Career mistakes hindering your growth

Many a time, employees feel stagnant in one career position and this, ultimately, has a bearing on their productivity.

Every employee desires to be promoted, to earn more and work in an environment that fosters growth. Here are some of the mistakes that people make that hinder career progress.

Some people do not have career goals and lack clarity of what they really want to achieve in life. Patrick Obita, the chief executive officer of Manager Resource Centre, says people are quick to take on different roles and they lose focus of their niche.

He says some adamantly refuse to express interests in vacant positions when an organisation advertises hoping that they will just be appointed without necessarily applying. This leaves employers with no option but to consider candidates that have applied for the job offer.
Obita also adds that complacency is one of the factors that hinders career progress.

“If you are working, the only way you can remain competitive is through gaining more skills. Ask yourself what more you need to learn. You need to force your way into those spaces that you really want to get into,” he says.

Peter Kimbowa, Team leader of Summit, says many organisations are overhauling their structures and revenue models to mitigate effects of Covid-19. Do not live in self- denial. Organisations’ business models will not be the same forever. You need to up your game by being flexible, have a positive attitude towards work and be that employee that the company will think twice before firing,” he says.

Kimbowa also adds that people keep procrastinating and waiting for the ideal moment to transform their careers. Keep learning, do not settle for less and challenge yourself for bigger things in life.

He says many people suffer from hubris- an exaggerated opinion of oneself and excessive pride or self-confidence. Kimbowa mentions that associating with wrong company and weak networks is a grave mistake. People take decisions on the basis of what friends or family say instead of relying on experts to guide their career goals.

The way people manage their time determines one’s progress. Sleeping and working was apportioned eight hours, the other eight hours determine your destiny since they determine your grow model. When one takes a decision on how they are going to spend the eight hours, this will determine whether or not they progress in life.

However, Kimbowa recommends the need to adopt technology. “We need to know that many things are changing due to technology. Everything is changing. Leverage technology and research to stay afloat,” he says.

People need to weigh the GROW model, which stands for very specific career goals; know the goals for your career and make a reassessment of the reality of your situation, look at what options you have and the way forward. Today one cannot afford to have one skill but rather be multi-skilled.

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