The 'F' words that hold you back in your career

5th March 2008

According to TheLadders.co.uk, four letter words could be the death of your career progression. Whilst cursing the boss will bring an abrupt end to your boardroom ambitions, TheLadders.co.uk* reveals there are other four-letter words that are far more lethal, destructive and devastating.

Fear
In the workplace, fear is not productive. It can prevent you from making a networking connection or asking a high–profile colleague for help. It can have an impact on an interview, or stop you from applying for a position. Fear impedes success; and fear breeds more fear. So the more you fear, the worse the fear becomes.

Sarah Drew, General Manager of TheLadders.co.uk says: “Replace the word ‘fear’ with ‘greet’ - greet challenges rather than being afraid of them. Challenge is an opportunity to shine. Hope for the best rather than fear the worst and you’ll be far more successful.”

Fail
If you never fail, you aren’t taking enough risks and without risk, you don’t grow or stretch yourself. Without growth, you stagnate. Failing is really a step in succeeding. So replace the word ‘fail’ with ‘grow’. Often, it is fear of failure that prevents action.

According to Drew: “In your job search, failing can actually be valuable. When you make it to the shortlist, but are not selected, you can learn a lot that will be useful for your next job opportunity – perhaps for an even better position.

“Let a prospective manager know that you are motivated enough to take calculated risks, and willing to fail if it means learning, growing professionally and moving forward.”

Fine
Fine is the ugliest of all the four–letter words. No one gets excited about things that are fine. Fine = adequate, average, OK.

Would you want your work or job application to appear as fine? When you apply your strengths to everything you do, you raise yourself above fine – you become excellent, exceptional, extraordinary.

Sarah Drew says: “Replace the word ‘fine’ with ‘great’ and strive for greatness by capitalising on your strengths rather than improving weaknesses. Never settle for adequate.”

If your CV is only ‘fine’, get it re-written by a professional and if your interviewing skills are ‘fine’, practice. After all, with so many candidates vying for every position, the HR Manager will not be satisfied with ‘fine’…

“These F-words can hold you back if you don’t keep them in check, so it’s best to get them out of your vocabulary, out of your mindset and out of your actions,” says Drew.

This news was taken from http://www.onrec.com/content2/default.asp