Your reputation in the job is a precious asset. It determines the quality of your day-to-day connections with coworkers, your prospects of promotions, and how colleagues perceive you. While blatant mistakes like frequent lateness or missing deadlines are clear warning signs, there are also subtler, more consistent actions that can secretly erode your credibility.
In a recent video, career consultant Felecia Jordan discussed three behaviors professionals should avoid. These habits may not appear harmful initially, but they can hurt your reputation in the long run.
1. Oversharing Personal Information
Forming friendships and establishing rapport with coworkers is normal. Nevertheless, there is a delicate balance between being friendly and overly intimate. If you want to build camaraderie, share mundane information like your weekend plans or favorite shows. If you want to make other people feel uncomfortable and assume the worst about your professionalism, discuss sensitive subjects like money troubles, relationship problems, or personal hardships. To keep a respectable and trustworthy reputation, it is important to separate your personal life from your professional life.
2. Monitoring and Criticizing Coworkers
You will not get very far if you hover over other people all the time or give them unsolicited feedback on how they are doing. Being the office “watchdog” can be stressful and give the impression that you are controlling or untrustworthy, regardless of how well-intentioned you are. Keep your mind on your job unless the actions of a coworker are severely impeding your productivity. Avoid taking matters into your own hands by bringing them to the attention of HR or your boss if they are serious.
3. Dodging Accountability
Mistakes are inevitable. What matters is how you deal with them. Your peers will lose faith in you if you act immaturely by avoiding or transferring blame. The best course of action is to admit fault, demonstrate that you are trying to prevent a recurrence, and then go on. You may earn respect and show that you can be dependable even when things are tough by taking responsibility for your actions.
Even little things you do on a daily basis might add up to a big impression on your coworkers. You may maintain and even improve your professional reputation over time if you are self-aware, respect others’ limits, and accept responsibility for your actions.
