Career Sabotage

We always hear how to build our careers but how often are we warned about what can sabotage them?

Andrew Kordek’s blog helped me discover a great article from Global Knowledge called 10 Career-killers To Avoid.  The article states it is for an IT perspective but I think it applies to Project Managers and all other careers as well.

I believe all ten points are right on the money, but I will comment on the five I find most relevant for PM’s.

• Forgetting to give credit to others:  Providing positive feedback to a project team member’s manager will go a long way for both of you.
• Believing that you are irreplaceable:  See my Value Meal post for my thoughts on this.
• Confusing efficiency with effectiveness: Understanding how to manage the Triple Constraint can help balance time and quality.
• Failing to deliver results:  Deliverables are the name of the game for PMs!
• Not keeping your skills current: As knowledge workers, continued learning and growth is essential.

There are so many great authors and mentors around us to provide wisdom to develop our careers.  I hope this article is helpful to you.

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Value Meal

Increasing personal value is very important. 

Many people want a raise or promotion before they perform at a higher level.  I have found increasing my knowledge, skills, and productivity always results in something good.  Yes, there is a chance I am doing more than I am paid to do, but the rewards will come eventually!

Utilizing John Maxwell’s Law Of Duplication allows my growth as well.  Once I can develop others around to me to do what I can do, I am able to tackle new things.  These new ventures increase my value.

I recently worked on a project where the subject matter expert dug his heels into the ground and refused to share any knowledge.  Do you think this person was highly valued for his specialized knowledge?  A management opportunity for this person was taken away because he had to remain “in the trenches” since nobody else knew the product.  Think about the missed promotion and salary opportunity!

For further reading, I highly recommend the post How Easily Are You Replaced? by Stacey Douglas.

Take Note!

 

HENRY: Well, he who finds the Grail must face the final challenge.

INDY:  What final challenge?

HENRY:  Three devices of such lethal cunning.

INDY:  Booby traps?

HENRY:  Oh, yes. But I found the clues that will safely take us through,in the Chronicles of St. Anselm.

INDY:  But what are they? Can’t you remember?

HENRY: I wrote them down in my Diary so that I wouldn’t have to remember.

Writing notes is a key success factor.  Even if you never refer to them again, it will help reinforce your learning.  I have conducted a lot of training and I notice the people who do NOT takes notes are usually the people who ask for help two weeks later.

One key I have learned is to always take notes like you are going to have to teach on the subject.  Tim Ferriss’s blog had some other great suggestions for note taking and indexing.

As Knowlege Workers we must do all we can to retain what we learn!   You never know when you will need to remeber how to overcome devices of such lethal cunning!