It’s easier than you might think.
The “cancel culture” we live in doesn’t only apply to celebrities and influencers. People have gotten fired over things deemed trivial on their personal social media accounts. People get blacklisted for exaggerating on their resumes. Larger corporations have had their email system hacked, leaking thousands of private emails, resulting in many people getting (you guessed it) fired.
Now, it’s clear you can’t sustainably walk on eggshells for the remainder of your life. Everyone makes mistakes, it’s a part of life.
That said, certain things are entirely in one’s control. In an effort to not become a cautionary tale, here are 5 incredibly common ways people *accidentally* ruin their careers.
1. Burning bridges
It seems like we live in a big world… but in reality, we live in a small world. Our planet is shrinking by the minute in our digital age; everyone knows everyone. So, the next time you throw in the towel and quit without notice, start a fight with a coworker or yell at your server, remember that you may have created a butterfly effect. LinkedIn itself is founded on the “degree of separation” idea. Everyone is six or fewer connections away from each other. Even just a quick scour across the networking platform will prove this to be somewhat true, with everyone just a connection (or two, or three) away.
2. Over-promising before under-delivering
It’s tempting to push projects that offer unrealistic launch dates and optimistically high sales numbers. If you promise to do something ridiculously fast and only miss the deadline by a few hours, you’ll think you did well because you still delivered quickly. But once you make a promise to someone, whether it’s a client or your collogues, they expect nothing less. People who continually give unmet promises prove to be unreliable in the long haul. Nobody will be able to take you seriously which will inevitably damage your career.
3. Not embracing change
This is especially true for people that have served their company for years. The motto “don’t fix what isn’t broken” may be hurting you. Depending on what industry you’re in, change may be knocking at your door… and if you aren’t answering it, well, you likely cost your organization money. The most successful employees are the ones that can adapt to change. The inability to do so will make you a less desirable candidate for future opportunities and cost you promotions at your current company.
4. Engaging in office politics
Office drama is never worth it. Spreading rumors, getting involved with gossip and alienating coworkers rarely result in anything positive.
To complete tasks at work, you must interact with numerous people. It can be easy to place the blame elsewhere if the project comes up with errors. Blaming others will not only result in an ineffective solution to the issue, but it will also make you appear unprofessional and incapable of accepting greater responsibility. You risk coming out as a whiner and possibly alienating some of your coworkers if you spend all of your time criticizing others for problems rather than seeking for solutions.
5. Always job hopping
Three jobs in six months? There is merit in job hopping and the best advances you make in your career will probably be a result of job hopping. However, there is a time and a place. It should not be the only way you are making career advancements. Job hopping should be strategic and intentional. If it’s not you’ll appear like you lack the commitment to future employers.