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Excelling at work is much deeper than being good at your job. Oftentimes, we limit our potential and stagnate our growth by unknowingly engaging in self-sabotaging behaviors that make us appear unreliable, unmanageable, and difficult to work with. Regardless of how you currently feel about your place of employment, we all have a desire to do well — or at the very least, have some form of peace at work. While there are plenty of toxic work environments out there, there are just as many toxic employees who both knowingly and unknowingly contribute to negative company culture. It would be remiss of any of us to drift from job to job without ever doing some self-reflecting, so here are four ways you could be self-sabotaging at work.
You’re always late
One of the easiest ways to create problems for yourself at work is to become a perpetually late employee. Through your regular tardiness, you send a couple of messages to your manager and the team:
- You’re unreliable
- You have little to no respect for the organization, your team, or your manager.
You may not be looking to make a career out of your present position, but the reality is that you likely need this job in order to keep paying your bills until you secure your next move. Perpetual lateness is a form of self-sabotage because it attracts unnecessary attention from higher-ups and can lead to disciplinary action — both headaches that you don’t need or want.
You’re not receptive to feedback
More likely than not, it’s someone’s job to give you feedback on your work. And while it doesn’t always feel good to be criticized, it’s essentially par for the course when you’re working for someone else. That said, people who are considered as being receptive to feedback don’t always agree with the feedback that they’re being given, they simply know how to play the game. They listen, take notes, weigh the relevance of what they’ve been told, and if the feedback is actually of use, they implement it accordingly. What they don’t do is jump into defense mode and attempt to argue. When you react this way it sends the message that you’re not open to learning. Additionally, you might be a bit too invested. Clock in, make your money and go home, sis.
You’re a chronic complainer
Negativity breeds negativity. We all have things we dislike about our place of work, but when we choose to dwell on those aspects, we tend to get caught up in a perpetual cycle of complaining and negativity. Not only will you continuously psych yourself out by approaching work with such a negative attitude, you’ll also make others to not want to be around you. Your job probably is challenging and perhaps there are issues with company culture, but imagine how your colleagues must feel carrying the weight of those issues on top of having to listen to you constantly complain about them.
You frequently act out of emotion
We all experience frustrating moments at work that make us want to lash out, but then we remember we have to maintain a level of professionalism. As a result, we take the necessary time to collect ourselves before approaching the problem rationally and with a clear head. When you make a habit of acting out of emotion at work, it appears that you lack impulse control. Try to remember that most of the time, it’s just business and not a personal attack.
