Career Suicide - Proclaim Yourself a Victim

In a meeting of managers discussing a number of issues, one of the managers made the statement - a number of times, that " No one ever told him anything." This came as a surprise to the other managers - they thought he was actually one of the really plugged - in people. After he made himself a victim - by his own words - his influence and leverage disappeared. Who would want to seek out a person who was told nothing - and , by inference, knew nothing? Funny thing - he was one of most plugged in people in a really secretive organization. He had more intel than most - but that changed. And all because he gave himself up.

Have you ever known people that have done the same thing? Have you ever been guilty of it yourself?

It's the quickest way to career suicide in any job. And the person who commits this self inflicted wound is just looking to complain a little and get a little sympathy and understanding from all the kind people they work with. Huge mistake. It's almost impossible to feel any real sympathy or empathy for a self proclaimed victim. There are too many real victims who are working hard to redeem and survive and grow and prosper to feel any kind of regard for those "woe is me" types.

I don't mean to imply that you should act as if you have all the answers and are plugged in to everything that goes on in your workplace - that approach creates it's own problems. But complaining without a constructive goal is a really unattractive behavior - and people, particularly bosses, avoid that behavior like the plague.

So the next time you're tempted to reach for your crying towel and complain - stop. Remind yourself that shooting yourself in the foot is very painful. Then remind yourself that in every complaint is the seed for a constructive thought or comment or, even better, action. Then go in the direction of providing solutions - the upside to that behavior is so positive, and the downside? Well, there is no downside. Start today - now.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

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