7 Common Career Mistakes – Refusing to Change Because of “Sunk Costs”

I recently was contacted by the Human Resources Director of a mid-sized Silicon Valley company. She was interested in me speaking on career mojo and employee engagement at a 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. Forward thinking 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 fifth 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 he needs to improve his decision-making. The company invested a great deal of money in technology that was overkill for what they needed.

The president and I are working on improving his decision-making skills.  He tends to listen to “experts” who have impressive academic credentials, without spending enough time to make sure the solution offered is the correct one. Coaching has helped him realize when a bad decision has been made. He has learned to focus on what the company has to gain by changing course, and not staying wedded to a poor investment.

Refusing to Change Because of “Sunk Cost”

Once incurred, a sunk cost cannot be recovered. Unfortunately, it’s also the basis for many irrational decisions that go against our best interest. When we throw more money at a problem and hope for different results, we compound the error — all because we cannot admit our error.

Each of us has sunk costs in our lives. We didn’t become successful because of luck; rather, we had to invest a big piece of ourselves in our work. At some point, this investment may have stopped paying off, without our awareness.

Are your decisions based on what you might lose or what you have to gain? It it’s the former, your devotion to sunk costs may be costing you more than you know: your mojo.

Are you working in a professional services firm or other organization where executive coaches are hired to provide career and leadership development for organizational leaders? Does your organization provide executive coaching to help leaders sustain their career mojo? During turbulent economic times, leaders at all levels need to improve their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills as part of overall career development.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Can I change direction and pursue a new course of action when an investment stops paying off?” 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]