Sabotaging Your Career

Posted by Joni Rose Jun 17, 2008

Sometimes employees are their own worst enemy. They set standards for their performance that far exceed the expectations of their bosses. They then feel extremely stressed when there performance doesn’t match these expectations.

Typically over achievers don’t listen to their bosses praise and if they do hear it, they quickly minimize it. Over achievers dismiss their boss’s opinion as it doesn’t match with their opinion of themselves.

These exaggerated expectations can translate into a very negative, blaming, victim mentality and can even lead to bad references or dismissal. No one wants to work with miserable person.

The irony is that their boss could have a very different opinion of their performance and wish that they understood that they don’t need to work as hard or beat themselves up for each minor mistake. In fact, most managers look at mistakes as learning opportunities and therefore expect employees to make mistakes. If an employee admits to their mistakes and takes responsibility for correcting and analyzing the problem to prevent a repeat of the issue, then a manager is happy.

Perfectionism is great in moderation, but if it is so extreme that it is impossible to be happy on the job, it is time to question whether the perfectionism is the real issue.

1. Do you spend a lot of time feeling inadequate despite your boss’s raves about how well you are doing?
2. Do you complain about not having skills or resources and yet meet deadlines and produce results that far exceed your predecessors?
3. Are you suffering from stress related illnesses?
4. Was your performance review above average according to your boss and/or coworkers and yet your self review was well below average?

If you can resonate with these statements, ask yourself one final question: Is it serving me to have such high expectations?