7 Common Career Mistakes – Confusing the Mode You’re in

I recently was contacted by the Human Resources Director of a high-tech Silicon Valley company. She was interested in me speaking on career mojo and employee engagement at the company leadership retreat in Northern California. She specifically wanted to know how I worked with coaching clients and organizations to unleash employees’ intrinsic motivation, and enhance their career development and engagement.

The HR Director and I spoke about my approach to executive/career coaching, and the factors that can tap into employees’ mojo or positive spirit. We also spoke about the Gallup organization’s findings on employee engagement.  Employee engagement has been at an historic low level. Company leaders need to tap into workers’ inherent motivation and creative drive to boost the number of actively engaged employees from the paltry 33 percent reported by the Gallup Organization.”

People want work that is aligned with their intrinsic motivation seeking mastery, autonomy, purpose and self-direction. Employees want their work to be meaningful in order to be happy and fully engaged. However, a number of people make career mistakes that jeopardize their career success. Inspiring leaders provide resources and support to help their people make the right career decisions.

The Human Resource Director is interested in me speaking at a workshop about my executive/career clients that have created meaningful work and are resilient and happy. She also wanted me to address how company leaders could regain their mojo, and stay engaged if they had slipped into nojo and become disengaged. We further discussed how organizational leaders can benefit by working with an executive/career coach to enhance their career satisfaction and productivity.

In Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, leadership expert Marshall Goldsmith lists seven common career mistakes.

Common Career Mistakes

Goldsmith lists seven professional mistakes that contribute to career failures in otherwise competent, successful and smart people:

1. Over-committing
2. Waiting for the Facts to Change
3. Looking for Logic in All the Wrong Places
4. Bashing the Boss
5. Refusing to Change Because of “Sunk Costs”
6. Confusing the Mode You’re in
7. Maintaining Pointless Arguments
a. Let me keep talking.
 I had it rougher than you.
b. Why did you do that?
c. It’s not fair.

As you think about these potential pitfalls, try to pinpoint the ones to which you’re predisposed.  I will focus on the sixth career mistake in this seven part article series.

I am the executive coach for the president of a Silicon Valley company. The president’s competency-based 360 feedback survey indicated that she sometimes confuses the mode she’s in. She has a tendency to “let down her hair” and become friends with certain employees blurring the boundary between boss and friend.

The president and I are working on helping her establish friendships outside of the workplace.  Members of the senior leadership team are supporting her in making the requisite behavior changes. Coaching has helped her realize that her behavior has been detrimental to company morale. She has learned to keep her personal and work-life separate.

6.    Confusing the Mode You’re in

We have two modes of behavior: professional and relaxed. Our professional selves are image-conscious. We pay attention to how we look, dress, speak and behave. We can’t afford to be sloppy.

In relaxed mode, some of us go to opposite extremes. We’re less guarded about everything, including our speech, language and use of humor.

So, what happens when we’re in relaxed mode, but still in the company of work colleagues and friends? Are we sarcastic and cynical in ways inappropriate to the office setting?

The more you close the gap between who you are as a professional and who you are when relaxed, the greater the trust and confidence you’ll generate. You’ll demonstrate genuineness, and you’ll avoid slipping into sloppiness with humor and language, which can put a dent in your mojo.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I sometimes confuse the mode I’m in” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations,  provide executive coaching and career development for leaders who want to maximize their career mojo and be fully engaged at work.

Working with a seasoned executive/career coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I and Denison Culture Survey can help your people tap into their intrinsic motivation and create happy companies where people love to work. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching, career coaching, and leadership consulting clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to [email protected].