You cannot see the forest for the trees

Have you ever noticed that you don’t notice how cluttered your home looks till you invite company over? That you simply don’t see how dirty the walls are until you put your home for sale? You do not notice that your wardrobe is outdated till you watch “What Not to Wear”?

Likewise, you don't see the things you do at work that are hurting your reputation, either.

So I’m going to point them out to you. You might not agree with me, and that is fine, but I do want you to open your eyes to the possibility that I might be right.

Right here is my list of “This is hurting you at work”:

Having a messy (or too clean) desk. You are right, I wrote an entire article about that last month, and in the event you missed it you can read it here - Clean Desk. Too messy tends to make it appear like you can’t handle the volume, and too clean makes it appear like you have got nothing to do. Each of these messages can hurt your reputation.

Becoming a clock-watcher. In case your hours at work are 9 to 5 and that's precisely the hours you work, you're hurting your self. You won’t appear committed towards the job. Do not be the kind of person that walks in the door at 8:59 and is ready to go at 4:59, either. By the same token, do not be operating 12 hours every day either. Each of these extremes hurts your reputation.

Baking. You heard me properly. If you are the one who's continuously remembering the birthday cakes and bringing in little snacks for everybody to appreciate, your reputation is the fact that you’re the “mom” in the office - and not necessarily the office expert. At work, I wish to be referred to as a competent professional. What I do outdoors of work shouldn’t cloud your viewpoint of my professional status. Learn to separate them. I am actually an excellent baker. But you will not see me bring baking into your office when I show up. Whenever you believe of “Rhonda” I do not want the very first factor you think of to be my cheesecake (even though it is amazing, if I say so myself).

Over-volunteering or under-volunteering. Yes, you should volunteer for things at work. Higher profile involvement, like using the United Way or a Victim Relief fund is great. You should be involved in a minimum of one volunteer committee at work. It demonstrates your commitment, your compassion, willingness to provide back to society, as well as your investment inside your organization. If they support a particular charity, perhaps you should as well. If you do not volunteer for anything you risk the reputation of not seeming committed, or just becoming focused around the paycheque. My husband’s workplace has numerous committees. One that we assistance will be the Make-A-Wish run every year; Around the Right TRACK puts inside a running group, and we assistance it as both Warren and I are runners. It is exactly the same charity into which all the senior management employees place their time and effort as well. That sends a much better message than becoming around the “jeans-to-work Friday” committee or-even worse-not volunteering for something.

Becoming afraid to risk. Step outdoors your comfort zone. Do something new. Do some thing you do not understand how to complete. Be prepared to learn on the job. When I teach my Amazing Assistant program we have a module on problem solving. I give each team an issue to resolve, having a prize for the winning group. One of the rules I enforce is the fact that each group gets only one guess on what the root of the issue is. If they guess correctly, they win the prize. If they guess incorrectly, they can't win the prize. Not a large risk, right? About 75% of the time, none of the teams tends to make a guess. They are so afraid of being incorrect that they don’t risk. What risk is involved right here? None! Danger. Sometimes you have everything to gain and nothing to shed.

Your whimsical decorating style. Get rid of the stuffed animals, the bobble heads and also the kitschy stuff in your desk. You are not a 10-year-old. Make your desk look like an expert functions there, not a kid. A couple of personal photographs are fine. A couple of plants are fine. 4 is too many! What message are you sending? I know you believe the message is that you're enjoyable, and fun to become with. But that is not the message other people are getting, trust me on that one.

Complaining. Everyone must vent. It is regular and may be helpful.
However, a five-minute vent to your spouse is much more beneficial to your reputation than a one-hour lunchtime vent every day. I understand there may be a great deal to complain about. But concentrate on what’s going well, not what is not. You will feel much much better during the day, and your reputation will thank you for it. Yes, I complain too (I think I am right now, actually) but generally I want to be perceived as the good force within the workplace, not the negative force. If people are coming to you only to vent and gossip, how do you believe they perceive you?

Gossiping. I understand that gossip is highly entertaining, and that we reside inside a society that embraces it (why else would Maintaining up using the Kardashians even be on television?). But just stop. If colleagues talk to you about other individuals at work, they speak about you to other individuals at work. Appear within the mirror. Do you like that? I didn’t think so.

The reality is that all of us do some of these things, occasionally. We’re only human. And I’m not saying you ought to be solely focused on your job. I do want you to become conscious that it’s a wholesome to have a bit of separation between your work and personal life.

I've many professional colleagues (especially my IAAP and CAPS friends) who cross the line from professional to personal. However, when we are in a work setting, we're professional with one another. We understand those boundaries. When we are in personal mode we don’t talk work. It’s like we have two separate relationships. Don’t let your personal life cross into your professional life. Take a look at your professional life via the eyes of a work acquaintance, and ask your self, “What message are they truly getting?”

I believed so.