Are You Sabotaging Your Career? 5 Ways to Make Sure You Aren't

Though Alexandra Levit was a straight-A student, she freely admits her first job after college was a disaster.

"I had the attitude I had to be a VP by the age of 30, so at meetings I would talk and talk without deference to others," she says. "My first boss didn't like me, which made me visibly upset at work -- I'd burst into tears -- and I clashed with other colleagues."

But when Levit saw coworkers in the public relations agency with half her work ethic getting promoted ahead of her, she realized something was missing from her education foundation. She decided to take some personal development classes to improve her people skills.

"I thought it was all about the work you do, and wasn't concerned about the reputation I presented," said Levit, who credits a Dale Carnegie course her boss recommended with teaching her how to make a more positive impression and elicit more cooperation from others.

"It really did change my life," says Levit, author of "How'd You Score That Gig?" and "They Don't Teach Corporate in College," now a regular speaker at universities and corporations on workplace issues facing young employees. "This should be standard knowledge for every college senior."

Levit's early career mistakes -- overemphasizing technical proficiency at the expense of sales, strategic, people, and financial skills, and assuming she had already learned everything she needed to know to get ahead at work -- are just some of the many ways in which people unwittingly sabotage their career success. While she rebounded, others may not be so lucky.

Know Yourself

Self-awareness regarding your behavior and shortcomings is the most important challenge in any career development program -- without it, people keep their defenses and ignore helpful feedback, says Jason Seiden, president of Seiden & Associates, a coaching and management development firm, and author of "How to Self-Destruct: Making the Least of What's Left of Your Career," a tongue-in-cheek book on professional moves you shouldn't make.

Marginalizing yourself at work, boxing yourself into a job and shutting out opportunities to advance by making yourself indispensable, having an "entitlement complex," and using technology to your disadvantage -- like posting embarrassing photos of yourself or inappropriate comments about your employer or personal life online -- are all excellent ways to sabotage your career, notes Seiden, also an instructor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Accept Criticism

So is avoiding constructive criticism, which many workers disregard or misinterpret as insults or nastiness. When Seiden worked in his father-in-law's business some years ago, he came in eager to shake things up and told everyone what they were doing wrong. "I created a lot of friction. People were resisting me as I was pushing too hard and too fast. I got plenty of feedback but didn't interpret it right. We were talking past each other all the time."

Many people don't listen to criticism of their behavior from someone they have already typed as annoying, like a boss, but they believe remarks from someone they've already typed as worthwhile, such as a friend. Seiden says people behave this way because of the "fundamental attribution error," by which people explain behavior in terms of personality traits instead of the situation. "Because there is a tendency for humans to generalize about others from isolated observations, we are lousy judges of character," he says.

Keep Learning

The most destructive thing to do to your career is to think you're irreplaceable, says John McKee, a business coach in Los Angeles and author of "Career Wisdom."

"The ones who think they know all the answers become obsolete, as this usually means they're not keeping current with what they need to be successful in their industry."

Speak Up

Failure to self-promote is another career-killer, to which women are particularly susceptible, adds McKee, also author of "21 Ways Women in Management Shoot Themselves in the Foot."

"Women have a tendency to feel their work speaks for itself, while guys are likely to promote everything they do that's great. Thus, women are less likely to get promotions or raises, and if they get one, they accept it without a negotiation."

Get Out

Sometimes employees don't leave bad situations soon enough. The resulting stress takes a toll emotionally and physically, often infecting the person's ability to move on and perform well in interviews for new jobs, says Joni Carley, a business coach in Media, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, who cites an ad agency employee client who had trouble at work and was ultimately fired.

"If only she'd gotten her act together before she had too many wounds to lick," Carley notes. "She was always in state of discomfort, and those feelings just sabotaged her energy and her interest in life. She was bothered by all the cues but not acting on them, and it's self-sabotaging not to honor that."