1. The 12 Bad Habits That Hold Good People Back
Overcoming the Behavior Patterns That Keep You From Getting Ahead

2. 1. Never Feeling Good Enough

3. Never Feeling Good Enough
Lack of Self Confidence
A feeling of not being good enough for the role
Fear of being in a position you don’t think you deserve
Remember Troops like leaders who are self assured

4. Seeing the World in BLACK and WHITE

5. Seeing the World in Black and White
Being an absolute meritocrat
Emotions, Loyalty, Politics, Sentimentality and Favoritism have no place at all
Not wanting to negotiate, compromise, lobby etc
There is only way to do things right and that is MY WAY.
This is an ideal scenario but not a practical real life one

6. Doing Too Much, Pushing Too Hard

7. Doing Too Much, Pushing Too Hard
Being a hero
Taking on the impossible time and again and never feeling good enough
Such people often have grand visions and are charismatic leaders
Organisations love heroes (they are great for turnarounds)
Heroes however burn out soon, and over a period of time become slave drivers resulting in people leaving

8. Avoiding Conflict at any cost

9. Avoiding Conflict at any cost
These are not people who try and solve a problem or bring about peace when a conflict has gone far enough
They are people who do whatever they can do avoid any conflict to begin with
They end up suppressing creative ideas and emotions
A certain amount of conflict is healthy

10. Running Roughshod over the Opposition

11. Running Roughshod over the Opposition
Often view all transactions with a winlose perspective
Are bulldozers, often adverserial, hyperaggressive and poor listeners
These people ending up hurting their career in the long run by making enemies

12. REBEL Looking for a Cause

13. REBEL with a Cause Love breaking the rules Defy authority
Are endlessly confrontational
Take positions
Are brutally honest and speak their mind
Rebels often don’t end up solving any problems – They are not interested in spreading the truth but in gathering attention

14. Always Swinging for the FENCE

15. Always Swinging for the FENCE
Not running ones and twos, but wanting to hit only 4s and 6s
Small accomplishments don’t do..
They seek extraordinary and immediate success
Overnight Success usually takes about 20 years

16. When Fear is in the Driver’s Seat

17. When Fear is in the Driver’s Seat
Pessimist Worriers
Don’t like to change
Scared of making mistakes
Are indecisive – can’t take any risk
Rather than Problem Solvers they become inhibitors

18. Emotionally Tone Deaf

19. Emotionally Tone Deaf Mr. Spock in StarTrek
Have a hard time recognising emotions like fear, anger, greed, jealousy etc in themselves and others
Are hyper rational, and see problems devoid of any emotional human component
It is important to put yourself in the shoes of the other person to understand his perspective

20. When No Job is Good Enough

21. When No Job is Good Enough
Have a huge eye for achievement and limited tolerance for a delay in gratification
Have little tolerance for hard work and patience since they feel that they should be already on the top
Hop Jobs frequently
Are paralysed by fear of failure, they are the could have beens who don’t even try fence hitting
I could have hit it all around the park if I wanted too --- its just that I did not pick up the bat !

22. Lacking a Sense of Boundaries

23. Lacking a Sense of Boundaries
Often mix up personal and professional life
Talk a lot, gossip, loose lips
Confide in suboordinates information they should not know to establish bonds
Crave affiliation and emotional intimacy
Loose lips sink ships

24. Losing The Path

25. Losing The Path Losing a sense of direction, feeling lost
A sense of powerlessness, lethargy, marginalisation.
A feeling that you are falling behind, or getting burned out, depressed etc
A feeling that your job is routine, you are not compensated well enough etc
Don’t let the symptoms become you – its just a temporary phase
Finding a vision, feeling lost and finding our way back are life stages that we will traverse many times in our careers

26. How do you overcome these Bad Habits ?
These behavioral patterns are exhibited by everyone
The Key is to not be an extremist
Self Awareness – Observe yourself. Do you show signs of extremism on any of these behavior patterns.. Are you very very different from the rest ?
Speak to a Mentor
READ – The above book – By James Waldroop and Timothy Butler -- Directors of MBA Career Development at Harvard Business School