Business Week recently published a TIP SHEET that highlights the 20 bad habits that hold us back in the workplace. The list was created by Marshall Goldsmith, an executive coach.
- Winning Too Much The need to win at all costs and in all situations—when it matters, when it doesn’t, and when it’s totally beside the point.
- Adding Too Much Value The overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion.
- Passing Judgment The need to rate others and impose our standards on them.
- Making Destructive Comments The needless sarcasms and cutting remarks that we think make us sound sharp and witty.
- Starting with “No,” “But,” or “However” The overuse of these qualifiers, which secretly say to everyone, “I’m right. You’re wrong.”
- Telling the World How Smart We Are The need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.
- Speaking When Angry Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
- Negativity The need to share our negative thoughts, even when we weren’t asked.
- Withholding Information The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
- Failing to Give Proper Recognition The inability to praise and reward.
- Claiming Credit We Don’t Deserve The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success.
- Making Excuses The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
- strong>Clinging to the Past The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
- Playing Favorites Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
- Refusing to Express Regret The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we’re wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.
- Not Listening The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
- Failing to Express Gratitude The most basic form of bad manners.
- Punishing the Messenger The misguided need to attack the innocent, who are usually only trying to protect us.
- Passing the Buck The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
- An Excessive Need to Be “Me” Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they exemplify who we are.
