10 Ways Career Get Stalled

Few things in business life are as puzzling as executives whose careers suddenly stall - even though they are very good at what they do. When these executives don't go as far or as fast as expected, it's better to look for clues around rather than within, them.

Like the investment adviser who makes millions for his clients but cant balance his checkbook, many capable executives turn out to be "street stupid" about their most important client-themselves. While they have been diligently doing their job and meeting their company's goals, they have failed to look above or around them. They neglect the superiors and colleagues who very often have the most influence over their corporate fortunes.

Just because you do your job well, or even brilliantly, doesn't guarantee a steady, rapid ascent up the corporate pyramid. Fairly or not, other factors are involved. To succeed in today's overcrowded executive marketplace, you need to be as insightful about yourself as you are about your job. In particular, you need to sharpen your instinct about bosses and peers.

Here are ten personal pitfalls I've seen stall the careers of even the ablest executives.

1. Now knowing why you were hired

Executives at every level exist for one reason, and one reason only: to make their bosses look good. If you don't believe this, ask your boss. If you're the boss, ask your company's shareholders

2. Following up too slowly

Hesitation is commendable if it curbs some expensive impulses, but it rarely works to your credit when the boss is concerned. Failure to act immediately on a boss's commands lingers in the boss's mind and usually taints your reputation. For example, if the boss says, "Smith is not working out. Get rid of him, " you might, in a noble moment, rush to Smith's defense. But authoritarian bosses tend to regard such behavior as insubordination, not nobility. Stall too long on Smith's departure and you may soon join him out the door.

3. Ignoring the Peter Principle

The Peter Principle says that everyone eventually rises to their level of incompetence. Nearly everyone knows this principle, but few think it applies to themselves. Street-stupid executives, in particular, reach their level of incompetence faster than they should. For example, employees customarily regard a promotion as cause for celebration. But not all promotions are in your best interest. A bad promotion, one that isn't suited to your talents, only speeds up the Peter Principle in your life. This happen frequently with super sales people. They are so productive that management feels compelled to promote them - to sales manager. What amazes me is that so many of these salespeople accept the promotion even though they have no interest in managing other people. Everyone ends up getting hurt in this arrangement.

4. Ignoring the corporate culture.

Abused as the idea of "corporate culture" has become, it is a fact of life at many companies. You don't wear turtlenecks when everyone wears white shirts. You don't seek the spotlight when teamwork is the rule. And you don't punch in at none and out at five if everyone else is putting in twelve-hour days. If you must be a nonconformist, why not start by outperforming everyone else?

5. Wanting to be liked by everyone

The best execs are respected (certainly) and liked (maybe). That's the way it should be if you want to continue making tough - and correct - decisions. Decisions should be dictated by the situation, not by your sympathies and personal feelings.

6. Failing to protect yourself when a new boss appears

Organisation make changes at the top to make the organization better, not to make life difficult for you. Many execs find this hard to believe; they take the arrival of a new chief personally. They resist the new boss, who in turn resist them. Guess who usually loses in this scenario? Simply put, the arrival of a new boss signals big changes. Don't ignore or underestimate them.

7. Going public with your private thoughts

Many career has been short-changed when execs take wrong colleague into their confidence. If you must gossip about your peers and superiors, save it for your family at home. Cutting remarks have a scary way of filtering up to the boss to undercut you.

8. Behaving inconsistently

Responding predictably to certain situations doesn't necessarily mean you're boring and unimaginative. On the contrary, the majority of day-to-day crises call for solid judgment rather than creativity and finesse. Few things are as disturbing to those above and below you as volatility. Blowing up one day over a seatback and taking it in stride the next can brand you as unreliable.

9. Blaming bad news on someone else

There's no harm in admitting you made a mistake - but don't make a habit of it

10. Asking yourself employees to something you wont do yourself

You can't ask people to put in long hours if you're not there beside them. Also, you can't expect them to do things your way unless you show them by example day in and day out.
**** Taken from "What they dont teach you at Harvard Business School" by Mark McCormack (founder of IMG, the world's largest sport representation firm)