection of What Do You Mean and What Should I Do, ask for feedback and listen to it. Be open to information that tells you how to do something more effectively, efficiently or accurately. Invite information that tells you how you can treat others more judiciously, responsibly and respectfully. Ask for feedback from individuals with whom you interact, that you respect, whose work and interpersonal styles are different from yours. Ask for feedback from individuals with whom you’ve had differences in the past. Ask for it, not to argue for your point of view or to prove them wrong. Ask for no greater reason than to listen to how someone different from you thinks, processes information and draws conclusions. You don’t have to agree with them, you don’t have to like what they said; you just need to know what they said. Then go think about it. Once you can and you do, you’re likely to thank them.
Step up with solutions. Employers reward employees willing to step forward with constructive, solution-focused perspectives. Employers are put off by employees who disseminate baseless accusations and create barriers to solutions. Employers have no patience with employees who tolerate or perpetuate incompetence, intemperance, and unethical and immoral behavior.
Deliver what you say you will on time. Employers, coworkers, clients and customers define you by what you say and what you do. They have a basic expectation that you will keep your word. If you agree to a conference call, a meeting or a deadline, they have a minimal expectation that you will get there on time. If you promise to deliver a quality product, they expect you to deliver a quality performance. Every time you’re late and make an excuse or sidestep accountability by acting as though the problem belongs to someone else, you give circumstance the controls and let life take a bite out of your reputation, your professionalism and your relationships.
Joyce Richman is a speaker and career coach conducting seminars and workshops throughout the United States, and the author of "Roads, Routes & Ruts: A Guidebook for Career Success." You can reach her at 288-1799 or JERichman@aol.com. Watch Joyce Richman's latest career advice Wednesdays at 6:35 a.m. during "The Good Morning Show" on WFMY News 2 or visit http://www.digtriad.com/business/columnists/career_minute/
