I’ve had plenty of time watching new people in jobs over time, and it’s always interesting to see how they approach their jobs. Many times, though, I see people who have huge goals, and they would like to achieve those goals yesterday. The problem is that they fail to plan for exactly how much hard work, initiative, and leadership it is going to take to achieve those goals. They come into a job over-entitled. They expect to be handed the choice tasks, and be handed promotions, and many times are completely surprised when that doesn’t happen. It is a fatal mistake many people make.
Please know that when you walk into a new job, especially early in your career, you’re going to be handed the worst, least desirable jobs. How you handle those assignments will depend on where your career will go. As you progress further, you can afford to direct what you want to do a little more than you could at first, but don’t think that you can completely pick and choose. Do keep your manager in the loop on what you’d like to do, then do what you’re given with grace, and style.
If you are hungering for more, then you need to identify problems in the group or organization, and find ways to fix them. Then set about fixing them. If they are small issues, go ahead and fix them. If they’re larger, make sure that your manager is on board with how you’re spending your time. You will show your value to an organization by being able to identify and fix problems. By working hard.
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you are overly valuable to an organization. Be humble, work hard, and you’ll go much farther than someone who presumes too much. Of course, you need to make sure that management and leadership know exactly how hard you’re working, and that they’re looking for it. But you will avoid that fatal mistake.
The version of this that catches founders
The same mistake shows up in business ownership, wearing different clothes.
It looks like expecting the market to recognise how good your work is without being told. Like assuming a client will stay because you have served them well, rather than because you asked. Like believing that because you have done the hard part, the rest should follow.
It won’t. Nobody is keeping score on your behalf, and quality does not announce itself — which is why the owners who do well are rarely the most talented ones. They are the ones who did the work and made sure the right people knew about it.
That isn’t self-promotion in the grubby sense. It is the recognition that being good and being known are two separate jobs, and only one of them is finished when the work is.
