Who knew that not spitting on your hand before shaking your boss’s hand could seriously affect your chances of promotion???

If your boss happens to be a Maasai elder (see point 1 below), you should know that as a mark of respect, Maasai warriors spit on their hands before shaking the hand of an elder! So this week we take a look at Career Limiting Moves.

For most of us, our career is our primary, if not only, way of creating income. We then need to generate more income than we expend, and that allows us to create financial wealth, which is (only) one of the elements of an outstanding, and full spectrum life. This makes our career an extremely important element of our lives, and our ability to plan and execute appropriate strategies (TYJ) relative to our career, the fundamental task we should all be regularly focused on.

 The danger in not planning and executing appropriate strategies goes way beyond the obvious. If you do not grow your income to a level that allows you to achieve the goals you have set for yourself, the chances are that a little thing called bitterness will start to grow, and you will start to begrudge other people the successes they are achieving. The fruits of bitterness are extremely unpleasant, and are definitely to be avoided, so let’s work at the necessary planning and execution required to keep us well away from that particular orchard! As an example, bitter people happily vote to raise taxes on the people who already pay the most taxes, as long as they don’t have to pay any more themselves! Is this ringing any bells yet?

 Now that you have some understanding of the wider importance of doing well in your career, let me share with you a list of Career Limiting Moves (CLMs), that I have both exhibited, and observed over my working life.

 1.     NOT SPEAKING SWAHILI
If your boss is from Kenya, then you need to know about the culture, language, customs, economy, and areas of pride and tradition in Kenya!  Now that I have your attention I’m sure you realise that I’m actually talking about your boss’s culture, irrespective of his actual nationality. By learning about your boss’s culture, it shows you care. Don’t bust out your Swahili to show off. Instead, you are simply prepared to speak and act in appropriate fashion when the inevitable culture bias reveals itself. Take a look around your office – people employ people who talk, behave and resemble themselves, in one or more ways. This cuts across things as obvious as race, and includes the full bouquet of nationality, level of education and gender. This may be perceived as nepotism to some degree, but I suspect that it is rooted in the simple fact that people trust people who are like they are. Now, other than a series of visits to a tanning salon, it may be difficult for some of you to look Kenyan, but you can certainly take the time to learn and understand somebody else’s culture.

 2.     PERPETUAL LATECOMING
One of the easiest things you can do is get in to work early, but for some reason very few of us do! If you perpetually arrive after your boss, you run the risk of being seen as disrespectful to him, and your senior colleagues. If it looks like you don’t really care then why should they care? Promotions and pay raises will start to take a lot longer than necessary, and that is the last thing we want. Oh, and by the way, the same thing goes for those who perpetually leave early. You do not know everything yet, so make the effort to put in that little bit of extra time, and it will pay serious dividends in the long run.

 3.     CONSTANT WHINING
Whiners, wingers and complainers are always at the top of the list when it’s time to let people go. Nobody likes a whiner, especially the ones who complain constantly about their work conditions, or even worse, their colleagues, subordinates, and bosses. When tempted to complain, keep in mind that there are people dying from starvation who can’t even get a minimum wage job! A complaint moving around the office will soon become gossip, because nobody is able to keep their mouth shut. Office gossip is like a cancer that cannot be stopped, and the person you are telling probably can’t resolve the issue anyway, so rather do not engage. And while I’m on the subject of a cancer, constant complaining will get your boss wondering why you stick around if things are so bad, and if he/she than finds out it’s because you are too nervous, or unqualified, to move, he is going to treat you like one and surgically remove you as soon as he can. Offer positive solutions to the problems that you encounter, go looking for opportunities to be noticed in a positive light and you will naturally ascend.

 4.     FRIDAY OR MONDAY SICK DAYS
OK, I know you can actually get sick just before, or during a weekend, but the odds are at best 1 in 7, or a 15% chance. And if it really happens, you will be much better off if you don’t already have a track record of it. Because so many people do it, most bosses automatically assume it is a way of creating a long weekend, which will never stand you in good stead when performance review time comes around. If you call in sick repeatedly on Fridays or Mondays, start looking for another job, as the statistical probability of your reasons being genuine, is stacked against you.

 So there you have the first batch of CLM’s for this week. I will add to the list next week with a few more that will include some of the more saucy options like alcohol, office romances, and rocketships!

 In the meantime, if you need some help with career planning, or would just like an objective look at your existing plans, I’m offering 5 free 45 minute Career Path Tune Ups to the first 5 people who use our Contact Form on our website to ask for one of them. These would normally cost AU$ 150.00 each, so grab a free one while it is available.

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