Have Your Good Traits Gotten Out of Hand?

An optimistic attitude, a good work ethic, diligence, tenacity—these are just a few of the many qualities listed in the recipe for career success. But if those qualities aren’t measured out in the right amounts, your career could fall flat.

What? Good traits gone bad? Could that be possible?

Frankly, yes. What are normally seen as positive attributes, if applied inappropriately, can be as damaging as negative ones. Learning when it’s appropriate to emphasize certain approaches and when not to can keep you from inadvertently running rough shod over your coworkers. Following are some tips to keep you from ending up where the road paved with good intentions sometimes leads:

• Be a selective perfectionist: It’s possible to turn in quality work without going to extremes. Meeting deadlines at the eleventh hour and obsessively rechecking your colleagues’ facts causes stress and makes them think you doubt their abilities. Strive for perfection, but don’t let it paralyze you.
• Curb your enthusiasm: Don’t let wishful thinking cloud your judgment to the point where you aren’t realistic about what you can and can’t do. Failing to recognize obstacles and making promises that aren’t feasible can hurt your credibility rather than make you appear capable and motivated. Be open to new possibilities but don’t be afraid to admit it when you think you’ll have difficulty accomplishing something.
• It’s alright to not always be right: Most of the time you have really good ideas but occasionally you might get trumped. Even if you don’t necessarily agree that a colleague’s idea is better, adopting a “my-way-or-the-highway” attitude is the wrong approach. You may have convinced yourself that you’re arguing for the good of the company, but you’re actually devaluing someone else’s input.
• Everybody is not a comedian: Any stand up comic will tell you that timing is everything. The funniest joke delivered at the wrong time will go over like a lead balloon. Even if you’re known for your sense of humor, using it inappropriately at the office can be more irritating than amusing. Aim for witty instead of funny and leave the belly laughs to the pros.

Robert Half International is a staffing firm, that provides placement services for accounting, finance, office administration, IT, legal and creative professionals. The company has more than 400 offices, with one in Laguna Niguel.