It’s arrogance. That’s the mistake. I won’t make you read 500 words with a big reveal. This entire write up is how arrogance can absolutely destroy any headwind you have in your career. I’ve seen senior engineers loose the respect of their department and team because they couldn’t get out of their own way.
Now, I’m a woman and a Black Woman at that and more often than not in the words of author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie-
“We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls, ‘You can have ambition, but not too much”. #Flawless
So no, I’m not telling you to pipe down but what I am saying is don’t let your confidence run amok and turn into arrogance. If your confidence is so high that you can’t listen to an opposing viewpoint you’re in trouble . If you start asking a bunch of questions you think you know the answer to and don’t actually listen to the response…..you’re in trouble. You may be a subject matter expert and after all that’s why you were hired, but the one constant in life is change and things change.
I’m an mechanical engineer and every once in a while industry regulations change. They become more stringent or in some cases more lax. When these new regulations come around as you might guess we have to change the way we do things. If you’re a sane person you’d think these convos would be something like:
Office Worker: Hey Tony! (fake name), regulations have changed to this
*hands over document*
Office Worker: we should update our processes to reflect.
*Tony reviews document*
Tony: yep looks like we need an update
fin.
The way this conversations NEVER go this way. Usually Tony starts saying how processes doesn’t need to be updated she’s been in the industry for 20 years and she’s never heard of such a thing. How she did a project 5 years ago (only tangentially related). Tony never reviews the document presented or new standards. Instead, the rest of the team has to create and present 20 page slidedeck to spoon feed this information to Tony because she was blinded by her own arrogance to just read the original change in standards that were attached to the email. The team is now short on time to implement the change because they needed Tony’s buyin to start the project. Don’t be Tony.
Does this sound specific? It shouldn’t because it happens all the time.
Don’t be Tony because instead of taking an hour to read and investigate the related information attached to the original email you made your team spoon feed you information. Tony didn’t use her active listening skills to understand the original problem stated by her team. In the past, Tony was looked at as a subject matter expert in this particular area but her lack understanding and arrogance caused her team to lose trust in her to take in new information and lead the team through changes. It’s going to take a while for Tony to remove the egg from her face.
Arrogance is a tempting mode of thought. You get to be better than everyone at something. You don’t have to deal with less comforting emotions that come up with you’re dealing with uncertainty.
As you get past the first couple of years in your career it is tempting to develop arrogance in your related field. Push back against it. Listen, especially to your peers and those who are your junior. They have a fresh perspective and may see things you are overlooking. Also if you’re going to ask questions…..make sure you’re listening to the answer. If you ask someone to provide you with a document that states xyz make sure you actually read the document they send you. Don’t assume the document doesn’t exist or they are mistaken. If they end up wrong you’ve worked as a team to provide a correct response even if the response is to do nothing. If you end up wrong…..yikes.
What are career mistakes you’ve made or noticed others make?
