9 reasons why people fail - Steve Tobak

[Sugarcane]

(MoneyWatch) COMMENTARY Some people are smart, competent, even driven; they just don't get anywhere. Or they get somewhere, reach a certain point, and then just like that, hit a wall. I've seen it a thousand times with people at every management level, from CEO on down. The bigger problem is that, oftentimes, they take others down with them.

Is it all attributable to the Peter Principle -- reaching your level of incompetence and then crashing and burning -- or is that just one of many reasons why people, for whatever reason, become ineffective? Well, I've thought long and hard about this and I think it comes down to nine essential failure modes.

Breathing your own fumes. Probably the most common failure mode, especially for formerly successful people, is they lose their humility and their objectivity and begin to think they have all the answers. They don't just lose perspective -- they honestly don't believe they need it.

Following your own agenda. If you're an entrepreneur and it's your baby, that's one thing. Do whatever the heck you want. But when you work for a company, you're not there to carve your own crazy path. It doesn't matter what level you're at. You're there to do the company's business, not your own. You can't be effective that way.

You run out of steam to compete in a brutally competitive world. It hasn't always been that way, but now more than ever, companies, managers and employees need to continuously refresh and reinvent themselves. In any competitive market, yesterday's value proposition may not hold true today or tomorrow.

The Peter Principle. The vast majority of folks who climbed the corporate ladder and all of a sudden seem clueless have either reached a level where they're no longer competent or have moved laterally into a position they're not suited for. And all too often, they're left there to rot.

You're losing it. I thought of all sorts of PC ways to say this, and there just isn't any. It's huge and yet nobody talks about it. People lose it. Maybe they're dysfunctional or a little unbalanced to begin with and for whatever reason -- stress, personal, whatever -- they start to go off the deep end and self-destruct. I've seen lots of people recover, but first they have to get out and get help.

Cultural disease. I once worked with a publicly traded company that had absolutely the worst reputation you could imagine. The media, customers, everyone thought they were arrogant bullies. Instead of looking at themselves, it became popular to blame it on all sorts of conspiracy theories. Everyone was out to get them. This lunacy became a sort of cultural disease that infected the entire company. No kidding.

You've lost faith in the organization. Sometimes, it isn't you. At any given time, probably half the companies out there are heading in the wrong direction: down. Think RIM (RIMM), Sprint (S), Yahoo (YHOO), AOL (AOL), Kodak (EK), it's a long list. It's hard to get up in the morning and be effective when, deep down, you feel like the organization is going nowhere.

Your strategy didn't age well. It happens all the time and for reasons that, well, have too many variables to categorize. One day your ideas are awesome, they work and everything's hunky dory. The next day you wake up and everything's changed. After all, we live in a dynamic world. Suddenly, your strategy or ideas no longer resonate with customers, your boss, the market, whatever.

You don't understand or want to play by the rules. Want to paint the world with your own colored crayon? March to the beat of your own drum? Do your own thing? Be a rebel with or without a cause? That's great, go for it. But when it comes to work, products, markets, customers, that sort of thing, you really don't get to do whatever, wherever, whenever you want.

 

[Sugarcane]

When it's right to leave your job

Investopedia.com

We've all worked jobs we haven't loved and even a few we've downright hated, but leaving a job can be stressful both financially and emotionally. Even though nonfarm employment rose by 243,000 in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the unemployment rate is still sitting at an intimidating 8.3%. So when is the right time to hand in your notice and break up with your current job?

You See Warning Signs
As much as your performance reflects on the company you work for, so does the company's performance reflect on your career. If your company is in financial trouble, it could not only lead to layoffs, it could lead to you being professionally associated with choices you don't agree with. Of course, the higher up the corporate ladder you are, the more this association will affect your measurable results, affecting both your current standing within the company and your resume if and when you ultimately look elsewhere for work. This does not mean you should run at the first sign of trouble - in fact, staying on and being a part of the solution that turns a company around is a huge career boost, one that would hopefully be rewarded without you having to leave.

Beyond financial concerns, if your company is engaged in practices you do not ethically agree with, it may be time to cut your losses. If you value your relationship with the company, voice your concerns through the appropriate channels and offer practical solutions. If the word from above is that those practices are here to stay, it may be time to jump ship.

You Can't Advance Where You Are
If you are happy with the level of responsibility you have achieved, there's probably not a reason to be concerned. However, if you have your sights set on opportunities that simply won't be available to you where you are, your career may stagnate. If advancement is important to you, be sure to bring it up with your manager - they aren't mind readers! Ask what you can do to put yourself in a position to be promoted; this may include taking courses, learning more about other departments or spearheading new projects. Make sure your desire to move up is known, but, most importantly, demonstrate that desire by putting in the work to back it up. Don't come off as ungrateful for or unwilling to fulfill your current role.

Your Health Is Affected
It happens sometimes that the coworkers are friendly, the company is great and you're still unhappy. It could be that the role isn't what you thought it would be or simply that being in that role has made you sure it isn't what you want to do. No one (or at least very few people) enjoy their job 100% of the time, but if you dread going in each morning to the point that the stress and unhappiness is affecting your health, it may be time to reassess. The NIOSH report stated that about 40% of workers reported their job was very or extremely stressful. Yes, we often have to work at jobs we don't love to make ends meet - that's part of adulthood - but if the job you have is making you miserable, it's time to look elsewhere.

You Have a Feasible Backup Plan
This is the most crucial step. Do you have enough savings to live off while you look for work? Do you have a plan in place to freelance or work somewhere temporarily in order to keep a roof over your head? Is your partner able to support you if you're off from work for six months? A year? Be realistic about your spending and saving, and create an unemployment budget that includes several timelines and contingency plans. The best case scenario is that you have another job lined up before you quit, but that simply isn't always possible.

The Bottom Line
On average, a full-time employee works 37.5 hours per week - that's approximately one-third of our waking lives. For many, a job is just a paycheck, but if that's the case we should strive to at least be content with the work we're doing for that money.