Last week I shared how there are four enduring myths that get in the way of career advancement.
What we don’t always realise is that we might have silent saboteurs getting in our own way when it comes to career success.
I call these career blockers and they come in these four forms:
Type One: The Perfectionist
You are waiting for the absolute perfect moment to make your move. You know that there are opportunities for you and your career, yet you are waiting for everything to feel exactly right before you make your move. You believe that if you can show that you are perfect in your current job you will get noticed and be promoted.
If you are stuck in perfectionist mode then you are likely to be micro-managing yourself and others. Whilst you might have pride in the work that you do, it will be seen as time heavy by others, who are willing to push through when things are good enough and therefore march ahead of you with their career goals.
There’s nothing wrong with having high standards, in fact its essential for career success. However we can sometimes wear our perfectionism like a cloak, setting unrealistically high standards for ourselves and others and getting stuck in the detail.
Type Two: The Pessimist
You have a tendency to see the glass half full and you are not good at taking leaps of faith. As a result, you may find opportunities passing you by and feeling frustrated that your skills go unnoticed.
At the heart of your pessimism is a fear of being rejected. You would rather stay in a place of unhappiness than put yourself out there and risk being rejected.
Having a cautious outlook and being realistic about your situation is a good thing and means that people look to you to as a sounding board when facing change. Yet in all things moderation is key. If you know you tend to dwell on negative thoughts and expect poor outcomes you may find that you are lacking in motivation and may be a poor influence for your colleagues. Ths does not bode well for long term success.
Type Three: The Imposter
If you are constantly berating yourself and wondering how on earth you got where you are and when is someone going to find out that you shouldn’t be here, you will recognise imposter syndrome.
If this sounds familiar, you are likely to downplay your abilities and your skills. This means that you are often deflecting compliments, not sharing your great work and staying quiet in meetings.
At the heart of impostor syndrome is the fear of not being good enough. You are denying your ability to succeed as you fundamentally don’t believe you are worth of it.
It’s okay to question your abilities, but only as a point of reflection rather than as a way of behaving. What I mean by that is reflection always helps us to get to a greater understanding, yet if we behave like we don’t deserve success, others will believe they should treat us accordingly.
Type Four: The People Pleaser
As a people-pleaser, you will be constantly worrying about the needs of others. You are so busy giving to them, that your needs go unmet, perhaps to the point of exhaustion.
At the heart of the people-pleaser is a fear of not being liked. You worry so much about pleasing others that you often forget your own needs.
Your underlying fear is that you are not liked (or loved) and you will do anything to ensure that people do like you. For your career this may be detrimental, as you may be giving from a place of depleted energy that can quickly turn to resentment. You might even find your own work suffers as you try to help others first.
Yet we know from air travel, that to be able to help anyone else, we must ‘put on our own mask first’. What this means is we need to consider what our own priorities and needs are before we rush to address others. If we are denying what we need, we will hardly have anything to give to anyone else.
If you would like to know how to address these blockers, download the guide here
Remember if you want to talk about where you are in your career and what help you might need I’m happy to invest 30 minutes of my time if you are too. Find a convenient slot below.
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